'Fun out of life': Half of Australians prioritise travel over buying a home

Many do, as a new report from Money.com.au shows almost half of Australians prioritise travel over buying a house or saving for retirement.

The survey of 1000 Australians shows 49 per cent put travel at the top of their savings goals for 2025.

This is above building an emergency fund (44 per cent), putting aside retirement savings (32 per cent), buying a house (25 per cent), and investing in shares or property (19 per cent).

Gold Coast resident Mitch Cornish, 30, said it "doesn't surprise" him. He owns a house but is renting it out and moved back in with his parents so he could save for a holiday in the United States.

"I haven't travelled in close to 10 years ... You get to a point, because the cost of living where it's so hard to afford many places in life that you just save up for a big trip so that you can have a good break from the day to day," he said.

Mr Cornish will have been saving for nine months by the time he embarks on his "top deck tour" of the US with his best mate in June.

Mr Cornish's friends his age are also prioritising saving for experiences over putting their money in the bank for later in life.

"With so many people in my generation, they feel like they'll never be able to afford a home, and it's so expensive to rent that what little money they do manage to save, they just save it for holidays, so they at least get some fun out of life," he said.

"That's the sentiment I've heard from a lot of people - they really feel that they'll never be able to afford a place, so they use their savings to holiday."

The survey shows Boomers are the generation most likely to list saving for a holiday as their top goal (54 per cent), followed by Gen Z (52 per cent), Millennials (48 per cent), and Gen X (47 per cent).

Across states, Western Australians led the pack, with 54 per cent prioritising travel savings, followed by Queenslanders (53 per cent).

Money.com.au's finance expert, Sean Callery, said the data highlights a growing trend of valuing experiences and making memories.

"A third of people we surveyed said they spend up to a year saving for a trip which shows just how much value Australians place on travel and the time they're willing to invest to make it happen," he said.

More Australians are travelling despite the rising cost of travel.

Short-term resident returns were up 11.6 per cent to 1,184,900 trips in October 2024 compared to the previous year.

The three leading destinations were Indonesia (169,110 trips), New Zealand (112,390) and Japan (86,080).

The ABS Monthly Consumer Price Index Indicator showed holiday travel and accommodation prices rose 8 per cent in the 12 months to October 2024.