Fortieth birthday travel

For the momentous occasion of your fortieth birthday, it is important to do something different and special – and this may include travel. You might like to book a holiday for a week or two after your birthday, to give you time to have at least one party before you go. You might like to take the party with you and have a several-day party somewhere away from home. Or you might prefer to spend your 40th birthday away with just your partner, your nuclear family or your best friend, or even alone.

If you want to go with a group and make it a long-weekend or a week-long party, there are many economical packages you can find. You could stay in a hotel or a bed & breakfast or you could rent a house/flat/villa/cottage somewhere. As long as you’re sensitive, it’s fine to ask your friends to pay their own fares and share the cost of the accommodation. You can have a kitty for food, drink and so on. Popular destinations for this kind of party are: rural Britain, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Prague, the Greek Islands, New York and Las Vegas. A lot depends on the time of year, of course, and also on what you want to do when you get there. For skiing, the Alps are excellent and accessible. For sightseeing, there are many beautiful places, all over the world. For European beaches, it needs to be summer but then they are spectacular. For shopping, New York is fab. Actually, New York is fab for just about everything. For gambling, magic and fun, Las Vegas is unbeatable. For general lounging about, interspersed with some brisk walks, the British and Irish countryside, off the beaten track, can be as lovely and as peaceful as any.

If you are planning to wake up abroad on your 40th birthday, make sure you book yourself a comfortable place to stay – no skimping. You want to get your fifth decade off to the best possible start, so take yourself to somewhere uplifting. New York is usually a good bet but you might prefer somewhere quieter, such as a Mediterranean village, or somewhere further afield, such as Thailand. Wherever you choose to spend your fortieth birthday, let it reflect positive thoughts for the future, and may you have a glorious time!

Obviously, it’s a bad idea to bury yourself in serious debt at this stage of your life (well, at any time, really) but your fortieth birthday, these days, is almost a coming-of-age rite of passage. You are no longer young and foolish, you are grown up and responsible, but you are still way young enough to have a wild time occasionally – and what better occasion to do so than on your fortieth birthday? If you long to go somewhere exotic, you may have to travel third class and go the long way round, you may have to live on bread and water for six months beforehand (and maybe afterwards as well) but, if it is remotely within your means, DO IT!! You will be so glad you did.