30-year-old backpacker’s fear of no longer travelling or having a social life proven correct
Nicholas Johnson-Winkerberg travelled extensively throughout his twenties. The Australian traveller embarked upon countless major adventures across the globe, meeting incredible people, enjoying unforgettable cultural experiences, and generally living his best backpacker life. He even relocated to Europe to stay closer to the action.
But as the big three-oh approached, Johnson-Winkerberg had a sinking feeling things were about to change. For all the wrong reasons, he was 100% right.
“I was worried that once I turned 30, it’d be all downhill from there,” Johnson-Winkerberg said.
“Having spent the first eight months of my thirties watching my entire country burn, cowering as America teetered on the brink of war with Iran, then locking myself away from all social contact while a supervirus grinds the global economy to a halt, I can say with absolute certainty that my predictions were right.”
“And while my social life is exactly as tragic as I expected it to be, I also don’t have a proper job and I’m still renting a one-bedroom apartment. So yeah, worst of both worlds I guess…”
Johnson-Winkerberg clarified that, despite the universe giving him overt signs that his life had fallen to shit, he was trying to remain positive.
“Everyone assured me that it was all in my head; I’d be able to continue travelling as normal and nothing would really change. And maybe they have a point – maybe after this I’ll be able to return to doing what I love. At least my loneliness was caused by a global pandemic and not my own personality defects haha.”
However, when The Tragic Traveller reached out to several of Johnson-Winkerberg’s former acquaintances for comment, all of them confirmed they would’ve avoided hanging out with him even if the world hadn’t shut down.
