I’m a digital nomad and this is why I’m delaying having children…

Would you delay having children to travel the world carefree for longer?

It is a topic that’s gaining momentum on popular social media platforms such as TikTok, where videos asking the question have gone viral.

MailOnline Travel speaks to one global traveller who explains why she has already made the decision to prioritise exploring over parenting.

Australian-born Adriana Neptuna, who has been married for eight years, says she and her husband want to ‘make the most of our 30s’, experimenting and taking risks before they consider starting a family.

The award-winning blogger, who documents her travels on her TikTok and Wanderlicious website, has so far travelled to 44 countries and says she is ‘not ready to give [travel] up yet’ in the way she has come to know it.

‘I love the freedom of travelling to new locations on a whim, usually based on other travellers’ recommendations,’ she explains.

‘If the weather changes for the worse or I don’t love a location, I just pack up and leave. I imagine it would be harder to do with little ones in tow. I expect it would cost more too, which you would need to plan for more carefully.’

Adriana acknowledges that it is possible to travel as a family but suggests it can be ‘harder with very young children if you’re exploring remote regions’ and places without family-friendly facilities.

As a full-time traveller and digital nomad, she says it may be easy for her to ‘keep putting off having children’ because her job involves moving around and her work would otherwise have to change.

From her experience, Adriana says she ‘definitely’ thinks it’s a growing trend due to there being fewer expectations’ to have children as soon as you got married and to settle down’.

She adds: ‘That’s no longer the case. The world is wide and there’s so much to see. Through travel, you learn so much, not only about foreign cultures but about yourself too.

‘I’m not sure I would have been mature enough to raise a family in my early 20s. I was too busy exploring.’

Despite her personal preferences, Adriana’s message to parents-in-waiting is that it’s ‘best to have children when you feel the time is right for you’.

The travel enthusiast recalls experiencing different cultures from ‘a very young age’ as her parents moved a lot for work.

‘I had lived in four different countries by the time I was 13 and found myself going to school in Australia, Poland, Dubai and then England,’ she says.

‘I realised that every country is completely unique but they all have similarities. Each country has delicious food, wonderful traditions, unusual customs, and overall, really nice people.’

She had her first taste of travel abroad on a trip to New Zealand to attend her aunt’s wedding, where she also visited some geothermal hot springs.

‘It was so cold outside it was snowy, but the ground was really hot,’ she says.

‘I remember warming up my hands by picking up the hot stones from the floor. How bizarre is that? The air was freezing cold, but the ground was hot. New Zealand is full of wonders.’

Reflecting on her love for travel, Adriana says her theory is that it ‘makes you feel that same sense of wonder you get when you’re a child’.

She adds: ‘You’re seeing things for the first time, trying new foods for the first time, you usually get completely lost along the way, but you end up creating some of the best memories.’

Adriana’s world travels to date include 20 countries in Europe, two countries in Africa, six in the Middle East, one in North America, two in Oceania and 13 in Asia.

These are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the Vatican City in Europe.

The remaining are Egypt and Morocco in Africa; UAE, Turkey, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and Bahrain in the Middle East; Mexico in North America; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, India and the Maldives in Asia.

Where is next on the list?

Adriana and her partner dream of visiting every country in the world and currently have their eyes on South America.

‘I’ve never been to that continent and the wildlife, scenery, food and people really intrigue me,’ Adriana says.

‘I’d love to visit Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. I am also really keen to do more of Africa too, as I think it has some of the most beautiful places on Earth. But it’s hard to know where to start.’

When asked how many more countries she might want to experience before starting a family, Adriana suggests between 20 and 25.

For now, she plans to continue travelling with her partner, who was able to leave his job to join her on the adventure.

But there are times when travelling full-time can affect relationships, she says.

‘I’m lucky that my partner is travelling with me, but I don’t get to see my friends from London as much as I would like to,’ she adds.

‘The friendships you make whilst travelling can also be fleeting. You meet people from all over the world and may never see them again. But the stories you have are well worth it.’

When it comes to starting a family, Adriana hopes to continue exploring the world, but likely in a different way.

‘I think it will change the way I travel hugely, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t experience new places and cultures,’ she continues.

‘I will just have to get better at planning, I think.’

For more from Adriana visit www.tiktok.com/@wanderlicious.adri and www.wanderlicious.co.uk.