Traveling is important to more Gen Zers than advancing their education

• Forty-three percent of Gen Zers in a survey said traveling is an important goal when looking ahead to the next five years.
• Meanwhile, 39% of Gen Z said advancing their education was a top goal.

Traveling, being personally fulfilled, and maintaining friendships are all things a higher share of Gen Zers see as important goals when looking ahead to the future compared to those that said advancing their education was a priority.

That's based on a survey done by Business Insider in collaboration with YouGov in July. Over 600 of the survey respondents were Gen Zers. One question in the survey asked "Looking ahead to the next five years, which of the following are important goals to you?" People could choose more than one answer if they wanted to.

Forty-three percent of Gen Zers said traveling was an important goal, and just 39% of Gen Zers said advancing their education was.

Those shares are both below the 72% of Gen Zers who said being financially stable is an important goal. Gen Zers were also more likely to rate financial stability as an important goal than older generations. That comes at a time when inflation is still pretty high.

Additionally, some Gen Zers think home ownership might not be feasible. Still, a third of Gen Zers in the survey said owning or renovating a home was an important goal. Almost a third listed becoming debt-free.

A Bank of America survey also indicated that 85% of Gen Z see a barrier or barriers to financial success. Fifty-three percent called "the high cost of living" a barrier to this success per the report.

"While a slight majority of Gen Z (52%) are confident they're on track to meet their financial goals, fewer than half (48%) would describe themselves as fully or mostly financially independent," the report said.

Gen Zers may also have monthly student loan payments to worry about. Payments resumed in October after an over-three-year long pandemic-era pause.

Traveling was also selected as an important goal by a higher share of millennials than those who selected advancing their education. This was also the case for generations above millennials too. For instance, 40% of Gen X included traveling as an important goal compared to 10% who said advancing their education.

But Gen Xers may be later in their life and know that getting another degree or working toward a master's degree isn't something they hope to do in the next few years. They may rather take what they have earned and put it toward a vacation and other travels.

Gen Zers may also not feel they need to advance their schooling. Perhaps tuition or the overall cost of school is a factor and they would rather make an income so they can travel — whether that means a vacation or even a career gap.

Are you a Gen Zer who is saving up to prioritize traveling? What career and life goals are important to you? Reach out to this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.