Financial planner spent $20K visiting Antarctica over buying a home

They also took into account other future goals, such as their hope to start a family in the next few years, which he said left them with a "short window of opportunity."Juggling big life goals is something Northrup thinks a lot of people deal with, who are trying to prioritize something like taking a sabbatical, starting a business, or planning a trip before more traditional milestones like having a family or buying a home. Northrup believes the ideal of homeownership and the current state of the housing market, in which real estate prices have skyrocketed and mortgage rates have hit near historic lows, has put undue pressure on millennials to buy a home before they're ready out of fear prices and rates will climb.He added that he's never liked the argument that renting is "throwing money away" compared to buying a home for two reasons. "But most millennials, value experiences over things, so this measure of success doesn't really apply anymore."Sticking to his priorities led Northrup to his "once-in-a-lifetime" two week trip that covered Buenos Aires, Ushuaia in the Patagonia region, and Antarctica itself as well as the travel it took to get there and back, which he said involved 30-foot waves and 70 mile per hour winds.