Not travelling more is biggest regret for most

ONE in five Irish people would travel more if they had a chance to live a time in their lives over again, a survey has revealed.

Some 1,000 Irish adults were asked what they would do differently if they were given a second chance at life, with 21% saying they would travel more and 14% responding that they would pick a different career.

Interestingly, just 4% said that they would settle down with their first true love, while 3% said that they would marry someone else.

Twice as many women than men wished they had married someone else, while there were nearly twice as many men who wished they had settled down with their first love.

In addition, 4% of people said that they would like a second chance to tell their worst boss or teacher what they really thought of them.

The survey was conducted this week on behalf of online lottery company Lottoland. The margin of error was 3.2%.

Lottoland Ireland manager Graham Ross said: ‘Perhaps due to the Covid-19 realities that we’re all facing, Irish people count more international travel as the biggest regret that they’d like to sort out if they had that elusive second chance, with choosing a different career or telling your family how much they mean to you being the main alternatives.’

Telling family how much they mattered was the priority for 12% of respondents, while 11% put trying harder in school as their top choice. Saving more money was the top choice among 10% of the people surveyed.

Learning to play a musical instrument and having children earlier in life also featured highly on the list, with 7% and 6% support respectively.

Drinking less alcohol or taking less drugs also drew 3% support, while 2% said they’d get a tattoo.

Among the least popular choices were staying single, spending more money and not having children, all of which received 1%.