Perhaps the best motivation for going to Mars is political. It is obvious that no single nation currently has either the will or the resources to do it alone but a consortium of nations and space agencies could achieve it within 20 years.
In my case I was born to parents who were very young and I don't think they were entirely ready to have a child. My dad was going to college and working two or three jobs at the same time and my mum was working and going to school.
