What’s your travel personality?

True, everybody needs a holiday, but a perfect holiday differs from person to person. Whether you prefer a relaxing break by the beach or an adventurous trip exploring unknown locations, travel becomes easy and a lot more fun when you know what kind of traveller you are…

 

Explore the world....

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of travel? Does your mind jump to the finances first, making mental calculations of what place or destination would prove more economical or does the hippie in you take over, bringing forth your wanderlust regardless of where and how you will travel?
While there is no debating the fact that in our busy lives, we all crave for that one holiday every season that will rejuvenate you and make you feel alive again, yet planning a travel can be a task in itself. Do you travel solo or with friends? Plan a vacation with family or try going with an unknown group on a Europe or Asian tour? Go bungee jumping and skiing or soak in the picturesque greenery of a countryside? There are countless questions to address while organising a trip, often making the ‘planning’ part of a vacation a big task. However, these numerous ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ can be resolved if you know the answer to one simple question – what is your travel personality?
There are many kinds of travel personalities, and often we’re a bit of a mixture of them ourselves. But finding out your own travel personality will help you a great deal in preparing for your next trip. Here’s a look at some of the travel personalities:

A Traveller or a tourist

If you have travelled around a lot and are through with your bit of sightseeing, but are still travelling to satisfy that inner urge of finding meaning or seeking something new then you fall in the category of a Traveller. The Traveller is not usually a first timer. He/ she has mostly been there, done that in terms of sightseeing and clicking pictures from the window of a tour bus. Now they want something more - experiencing a country and its culture from the inside.
A Tourist, on the other hand, is mostly a first timer, who tends to travel to popular destinations in order to tick off the sights. They like to travel in groups, with a check list in hand, visiting all the famous places and clicking pictures, so that they can later boast about where all they went. Sticking to a given itinerary, they are the ones most likely to buy souvenirs like ‘I love London’ tees or Eiffel Tower key chains and later flaunt them to their friends or family. And the good thing is, they are usually happy doing this kind of travel.

The ultimate adrenaline rush

The Adventurer

Open-minded, enthusiastic, explorer, fun-loving, curious and social – these are the words that best describe the Adventurer. The Adventurer are  more or less an off shoot of the Traveller as they like to explore off beaten destinations and will usually travel more often than anyone else seeking adventure at every turn. There are no fixed schedules or planned tours in an adventurer’s diary. They’re happy to lie down pretty much anywhere, find or make their own routes and interact with people while exploring their culture. Most of these adventurers prefer to travel solo as they love their freedom to move just about anywhere.

The Planner

If you have the habit of preparing excel sheets before every departure and like to travel with a map and a guide book in hand, with destinations dully marked with ETA and all, then you most definitely fall in the category of being a Planner. The Planner usually has everything listed out, right down to places to eat and which tour to catch, on their excel sheets. It is unlikely to find a Planner taking a break in between his/ her sightseeing to enjoy a cup of coffee or being impulsive and taking a detour to visit an exciting exhibition. Weather they are travelling for the first time or not to a certain destination, the Planners like to be in control of every aspect of their itinerary.

The Relaxer

Chill, relax, unwind....

Relaxers don’t really care where they go on holiday they’ve just gone there to chill. These are the kind of people who have worked hard in their 9-5 job, and now just want to soak in the beauty of nature and relax, while doing nothing on their holiday. A Relaxer will typically book into a country house or a beach resort and stay put for the rest of the week. You will find them leaving their room only to go out for dinner – usually at the same place every night – or maybe take a day tour. They are the ones you will find staying in bed all morning, preferring to have their breakfast in their room or sit by the pool or beach the rest of the day. In short, words like explore, adventure, socializing, etc are not in their dictionary. Be careful if you are planning a trip with a Relaxer – it can be real hard work to get them moving.

Spender or miser?

We all must have come across this category at least once during our travel, unless you have always travelled solo. Both these kind of personalities come to the forefront when you travel in a group – someone would want to stay in a cheap hotel to save money, the other might want a hotel with a spa and a pool. While we all must have done frugal travel when we were students and money was always an issue, but for some frugal travel becomes a permanent mode of travel.
 The Splurger, on the other hand, often goes somewhere simply to spend all their monthly savings. They plan their travel keeping in mind all the luxuries available. The Splurger is most likely to be a person who works hard, earns a good pay packet and believes that he/ she deserves a bit of luxury. They are most likely to book into a five star hotel will all the possible treats available. They might not be a part of a group while deciding what all places to see, but will be at the forefront while booking a hotel or while zeroing in on a place to eat.
These are just a few broad categories of travel personalities that one might come across in his/her life. However, this is by no means a comprehensive list and it is possible to have various traits from several categories.

So which category do you fall in?