7 TRAVEL PERSONALITY TYPES I JUST CANNOT STAND

How someone conducts themselves in the normal day-to-day can be wildly different from when they travel. I’ve experienced this first hand and have heard enough stories from fellow travellers and other friends to realize that people have a tendency to switch between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde while on the road. Doesn’t matter if you’ve known a friend or family member 2, 30, 50 years – their travel personalities can be a revelation to those accompanying them on a trip. Sometimes, the trip can even be a make or break for the relationship! Here are the seven types of travel personalities that I cannot stand to be with on the road (note to family & friends, haha!):

Image: themanews.com

1. THE TIME NAZI. Sure, being on schedule is good especially if we’re only in the destination for a few days - most friends can attest that I am one of the most time-conscious and OC people on the planet when it comes to travel itineraries. I want to make good use of my time, but I don't play drill sergeant. I schedule activities, but I allot time for proper exploration and getting lost. There should be a sense of flexibility: don’t tell me I only have five minutes to enjoy the Eiffel Tower! Don't limit my sense of wonderment at the Sagrada Familia for only TEN MINUTES! I can’t just rush off from one landmark to another without taking in the awesomeness of the sights – I need time to absorb the experience and I hate it when an itinerary is too rushed and we seem like we’re just traveling for the sake of ticking off items on a list or checking in on Facebook so your friends can express their jealousy over your amazing race across an exotic locale. True story.

Image: Alice in Wonderland

2. THE LOCAL SNOB. Oh, you’d rather eat McDonald’s instead of pho? Or go to an EDM club instead of a samba club in Rio de Janeiro? Or opt for the Western-style mall instead of a local handicrafts store? Or go to Starbucks for a venti instead of sipping Turkish coffee? Well, you might as well stay home if you prefer the comforts and familiarity of what you’re used to instead of indulging in the local food, sights, culture, and vibe. Unless of course, the items I mentioned are your destination’s specialty, then sure. But I don’t think it will kill you to try the local fare AT LEAST ONCE during the entire trip.

3. THE DEMENTOR. I’m talking about the kill-joys of this world – the serial complainers, the travel-dementors who suck the joy out of everything. And when I mean everything, literally every. single. thing. The weather is too hot. Or too cold. The flight is too long. Or too short. The queues are too long. The Mona Lisa is too small. The Louvre is too big. They don’t like how they look in photos. They don’t like their outfit today. Rome is too chaotic. The Great Barrier Reef was too quiet. I hate that 5-star hotel. I hate this hostel. They don’t have Equal for my coffee. They don’t have Evian. My hostel-mate is too noisy. My hostel-mate doesn’t speak to me at all…. These people forget that they’re privileged enough to travel and see these sights in person. There are millions out there who would be more appreciative of the experience and would love to be in their shoes instead. I have a certain level of tolerance for grumblers – but beyond that, please leave your sense your entitlement and whiny ass at home.

“Dementors drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them." (Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban)

Image: Comicvine.com

4. THE LAZY ASS. If we planned a trip just for chilling out and lazing away our days & nights then sure, it’s perfectly acceptable behaviour. Otherwise, don’t expect your travel companions to forego their plans so they can wait for you to wake up at 2PM. And don’t expect to see everything in the full-day itinerary after you wasted more than half the day snoozing your alarm. Don’t be two hours late to a scheduled meet-up. Don’t just stand there like an imbecile if someone in the group needs navigational help. At least contribute a tiny smudge of help to your travel group. Don’t expect to be waited on hand and foot by your friends; they’re not your yayas (hired help). Don’t trudge along miserably, sighing exhaustingly when your companions finally manage to take to you to the sights, like everything on the itinerary requires just wayyyyy too much energy from you. Just crawl back to your hole and never come out, ok?

Image: Meme Center

5. THE SCROOGE. You know this type, they say yes to a trip that was planned months or years in advance and then suddenly during the trip, they refuse to pitch in for even the cheapest cab fare or for the group’s collective meal fund. They never, ever pick up the tab – even if it will be split fair & square amongst the group, for fear that they have to cover with loose change whatever small amount is unaccounted for (just ask everyone to chip in or recalculate again, okay?!). Nor do they even pretend to open their wallets to pay for something minimal, like a piece of candy! I mean, if the trip was planned in advance, you would have had time to save properly, right? I’m sure the group is not asking you to pay for everyone’s exorbitantly-priced lobster and gold-leaf topped caviar dinners. Some are probably earning less than you, or have disadvantageous forex rates for their money against the destination’s currency. Money is always a testy subject, in travel and in general. I don’t mind if you say you’re on a budget, but refusing to get involved in the travel group’s budget dynamics, when you said yes to joining the trip in the first place, is just plain rude.

Image: Wikipedia

6. THE CLINGY TWIN. Yes, we may have decided to travel together, but that doesn’t mean that we have to spend every. waking. moment. together. It’s ok to go our separate ways for a few hours each day to spend our time however we wish. It’s ok to not go together to the toilet at all times. It’s ok to take two different paths in a local bazaar and just meet up at a set time and place after. It’s ok to eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant at separate timings. It’s ok to not sleep at the same time. We’re travel partners, not conjoined twins!

7. THE SOCIAL MEDIA HOUND. I’m all for hyper-documenting travel experiences with a passion (I’m addicted to Instagram!): go ahead and take all the selfies you want, but after taking a million or more photos of the same thing or pose, maybe it’s time to put away that phone or tablet and just enjoy the moment and take in the scenery? Please don’t watch the glorious sunset thru the lens of your iPad. Don’t hike to Machu Picchu and then spend the rest of your hours at the site finding the perfect filter for your selfie to post to Instagram for maximum like-factor. Don’t just go somewhere for the sake of checking into Foursquare or Swarm so you can level-up and be that place’s newest Mayor or something (I don’t know what their reward levels are, if any!). Don’t be that annoying tourist who’s perpetually glued to his gadget and furiously posting, checking in, filtering, tagging, hashtagging, and liking as if his life depended on the number of likes and comments he can get. You’re in an amazing destination, enjoy it with your OWN EYES!

Image: hospitalitytimes.ie

It really takes the right compatibility to be able to travel together and it helps a lot if there’s a setting of expectations before booking a trip, especially if it’s more than two people traveling: food preferences, types of experiences each wants, budgets, roles & responsibilities, etc. Nonetheless, don’t let the lack of a perfect travel companion deter you from pursuing your travel goals: I wouldn’t refuse company for a trip or two, but I honestly prefer traveling solo! :)

HAPPY TRAVELS!

#listicles