Know Yourself: Breaking Down Travel Profiles
When planning a group trip around the world it’s important to have several conversations with your travel companions. Things like budgets, dietary needs, and clothing requirements are all at the top of the list and for very good reason.
The person you hang out with at work, is your turn up partner during a night on the town, or even your significant other whom you’ve yet to live with, may be a much different person on vacation than they are in those scenarios. To avoid any potential break downs, misunderstandings, confusion, or unmet expectations, it’s important to know and have a discussion beforehand on the type of traveler each of your Travel Buddies are.
Here are a list of traveler profile types to help make that conversation a bit easier.
The Planner
The person that lives by their planner. Whether it’s a small notebook with an intricate and detailed to do list next to every date, or it’s a cellular device programmed to provide notifications for everything that must be accomplished on any given day. The Planner is a traveler who leaves nothing to the imagination and knows exactly what they want to do and when they want to do it before they even step foot on an airplane, bus, or train.
The Planner isn’t high strung or incapable of enjoying their vacation; instead they want to be sure that they make the most out of every hard earned moment they’ll have away from all the worry and stress that comes with adulting on a daily basis. In a travel group, The Planner is clutch. Whenever there’s a stalemate on what should be the next thing to do or what’s on the itinerary for dinner, The Planner will always offer quick solutions to questions and debates which could take several minutes of discussion that could be better served embracing the very limited vacation time.
Cooler Than The Other Side of The Pillow (C.O.P)
The “Cooler Than The Other Side of the Pillow” traveler is cool, calm, and collected no matter what the situation while traveling. Their primary concern when booking a trip is where they’ll sleep, and where they’ll drink; and everything else will take care of itself. The C.O.P. traveler makes a conscientious decision not to be stressed and embrace a laid back, carefree travel experience that gets them in touch with their inner child.
Unruffled by mostly anything that occurs on the trip that doesn’t put their lives in danger, the C.O.P. is an ideal travel companion. Being agreeable and quiescent is a strong positive when group traveling as it eliminates spats over issues big and small. The C.O.P can also be that shoulder or ear to lean on and vent to, as they’ll always provide positive vibes, and respond with a positive directive. “Carpe Diem”
Splash Bandicoot Water Enthusiast (S.B)
When picturing a vacation, more times than not the image of a beach or something water related will pop into mind. For those of us who can’t swim, the beach is in front of us as we’re laying on a comfortable lawn chair, Pina Colada in one hand, feet up, toes pointed toward the water that will never be entered. For every beach slaying traveler there may be twice as many water enthusiast who take their water related sports and activities very seriously. Jet Ski’s, Parasailing, Snorkeling, and Scuba Diving are all must do’s if available, and very few things take precedent over getting these things done.
The Splash Bandicoot traveler is key, especially for those who either can’t swim or never thought of taking part in water related activities. The water enthusiast will more times than not convince everyone to take part in at least one safe water related activity together, because after all, you guys are all travel team. And there is no I in team, and any group activity is good for morale and camaraderie. They have the potential allow you to enjoy a relaxing day on the beach, while also getting others to do something that they never thought they’d do, and maybe even conquer a few fears along the way. When trying water sports for the first time and especially when you’re a novice swimmer at best, having a personal life guard who you know will work hard to protect you because your mom knows who they are is a major plus.
Wilderness Wanderer
The great outdoors is ironically where a lot of full time workers spend the least amount of their time during the work week. For the person who owns a decent amount of camping gear, hiking equipment, and binoculars, vacation is the best time to soothe those active jitters and become one with nature. The Wilderness Wanderer, or nature buff, seeks activities that will allow everyone to experience the uniqueness of an environment in a new place.
Man made sites are cool indeed, but there is something to be said for being able to dip your feet in the cool waterways of a lake formed between mountains where the glaciers are lying right before you. A good sense of direction, a Wilderness Wanderer will have along with a list of animals, creatures, and weather related things to look out for when out for a vacation adventure. Appreciating the very thing that makes most of what we do possible, nature, is always a good thing. Especially when traveling.
Poolside Bandit
The Poolside Bandit is probably the most straight forward person in a group setting. They communicate very clearly that all they came to do was sit on the beach or in the pool area of the resort and read while soaking up some much needed sun for vital melanin production. The Poolside Bandit is everyone’s home base. No one needs to worry about them because you’ll always know where to find them. If the group is out and someone has a little bit too much fun and has to have an early return home, the Poolside Bandit is there to welcome them with open arms and a fresh bottle of water. Need someone to share your crazy stories from last night with, or give the group perspective on how wild and turnt up they were once they returned back from an extravagant night out, the Poolside Bandit is at your service.
World Pillow Expert
Tours that begin at 8am, early morning hikes, wake up calls of any sort, are all severely frowned upon by the World Pillow Expert traveler. Sleeping in, afternoon tours, and battery depleted electronic devices are more of what this type of traveler is looking for during their vacation. Working sixty to seventy hours a week can take it’s toll on the human body, and when removed from that cycle from an extended period of time, it has an effect on people. While the World Pillow Expert is game for just about anything while traveling, they would strongly prefer it happened during a time frame that allowed for more than an adequate amount of sleep. Completely unashamed, the World Pillow Expert traveler is able to sleep for exorbitant amounts of time and in the most awkward positions which makes for great fun and photos for the team, and peaceful well deserved slumber for themselves.
The Bucketlister
Finding and having a bucket list is nothing short of amazing but having the chance to cross some of those things off each year is a very difficult feat indeed. Sky-diving, bungee jumping, eating cockroaches and scorpions, all are things that can be found on a persons bucket list. Between lack of vacation days and finding the location to get all of these things done, most Bucketlisters try as hard as possible to knock as much as they can off in one trip as possible.
Although this may lead to an overzealous travel company dead set on doing or seeing one or two things definitely during a trip, it will also lead to an irreplaceable, memorable, once in a lifetime experience shared between people taking part and witnessing something astonishing. The Bucketlister keeps the travel group honest and is a constant reminder of the importance of taking advantage of time away from reality. They’re also a reminder that risks are meant to be taken.
The Hilbrich
When you think of The Hilbrich the song “Lost without you” by Robin Thicke should immediately pop into your head. Why you ask? Because The Hilbrich is absolutely one of the most essential members of your travel squad. A literal walking compass is the most efficient way to describe The Hilbrich. No matter where you are, what your doing, or how out of it you may be for whatever reason, you can always count on this person to get you from point A to point B.
The best thing is, this person knows who they are, owns it, and prides themselves on being this way. It goes without saying that if you’re not good with directions that you: A. don’t want to lose sight of The Hilbrich and B. definitely don’t want to anger them. Since they’re usually pretty much down to do whatever as long as they’re fed and can have fun, The Hilbrich is a vital member to every travel squad.
Footloose
Have you ever been walking down the street talking to someone and you look up and they’re halfway across the street or walking in the complete opposite direction staring at something shiny? That in a nutshell is the Footloose traveler. Outgoing, adventurous, and daring are just a few ways to describe the Footloose traveler. They are genuinely interested in the behind the scenes cultural experiences that following traditional tourist routes and methods won’t allow them to experience. They don’t shy away from approaching and speaking with locals. They’ll go down and uninteresting looking passageway and are patient enough to see where it leads.
Getting lost isn’t scary to the Footloose traveler it’s simply another way to discover hidden gems that would otherwise go unseen. Needless to say, you’ll need to be sure to keep an eye out for them, but if they do happen to wonder off from the group without being noticed, there’s no need to notice because their nomadic culture assures they’ll find their way to safety and eventually home. The Footloose traveler will make new acquaintances for the group to interact with and get to know, find the local hot-spots and unique dining location when allowed to embrace that unsettling quest for adventure. Although not suitable as a lead navigator, the Footloose traveler is an essential addition to any travel team.
