There Are 5 Types Of Traveler; Which One Are You?
Everyone has a reason for their travels, but not everyone has the same. Many people want to travel because they want to see a place they have always read about. Many others want to travel to get away from their normal lives.
Families travel because they want to create memories, while older people might travel. After all, they want to keep busy and stay occupied in their old age.
All of these reasons are valid, but we really wanted to explore every one of them so you can channel your curiosity to travel in the right direction and get the most out of your experiences. Here are some mindsets of traveling and what kinds of things you should be doing if you fit the profile.
Because you’re a man/woman of culture
Many of us want to travel because we want to be steeped in another culture. We want to be surrounded by old statues and sit in a famous square. We want to watch people walk by, contemplate what it would have been like hundreds or thousands of years past.
This might be you if you go to Rome and you sit outside the Pantheon, imagining ancient Rome’s political class having deep discussions walking along the cobblestone paths, as merchants sell their clothes and silks, donkeys move through the city hauling vegetables. Butchers shout out to customers of their succulent cuts of meat.
So what should you do?
- Form a list of all the ancient sites you want to visit and why. This could be something as simple as wanting to see the Colosseum because of its importance in ancient Roman culture or seeing the Temple of Zeus in Greece because it was a famous worshipping site.
- Make sure you choose what day and time you want to see these sites. Many days will be crowded, but you should try to pick a time and day when you can see them in relative peace, i.e., on a national holiday.
- Taste the past as well. Find the food stalls and restaurants that serve food that was eaten in those days in some fashion. Many Italian restaurants will still serve salted fish, cheese, and olives, which the Roman army carried with it a lot of the time.
Traveling with the family for a fun
When you travel with your whole family, you’ll want a mix of everything. The parents will want to visit some interesting places and dine at great restaurants, while the children will enjoy leisure activities like swimming. So this might be the call you need to start planning a theme park vacation where you can mix the best of both worlds.
You’ll want to check out the various months and seasons that align with your children’s school year. September through November seem like good times of the year as many schools will open late, and these are the times when hotter countries in the world are just about to enter spring.
- Select the right kind of theme park, and you don’t want something that is too adult-oriented, i.e., the rides are big, fast, and children aren’t allowed on them for safety reasons.
- Make sure you have a good theme park theme, i.e., children want superheroes, animals, movie title rides, etc.
- Ensure that the food is good for adults and kids, and kids might want burgers and fries while adults might want seared sea bass and succulent steaks.
- Always check the safety record of the theme park you’re heading to. They vary, and no two are ever the same year on year.
- The accommodation, of course, has to be family-friendly. In other words, the bedrooms for dad and mom are not far from the kids, preferably in the same room altogether. The health and safety record for the hotel should also meet your standards.
Just wandering the landscape.
If you’re just someone wandering around, like really traveling, you won’t need much. Many people who are just going from city to city in a country they are visiting won’t require planning to get the most out of their travels.
The entire experience is about not knowing what tomorrow will bring but having some vague idea. For example, you may want to travel from Paris to Calais in the span of 3-4 days. You know when you have to be at your next port of call to go to the next country, but those days are yours. To add a little more structure, here is what you can do.
- Learn a little about the city or region you are visiting. There should be some famous foods that come from there. For example, Lyon in France is known for Saint Marcelin, a cow’s cheese that is soft. While if you were heading into Oxfordshire in England is known for its unique sausages called Oxford Skate, which is pork and veal. Getting the picture?
- Go for the best view. If you have the entire day, why not look up some famous views around your location and try to see them in person? Picturesque mountain views in Indonesia can be had if you walk up to local hills for the day.
- If you are in a village, learn about their history. Document it with your phone and learn how they live. Many nomadic villages are accustomed to housing travelers for a night or two. You can ask them for a bed to sleep at night and, in return, pay them or help them with their tasks around their community.
You’re on a discovery.
There are some, just some, who really want to explore something unique, mysterious, and alluring. These are people who might want to venture deeper into the unknowns of the tropical rainforest in the hope of finding Aztec ruins.
You might also be someone who wants to explore the mountains of Red Indian villages near the Mexican border to see the paintings and huts they left behind. Or you could be someone who heard about a local myth, and you want to see if it’s real. Here is what you should be doing.
- Really learn about what it is you are trying to locate. If it’s ruined, make sure you have an accurate picture of where it might be. This incurs you to do a lot of research before getting on a plane. Speak with a historian, contact a university and speak with the history or archaeology departments; go to the local library and find out about the people you want to know more about.
- Watch a documentary or two about it. Surely someone with a lot more traveling experience and knowledge of the topic has done some exploration with a film crew. They will also give you an image of what to expect. Large landscape shots help you to spot landmarks and realize how large an area of exploration might be.
- Get a local guide on board. You can find local guides online these days, but chances are, you need to find someone on the ground when you get there. Or you could find someone online and tell them about your plans to head into remote areas to explore and see if they are okay with it. They ask for more money, or they might also be on the same track of wanting to explore. It’s hit and miss with this one, but it’s better than landing and then finding a guide who won’t be okay with your plans to go deep into uncharted territory.
Road tripping the highways
So you’re with a bunch of your friends or family, and you’re driving around a city, state, country, or region? Well, you have the world at your feet because you can go anywhere you want, anytime you like.
The trick is to have a plan that fits in with your need to get from A to B. So if you are traveling down Spain and you want to go from the northeast to the southeast, you have plenty of good stops along the way. Many of them will be seaside towns which you can use to catch some rays, swim and enjoy the nightlife.
- If you are on a road trip, make sure everyone pays attention to the distance traveled at the end of each day. You have time on your side, but you also want not to go too far or too slow, which can turn a road trip into a lounging event with no real structure.
- Set an average distance of how many miles you want to travel a day and stick to it.
- Make sure you bring some creature comforts for the road, snacks, and music that you enjoy.
- Always use local maps if you can, as they give you hidden secrets of places to visit.
What type of traveler are you? Depending on what you want to see and who you are going with, these planning tips should give you more reason to explore your options.
