If you are a regular reader, you will know that the Love-goddess and I do a lot of international travel, and I mean a lot. From spending a number of months living in Hong Kong on a couple of separate occasions, to spending four months travelling around the world, visiting with friends at their home in Sénégal, to several occasions where we have spent months either wandering around Europe or living in the south of Spain, we have… as they say… gotten around.
I’m not really bragging about this here; it’s just something that we were able to do even throughout our work years, and that we both really enjoy. We love being immersed in different cultures, enjoying new sites, and having new experiences.
At this point, I only need to set foot on South America and Antarctica to have spent a reasonable amount of time visiting every continent in the world. And I suppose that is my only true bucket list item. The plan is to do both South America and Antarctica at the same time – sometime very soon I am hoping.
The net result of all that travel is that we have crossed paths with many different people on the road and have had hundreds of conversations with people who have told us stories of their own journeys. As an interested observer of the human condition, I have noticed that there are categorical differences in how people think and feel about travel. I suppose this piece really is all about examining those differences and putting some sort of label on them… in a playful and occasionally humorous way. 🙂
A few years ago, I did a series of articles about different styles of travel and how we do it. Some of those articles may be worth revisiting because I itemized what I felt were the pros and cons of each… and those generally relate to what I will be addressing here. Here is a link to the first article.
The Naming of Types of Travellers
Having already addressed styles of travel, I recently decided that I wanted to talk about the individual personalities, qualities, or temperaments of different types of travelers. In fact, I wanted to give names to different individuals’ perspectives on what travel means or involves for them.
And, as usual, every time I think that perhaps I have come up with an original idea, I realize that of course it isn’t. I know that dozens, if not hundreds, of people will have already given some thought to this and posted those thoughts on “Ye Olde Inter-web. 🙂 And of course, there were dozens of offerings to be found when I searched.
My personal favourite of all the postings I checked out was “travel.earth’s” article entitled “The 28 Different Types of Travellers You May Meet”. The author, Malavika Kumar, provided – to my mind – a pretty accurate summary of each of the 28 types in an affectionate, and often amusing way.
I am going to quote her list here, along with a brief snippet identifying the attributes she identified for each, but you need to go and read the full article to really appreciate what she has to say about each of these different types of travellers.
And so, from “The 28 Different Types of Travellers You May Meet”…
“1. Culture Vulture – The world is full of amazing cultures, and these travellers want to explore it all. They want to understand and absorb the culture.
2. The Foodie – These types set out around the world in search of delicious food.
3. The Nature Lover – These travellers are so fascinated by nature, they spend most of their vacations in jungles and forests observing flora and fauna.
4. The Photographer – You’ll find these types of travellers behind the lens of a camera, capturing every moment of their trip.
5. The Social Butterfly – whatever they do, they do it for social media. Some may even be bloggers or YouTubers.
6. The Party Animal – These are the travellers who travel just for fun and parties.
7. The Planner – They are perhaps the most organised type of travellers. They like to plan out and schedule any trip to the “T”.
8. The Nomad – The polar opposite of the Planner, this one’s trips are sudden and totally unplanned.
9. The Thrill Seeker – these adrenaline junkies and daredevils travel far and wide in search of their next adventure.
10. The Functional Traveller – To these travellers, travel is just a means to an end… often too consumed with their task to get the most out of the destinations they’re at.
11. The Pilgrim – They follow pilgrimage trails or visit the shrines of those they worship – religious or otherwise.
12. The Shopper – They travel to different parts of the world for one thing, and one thing only – shopping.
13. The Backpacker – These types of travellers quite literally travel light – independently exploring different places on a low budget.
14. The Gap Years – While this group is often associated with backpacking, they are generally well-off young people (usually just having graduated school or college) who want to experience something entirely new, with the added bonus of being away from home for a long period. They may also be found volunteering or working abroad.
15. The Complainer – This one has a problem with just about everything during your vacation. … and tend to favour places that closely resemble home.
16. The Gang – Typically found travelling in groups, these travellers like to travel with friends and family and are rarely found alone.
17. The Weekender – These travellers go away on vacation at every single available opportunity, especially on weekends. They may visit places close to home, or even go on short trips further away.
18. The Chatter Box – This one seems to befriend anyone and everyone they meet on their trip, from taxi drivers to waiters.
19. The Luxury Traveller – Nothing less than a 5-star hotel is enough for this traveller. No matter where they go, luxury is a top priority.
20. The Escapee – A fugitive of all that is mundane and familiar, these travellers are often quite lost. Whether they’re running away from boredom or heartbreak, guilt, failure, conflict, or themselves, they’re sure to be looking for some sort of escape at a faraway destination.
21. The Solo Artist – the solo traveller chooses to venture into the world alone, and on their own terms.
22. The Soul Searcher – They use travel as a means to find themselves or find some spiritual meaning in life.
23. The Budget Tripper – While they may want to travel everywhere, these travellers are constrained by tighter budgets.
24. The Collector – They never leave a new place without a memento.
25. The Pioneer – They’re seekers of mostly unexplored or offbeat destinations.
26. The Rejuvenator – Looking to get away from the hustle-bustle of everyday life, these types of travellers want to relax.
27. The Clueless One – They rely on others to plan their vacation and to then get around the destination.
28. The Tourist – Most people you meet are simply tourists – travellers who prefer sticking to well-known destinations and touristy activities, often during established holiday seasons. They may partake in organised tours and events or be entirely guided by travel guides and books.”
An interesting and worthy list for sure. But before I move on, here is a quick list of some of the other sites that I looked at. You will see that many of these came up with similar designations but there are a few original ones. If you are REALLY interested in this sort of thing have a look through a few. One grouping was rooted in actual research rather than an author’s imagination.
https://quiz.canada.travel/caen/all-traveller-types
https://www.holidify.com/pages/types-of-travellers-1600.html
https://www.laurewanders.com/types-of-travellers/
https://www.travelweekly-asia.com/Travel-News/Travel-Trends/4-new-types-of-travellers-in-todays-world
https://www.tripoto.com/india/trips/21-different-types-of-travelers-in-tourism-industry-6164665204dd3
And now, on to my take on the matter. 🙂
My Contribution to the Naming Process
When I read Ms. Kumar’s list, my immediate thought was that I, and many folks I know, fit into several of the various categories. My second thought was, do I have anything to contribute to the already existing discourse?
I quickly realized that I didn’t really have anything new to add to any of the list of traveller types. All I would be doing would be reshuffling or reimagining the ones other people have already come up with. No point to that. So, I dove a little deeper into the search and found a couple of interesting historical names.
In fact, they have been in use for hundreds of years. And perhaps not terribly surprising, they were both French. Those being the “Flâneur” and the “Coureur des Bois”.
Flâneur
You might be thinking that Flâneur sounds like it might be something I made up, but no, it is an expression that was first used to describe a particular type of traveller in 1872. You can read the entire evolution and description of the Flâneur concept here in a Wikipedia article, but essentially a Flâneur is a person, “literally meaning ‘stroller’, ’lounger’, ‘saunterer’, or ‘loafer’”, or “gentleman stroller of city streets”.
And that generally fits me to a bit of a “T”… except maybe the “loafer” bit. 🙂 My original career goal was to be an Urban Planner and to this day I love urban places, and strolling through them enjoying the architecture, taking in the sights and sounds, sitting at cafés watching people, and generally living in the heart of any town so that I can feel it’s ongoing pulse.
Coureur des Bois (runner of the woods)
Most Canadians have heard of the “Coureur des Bois” term. According to Wikipedia the Coureur des Bois “was an independent entrepreneurial French Canadian trader who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with First Nations peoples“.
This was obviously a very up close and personal experience involving meeting and interacting with people from different cultures, in areas were perhaps no other European traveller had visited before. Sounds wonderful to me.
When I travel, I want to be surrounded by locals, not a bunch of people just like me herded together onto a bus or a cruise ship. I am very much a lover of interacting with individuals in different parts of the world and getting to understand, at least at a very rudimentary level, aspects of their culture. One thing I have learned over the years and through all the travel we have taken, no matter the cultural differences, people all over the world are essentially the same.
And, when I come home, I want a myriad of experiences rattling around in my head, not a list of places I’ve been to or sights I’ve seen… although they are important as well.
The Travel Comfort Continuum
Now, on to my actual contribution to the traveller naming game. It has been my observation over the years that all travellers exhibit varying levels of “comfort” with travel. From “I’d rather be out here on the road than be at home”, to the other end of the spectrum, where you find individuals who think “I really don’t want to go anywhere, but I will if I have to”. Perhaps this could also be looked at as a bit of a measure of how adventurous or independent individuals will be while they are out on the road.
And so, I have created a measure of comfort with travel, what I refer to as “The Travel Comfort Continuum”. Within that range, I have named and placed individuals or groups who fit along that continuum.
There are no individuals who refuse to travel anywhere included here. To qualify, an individual or individuals must go somewhere outside their known range of travel, if only occasionally.
And here they are…
Nearly-Never-Travellers – These are the folks who really do not want to leave home. But, they may have one spot that is very similar to home where they will go for short periods of time with family or friends, e.g. Florida.
Rather-Be-Doing-Something-Else – These people go with their spouse or a group to distant places and either endure it, or at times enjoy it. But they would much rather be doing something more familiar and enjoyable to them.
Parachutists – The parachutists are individuals who will travel but have to do so in a bit of a bubble. These people travel on cruise ships or guided bus excursions where they get plunked down into a new travel location for a few hours each day and then returned to the comfort of known people, food and surroundings each evening. They are often seen following a tour guide who is holding some sort of stick-like object aloft.
Hired Guns – These people use hired guns i.e. travel guides who do all the planning and accompany them as they travel around.
Associates – The Associates enjoy a looser travel experience that is jointly planned by them and a friend or family member and undertaken independent of tour groups, but they need to do this with other people, never on their own
The Deliberate – Deliberate travellers will travel with others or on their own, but they must pre-plan and organize absolutely every step of the trip before they leave home.
The Adaptable – the Adaptable leave home with a general plan of where they will go and what they will do but will quickly change their informal plans when they get inspired to do something else while they’re out on the road.
Coureur des Bois – a Courier des Bois will buy a return air ticket, and possibly think up a rough itinerary, but basically wing it when they get to their first destination.
And there you have it, the first draft of the Travel Comfort Continuum. When I first thought about doing this, I thought the guiding principle would be “fear”… i.e. measuring a level of fear of travel. But I realized that was quite judgemental, and I did not really want this to be judgemental in any way. Everyone arrives at a level of tolerance around how they like to travel, and we should not be imposing our own feelings on anyone’s choices.
So, now the fun part… OK, it might not actually be fun, but it should be an interesting experience for you to figure out what type of traveller you are. You will probably see yourself in a few categories like I do. And, I suppose, this would be a good time to assess whether you need to ramp up your travel game a bit by being a little more adventurous and move yourself a little further down the Comfort Continuum. 🙂 That said, you will probably find yourself being in a couple of spots along the continuum, just as you might find with the labels.
Happy travels everyone… no matter how you go about it.
