Have you ever taken a travel style quiz? In general, do you know your travel style? Through past travel experiences, I’ve been able to better understand my preferences but I recently decided to take two travel style quizzes on Kayak and Contiki.com. Each quiz gave me a different answer but I think both describe me really well. Keep reading to learn about my travel style based on those quizzes and don’t forget to share info about your travel style in the comments as well!
MVP (Most Valuable Planner)
Kayak's quiz gave me the travel personality “MVP (Most Valuable Planner)”. While I am NOT the kind of traveler that plans out the trip hour by hour, with nap time scheduled between 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm sharp, I am the one to take charge of planning all aspects of the vacation. My friends and family know it too, which is why I have become the designated travel agent within my circle. I’m doing research on hotel/AirBnB options, making lists of must-do activities, booking reservations, and determining transportation routes ahead of time. Anybody who vacations with me knows I’ve got everything covered!
My goal isn’t to be overbearing or to be a stickler though. In fact, I’m always open to other opinions, changing plans, detouring, and casually exploring. Instead, my planning is usually more generic. Planning ahead has become essential to me for a few reasons:
I enjoy looking at accommodation pictures LOL. Especially for places like Bali, I love looking at the beautiful villas and imagining myself in those settings. Honestly, one of my favorite hobbies.
I need to know what we are going to do so I can buy/plan my outfits accordingly, DUH! Call me crazy if you want but I’m one to look into the activities so I can figure out the vibe, colors, hairstyles, etc that I need to go for during the trip. Like is this trip giving bright colors or black and white, box braids or passion twists, flowy pants or leather skirt, etc.? I’ve been trying to improve my style when traveling, esp. since at home, I’m jeans and a t-shirt every day. Are we doing a fancy dinner where I need to buy a fancy dress? What do I already have in my closet? And more importantly, have I already taken travel pictures in said clothing options? Decisions decisions!
I have always traveled without using international roaming services which means I can’t just use Google Maps to help me freely roam while abroad. Because of this, having an idea of what I want to do each day allows me to download directions ahead of time so I don’t get lost.
I’m a mid-range budget traveler, which means that I’m not penny-pinching but I’m also not splurging at all times. I have a vacation budget that I try to maintain and planning allows me to pick and choose how my money is spent. By planning, I can gauge what activities will cost a pretty penny versus what activities I can save on, what the best method of transportation is for my budget, and what style of accommodation I should plan for. If I need to increase my budget, I’m usually willing. But financial stability is really important for me and my life goals so I’m never going to do anything that will cause me to struggle to pay bills when I get back to the U.S. Planning helps me be strategic with my money without accidentally going overboard.
For me, planning doesn't look like this:
8:30 AM Wake Up
9:45 AM Breakfast at Marilyn’s Cafe
11:00 AM ATV Riding
1:00 PM Return to Hotel, Shower
2:15 PM Lunch at Johnny Rockets
3:45 PM Luxemburg Shrine
4:15 PM Mexico History Museum
6:30 PM Dinner at Bajas
9:00 PM Sleep
Instead, my goal is to check off a few bucket list activities each day, allow time for relaxation, and make transportation from one activity to the next as easy as possible. So my planning looks more like this:
Accommodation: Dubai Municipal Hotel
Day 1: Miracle Garden, Explore Dubai Mall (Lunch in Food Court?), Hotel Pool
Day 2: Walk the Jumeirah Beach Strip, Marilyn’s Cafe?, Burj Khalifa Dinner
Day 3: Desert Safari Tour
See It All, Do It All
Contiki matched me with the “see it all, do it all” travel style. Their description was that I am energetic, hungry for adventure, eager to visit many different destinations, and searching for once-in-a-lifetime experiences along the way. Anybody that knows me knows that I want to visit almost every country at some point and am always looking forward to the next vacation. Although I’m not a full-on daredevil looking for the most chaotic, daring activities, I do love adventures and trying new things unique to whatever country I’m in. I’m ready to snorkel in the Caribbean, ride dune buggies through the Dubai desert, climb Machu Picchu, and play with elephants in Thailand. I love cultural experiences like festivals, dance classes, trying new foods, visiting temples and mosques, dressing in traditional clothing, etc. I’m also good for mixing low-budget activities, like free museums, with luxury experiences, like private villas and fancy dinners with a view, during my vacation. I usually attempt to see some of the iconic monuments and tourist attractions available in each country. And I also like to set aside time to sit by the beach, see waterfalls, and, in general, relax.
Based on what I described, it’s pretty clear that I really do have that always-on-the-go, explorer attitude when it comes to my vacations. Because I still have a full-time job with limited PTO, I typically have to be a fast traveler. This means planning as many vacations during any free time possible (including long weekends), planning multi-destination trips, doing as much during each day as possible without feeling overwhelmed, and, typically, not revisiting a country for a while in favor of going somewhere new. Hopefully, at some point, I won’t feel as limited and can slow down a bit to fully experience each destination. But as of now, with such an extensive bucket list, I have to make do with the little time I have.
How would you describe your travel style?
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