4 Types of Travelers

Traveling excites almost everyone. In today’s digital world and remote work culture, traveling is very easy. With the remote work culture being the norm, we are entering the golden era of travel. Many people will travel in many ways. From just backpackers and vacationers, we will see wellness travelers, digital nomads, remote workers, family travelers, and many more.

I have found that no matter how you travel, your mindset and attitude will define your experience. What goes on in your mind when you think of traveling, who you are, what’s your character, what’s your philosophy of life, what stage of life you are in, your life experience up till that point will play a key role in what you experience. From this perspective, travelers can be categorized into 4 categories.

1. The Tattoo God

These are travelers whose purpose is only to cover more countries. They get a thrill and self-validation by being able to say to their friends that they have been to X countries. Very similar to a guy who loves bragging about the number of girls he has slept with. Unfortunately, he doesn’t go deeper with women and miss the real magic of women. For him, it’s just the intercourse that matters. Tattoo Gods don’t explore the place even if they are long-term travelers. They don’t feel the place. Most of them just see the most popular stuff. They don’t have a theme for traveling. They are not interested in any particular aspect of a place, people, culture, or adventure. For them, it’s the stamps on the passport that matters not the experience.

2. The Runaway Bride

Being a Runaway Bride traveler is a curse. Instead of enriching life, it kills your soul. Nothing is left. These are folks who get bored of life. They do not have any ambition or curiosity, to begin with. They are chillers. They just want to have an easy life. They are unable to take on the pressures of life. One day they decide they want to travel. Unfortunately, traveling is not therapy so they carry all their internal issues with them. Their laziness, fear, insecurities, low self-esteem, and others. These are mostly very long-term, so-called, travelers. You can find them working in party hostels or popular backpacking destinations. They stay at one place for months but hardly see anything. The unfortunate part is that their travels only involve smoking and partying, lying in a hammock in hostels, finding some partner and tagging along, and lying on beaching. They have no purpose in traveling. Working in a party hostel and just weeding and drinking in not traveling. Once they get addicted to it, there is no looking back. Working for 5 hours a day as a bartender in a hostel and then being the heart of hostel parties is addictive. It is like living and working in a nightclub for free. They neither build a career nor travel. They are like teenagers.

3. The Curious Kid

These are the real travelers. They can be long-term travelers or short-term vacationers. They are up for exploring new stuff, trying new things, learning about the place, and having adventures. They don’t hold back anything when they travel. Be it two weeks or two years, they challenge themselves and they let go of themselves. They are passionate about things. They have a theme when they travel. Diving, history, social work, trekking, meeting opposite sex, etc. They are the most open-minded and have the most enriching life experiences. Meeting them is inspiring. They can introduce you to new things, they can make your journey more enriching. They refresh you. They intrigue you. The shock you too.

4. The Lost Soul

These are people who somehow in their early years followed the social narrative only to realize later in life that it is not serving them. They can be someone who climbed the corporate ladder at a rapid pace in their 20s and finding themselves empty on their 30th birthday. They can be someone who had it all but felt lonely. After a meaningless journey following social narrative, they feel lost and one fine day they decide that maybe they can travel. They don’t know why they are traveling. Deep inside they know they are in search of something they don’t know. They have drive, ambition, and guts. They are no more ready to do what the heart does not want so they just hit the roads. They have an amazing sense of self and deep life experiences. They usually find something on their travels and their life takes a new direction altogether.

Traveling like life is not linear. You may find yourself in all categories at various phases of your travels. The key is to recognize and not drift away from your core.