Which Traveler Are You? Exploring Six Distinct Travel Personalities

What kind of traveler are you at heart? Do you pinch pennies to extend your journey, or do you splurge on luxury experiences? Are you drawn to cultural immersion, or do you crave heart-pounding adventure?

We all have natural tendencies that shape our travel experiences, yet many of us try to force ourselves into travel styles that don't authentically reflect who we are. In this eye-opening exploration of travel personalities, we break down six distinct traveler types - from the budget-conscious backpacker to the comfort-seeking luxury traveler, the thrill-seeking adventurer to the history-loving cultural enthusiast, the unhurried slow traveler to the freedom-chasing road tripper.

Each travel style comes with recommended destinations and valuable resources to help you embrace your authentic travel self. The budget traveler might thrive in Thailand or Vietnam, utilizing apps like Going to score affordable flights. Luxury travelers might set their sights on Dubai or an upscale African safari. Adventure seekers could plan expeditions to Iceland's glaciers or Patagonia's rugged terrain, while cultural enthusiasts might immerse themselves in Italy's art scene or Scotland's rich history.

Your travel style isn't a fixed identity - it can evolve with life's seasons or adjust when traveling with companions. What matters most is recognizing and honoring your true preferences rather than forcing yourself to travel like someone else. When you align your journeys with your authentic self, travel becomes not just enjoyable but transformative.

Follow @solotraveladventures50 on Instagram to see how I incorporate budget-friendly local adventures into everyday life. Have questions about finding your travel style? Message me there or book a personal consultation to discover the traveler you're meant to be.

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Chapters

• 0:00 What's Your Travel Style?
• 2:07 Budget and Luxury Travelers
• 6:53 Adventure and Cultural Travelers
• 9:46 Slow Travelers and Road Trippers
• 13:56 Embrace Your Authentic Travel Self

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Have you ever taken a personality test such as the Myers-Briggs DISC or Enneagram? Or maybe you remember those years when you had Seventeen Magazine and you took one of those tests inside the magazine or nowadays, on Facebook, they have similar tests, testing different quizzes, to see where you score. Well, what if you could take one that determined your travel style? I'm Cheryl Esch, your host of Solo Travel Adventures, and in today's episode we will look at the different styles of travelers out there, and which one are you. Maybe you already have a sense of how you like to travel, based on your personality, maybe what you enjoy doing, what your interests are or your priorities. But we're going to break down at least these are based on my observations and others as well. But I want to impress upon you first that you may relate to more than one of these styles, and then some of them do crossover. Keep that in mind and I'll bring that up as I identify each one. And secondly, you may find your style of travel changes depending on your season in your life, or it could change if you're traveling with someone else. Now I don't technically have a quiz for you, but these styles are again something I've observed and others have also pointed out and identified these types of travelers. So let's dive right in that first one I identify with. This one is the budget traveler, or at least I try to in most seasons of my life. So this is a person that will stretch the dollar and they often give up the comforts for more experiences. They're okay staying in hostels cheaper hotels, camping in hostels cheaper hotels, camping using local transportation, maybe eating street food or even cooking on their own, all to save money so they can experience maybe more in their travels. And I will. In each travel style, I will also identify maybe some ideal destinations based on that traveler, and most of them I'm offering a resource as well, which will also be in the show notes. So budget traveler also might be somebody who backpacks, you know, carrying a backpack so they can move around more freely. They might travel by train, even because that's less expensive, or they might camp. Camping is also a budget-friendly way to travel. Some ideal destinations that are kind of fit with a budget traveler mentality is Thailand and Vietnam, and that is of course. We know that things are less expensive there, so your dollar will go further. Now that resource this is one I personally use and I love it. It is the Going app. So G-O-I-N-G it used to be called Scott's Cheap Flights and they send me notices on a daily basis of cheap flights that are out there. You can choose different airports you want them to send notices to you and they also have an app. Now in the show notes I also have a link which is sort of it is my affiliate link, so feel free to click on that, and there are different levels of membership for that to get those notices. But great, great, I just I'm. I get enticed by a lot of those emails. So do be careful with that or you may find yourself booking and not being a budget traveler anymore.

Speaker 1: 4:04

So number two is the luxury traveler. So this is someone who indulges in comfort, kind of almost the complete opposite of that budget traveler. They're going to have maybe exclusive locations. They're looking at five-star accommodations, top tier service. These are typically you'll find a lot of the luxury kind of trips are part of a package. They're like an all-inclusive. It might be an all-inclusive resort or just an all-inclusive package where they obviously they have the accommodations and anything else that's needed and that could be even considered. Transport might be included in that as well. So you could be a luxury traveler.

Speaker 1: 4:55

If you want to save up your money, say, for example, maybe, as I said, I'm a budget traveler, but maybe there is this luxury trip that I am dying to go on and I will admit, one of the recommended places is someplace I want to go. So there may be a time in my life where I will maybe start to just save up and save up so that I can indulge and take this luxury trip. So recommended places if you are a luxury traveler and there are many, these are just a few is Dubai, very opulent, and an African safari? There are some that are really luxury and that is a trip I would love to do. You know, they put you up in these beautiful whether they're kind of like these lodges or yurts that are luxury yurts Okay, not these budget or, um, outdoor camping type of feeling, but everything it's. I've seen some gorgeous pictures, but a resource and again, there's lots of different luxury travel agents and travel groups, but a main resource that you could check out, if this is something you're interested in, is it's called Luxury Travel Magazine and they're going to have more resources for you in regards to all things luxury travel. All right.

Speaker 1: 6:25

So number three adventure traveler. Now, I will have to say an adventure traveler crosses over the lines of it could either be a budget trip or a luxury trip You'll understand in a moment but an adventure traveler, they are a thrill seeker. They are hiking maybe those rugged landscapes, they thrive in nature. Examples would be maybe a cave exploration like Iceland's glaciers. Other examples Antarctica. That's a huge adventure trip, but that is on sort of the high end of luxury, uh, price tag Uh, but it is an adventure for sure. Um, if you're more into those hikes, uh, patagonia, uh, places like that are going to also be considered more of that adventure, uh, traveler trip, and so the budget on those can traveler trip, and so the budget on those can fluctuate. It can be, you know, it could be pretty expensive or it could be on the lower end of a budget, but this person specifically seeks out adventure, all right.

Speaker 1: 7:42

Number four is your cultural traveler, and this is for those who are drawn to history, art and the cultural traditions of other countries. They enjoy seeing ancient ruins, going to museums. They are typically history buffs. They will engage with the locals, immersing firsthand. A great way to do that is to do a local walking tour, and so my resource here if you want to do a local walking tour, there's a great organization it is Greet Her, and that I'll have that in the show notes but this is an organization where it's women only. So, ladies, you're out there solo traveling and you want to do a walking tour? Um, you want to feel safe and cause sometimes it could just be you and the guide, and so these are just women that do these local walking tours so you can feel more comfortable. So some suggested places that have well, there are tons that have so much culture out there, but the ones that stand out in my mind is, of course, italy so much so much culture and art, especially art and history there. Um, france of course, has a lot of history and and Scotland as well has a lot of history, but you may find other places that you are more drawn to that you can engage in that cultural aspect.

Speaker 1: 9:19

Number five is the slow traveler. This is someone who loves to take their time. They're going to have extended stays I'm talking several weeks probably at a time. They want to have meaningful connections with locals. They're likely going to stay among the locals as well, and they're just moving slowly. They're not rushing to go see this site or this site, or jetting off and doing tons of things every day. They're relaxing, they're taking it easy, they're almost becoming like the locals in their travel and staying maybe in one area for an extended period of time to fully, really absorb that place and get to know it, and this is typically those that you know might be.

Speaker 1: 10:12

You might see a lot of retirees or digital nomads that travel this way. Places that are great for this type of travel there's many, but one that comes to my mind is the English countryside. I just can imagine, you know, just slowly maybe spending staying in a you know a B&B, possibly, or even renting, since you're going to have extended stay. You might even just rent a place, a house or apartment, so that you can stay among the locals there, a resource that I'm recommending. These are folks that I admire and I follow. They are digital nomads and their names are Chris and Steve. They have a website and they also have three books which you can check out. It's called eatwalklearncom and their books will take you through, and they also have a YouTube channel. They have some great resources that help people that maybe want to become digital nomads, and so they do a lot of slow travel. They've been all over the world. Highly recommend grabbing up maybe one of their books. Highly recommend grabbing up maybe one of their books. If this is the type of travel you want to do at some point, grab up one of their books there.

Speaker 1: 11:36

And number six I have a road tripper, someone who strictly just loves to get on the road. They are freedom. Freedom to them equals open road, because they have that flexibility to do what they want, stop when they want, change their plans on a dime, they love scenic overlooks and they tend to be rather flexible in their planning and so they just hit the road, which, again, a road trip could be. More on the budget side, since you are typically you know you don't have airfare to worry about, you do have gas and you can likely stay uh, inexpensively. Most road trippers do enjoy, you know national parks. So examples would be the US National Parks. We have 63 incredible parks and Australia has the East Coast, also great place. I think Australia in general it would be a great place to do a road trip, even from east to west, although there'll be sections where there's not much. So that would require some planning, but road trips can be tend to be more on the budget side, but that also depends on, maybe, where you go, if you're having to rent a vehicle or using your own. So, but definitely it equals freedom in my mind and resource a lady who I did have on previously on my podcast. Her name is Beth Bing and she does road trips exclusively in the US, so she's got some good resources. I will include her information in the show notes as well.

Speaker 1: 13:24

So, question is, which one are you out of all those that I mentioned, or do you feel like you are a combination of some? Or you ebb and flow, again, like I mentioned, depending on the season of your life. And it doesn't mean I need to also preface this that I want you to listen to your personality, your personality, your style, your interest, and not try to be. For example, I love watching Chris and Steve and their nomadic life that they have, and I see many other travel influencers out there, whether it's they're doing these luxury kind of trips or they're doing the nomadic thing or road tripping, and and for me it's all exciting because it's just travel right and but I have to remind myself that that's that's them and that I don't want to try to be like them. I want to be myself.

Speaker 1: 14:25

So I'm encouraging you to figure out what fits your personality, your interest, best and let yourself be that type of traveler. Maybe even consider that, as you are looking to book your next travels, keeping that in mind. You know, maybe you truly are a cultural traveler and you just never had the opportunity to do that because maybe you've traveled with other people and there wasn't that freedom or availability to do that. I would encourage you, if that, if that really pulled on your heart and you're like, yeah, that's me, I really like that kind of stuff, then maybe plan your next trip based around that, based around those cultural things. Pick a place that offers a lot of that cultural stuff, and I hope that this helps you fully live into who you are as a person and as a traveler and try not to be like somebody else. And another example is you know, if you are not a budget backpacker and you like to have suitcases when you travel, bring everything you want. Kind of traveler, that's okay. Be that person. Don't try to get yourself into a mold. That's not you. Be that traveler that fits you. I encourage you to.

Speaker 1: 15:49

If you have not been following me on Instagram, go ahead and join it's solo travel adventures 50, and this is where I am posting my adventures speaking of adventures, because I'm not just a budget traveler but I do like adventure as well. But these are all local adventures that I'm trying to do and I'm also trying to keep it fairly inexpensive, so some of these are free events. Nothing so far has cost me more than $50. So kind of keeping it also budget friendly, and these are things that you could even do in your location or near your where you live. So just follow me on Instagram there. You could also message me through Instagram and, as I've been saying these past few weeks, I encourage you. Maybe you're still stuck on what type of traveler you are. You want to book a call with me and we can even figure that out together. Ladies, go out there and have that adventure and be yourself.