Best vacation for you according to type.

Interesting article. I am still processing it.

I am an extrovert and my husband is an introvert. It is funny though, if we are in a busy area my husband is his usual self, but if we are with few other people and if he has something in common with someone, suddenly he becomes social. Even on our latest trip he even surprised me a few times with this, and when I relayed it to our kids they were surprised. Old dog, new tricks? Maybe;)

I am a planner, but also like to do things on a whim. So again a mix of styles. On our recent trip I did have every day planned out, but then a few times we ignored it altogether or changed up things along the way. The planning is so we don't waste any time backtracking etc but I am not married to it either. One day we threw out the plan, went to a hot spring and on the fly decided to do a 12 mile hike to the volcano.

Yes, interesting. I’ve come to the realization that just as we evolve and grow as people, so does our travel style. Especially as we grow older. Late nights out are almost a thing of the past, a glass of wine has replaced alcohol due to health issues, heavy meals with fried foods has gone by the wayside.
Getting up early to get a head start is the norm now, no sleeping in. Mornings are glorious, not so much dark nights. Smaller cities are easier to manage, and better hotels are a must. And literally stopping to smell the roses, no more rushing from place to place for us. Slow Mo is our motto.

You are extroverted and allocentric, so you gain energy from
spontaneity, adventure, and meeting new people. The ideal vacation for
you is to go someplace crowded and popular, but without a highly
structured itinerary. For example, you might want to book a summer
trip to Rome for a week with nothing but airline tickets, hotel
reservations, and a guidebook. Then you could talk with everyone you
meet in restaurants and go dancing at night.

Well, I guess I fit this option best - The Spontaneous Socializer. I'm extroverted and I like to plan logistics ahead of time, although I don't like crowds. I make copious lists of all the sights and places available, but do not plan out an itinerary for each day; preferring to wing it unless I have to schedule something.

But I do not see myself going dancing at night! 🤣🤣🤣

Unfortunately there's a pay wall for the article.

"Unfortunately there's a pay wall for the article."

Yep...anyone want to do a summary?

I relate to the “Lone Wanderer”. Two of my favorite days of my RS Adriatic tour were walking through Plitvice Lakes National Park and the day/overnight that I went by myself to Hvar Island. I did love the tour & our tour group and highly recommend it! But I sure love an unstructured agenda!! Lots of research ahead of time just provides the ideas of possibilities!

The article nailed it according to my former career. Under the 4th option, The Lone Wanderer, as it related to work, I’m definitely allocentric and had the perfect career that aligned with it. But, the last two years of my career, they moved me into a critical role, working on documentation improvements for FDA audits which was the opposite of an allocentric position. Although I was effective, my satisfaction & energy took a nosedive.

“ If you are psychocentric, you might need to add more structure and schedule to your job and home life, but if you’re allocentric, you should look for a professional life that is unpredictable and different every day.

Here’s the four options:

1. The Spontaneous Socializer
   You are both extroverted and allocentric, so you gain energy from spontaneity, adventure, and meeting new people. The ideal vacation for you is to go someplace crowded and popular, but without a highly structured itinerary. For example, you might want to book a summer trip to Rome for a week with nothing but airline tickets, hotel reservations, and a guidebook. Then you could talk with everyone you meet in restaurants and go dancing at night.

2. The Gregarious Planner
   You are psychocentric and extroverted, so you love people but hate travel uncertainty. Meeting strangers gives you energy, but not having activities planned sounds terrible to you. For you, the best vacation is a packaged and preorganized trip to a popular destination. You might consider a guided visit to Disney World or a walking tour of Jerusalem, but either way, you’ll prefer to go with a large group, on a trip carefully curated by a travel company.

1. The Surprise Avoider
   Psychocentric and introverted, you are the opposite of the spontaneous socializer—you feel your energy dissipating when you have to worry about what you’re going to do and the prospect of dealing with a lot of people, especially strangers. For you, the ideal vacation this year is the same as last year, and the year before: a beautiful, peaceful place you know well, with a few people you know best. You might want to rent a cabin by a lake for two weeks every year, and invite the same small group of friends or family members.

2. The Lone Wanderer
   This kind of vacation personality might seem unlikely: You get energy from spontaneity and risk but are exhausted by strangers and crowds. But that isn’t so strange. In fact, my daughter has this sort of allocentric, introverted personality. For her 18th birthday, she wanted to try skydiving, alone except for me. (We had a great time.) Besides jumping out of a plane with your dad, another idea for this type of vacation could be to drive Route 66 solo on a motorcycle, with no itinerary and only a credit card, a sleeping bag, and a few good books.

mikliz97, I am like your husband. I am an introvert, but I do enjoy meeting people and socializing--one-on-one or in very small groups. Being an introvert does not mean that one doesn't like people. It means that we need more time to recharge after socializing, and crowds drain our energy very quickly.

I guess I relate the most to the Lone Wanderer, but I am also very much a planner. However, I plan out of necessity, both to make the most of the time we have, which is always limited, and to avoid crowds as much as possible (i.e. I research uncrowded times, etc.).

BB--You sound like my twin:) Twice on our trip my husband really engaged with two strangers. For him it was totally out of character and I was looking at him wondering if that was my husband. When we relayed this to our kids, our son gave the cocked head look and asked him what got into him, lol. But one guy was from Seattle, so there was that instant connection, but he had also spent the last month on a sailboat, and was headed to Greenland on the sailboat next. My husband was all over that and is now in contact with him. The other guy was from Denmark and at a coffee shop, my husband accidentally grabbed his coffee order. We happened to be sitting next to him, and our son lived in Denmark so there you go. Still, very out of his normal character, but like all of us, we engage with people we can relate to.

I do with I could read more that the first paragraph or so of the article.

From what I have gleaned, for one I am not tied to the summer travel season and am happy to let others have the summer as their prime travel season. Nor do I travel as a means to relax or contemplate. A significant reason is to be "there" and to get to see many of the places that up to that moment I have only read about. Looking forward to being in London for Bonfire Night

I'm not bothered by repetitiveness and am quite happy to return to places I have previously visited.

I am most certainly an introvert while I also work a public facing career where I interact with easily a couple thousand people in a day. I am also very content to travel and be by myself, but get me around museum curators, public historians, interpretive & educational staff or a blacksmith I'll happily talk. Last trip to London I really had a relaxed peaceful time watching Mudlarks from my hotel window on the river below, and then going down to ask if I might see what they collected.

The only things I bother to plan is travel logistics and where I plan to rest my head. I do not plan out the sites I intend to visit, I only bother to make a list of the things that I would like to see and go off that and see what interests me for the day. Best spur of the moment was going to the indoor kart racing track at TeamSport in the Docklands.

The most beautiful part of any day is in that dawn twilight in that little bit of morning before sunrise -- the quiet and peace as a city is only just starting to stir and few people are going about.

Thank you, Jean, for the summary!

I'm not sure I fit any of these. I guess Surprise Avoider has some characteristics as I like to plan but I've never been one of those people who went to the same beach every year, stayed in the same hotel and asked for the same room and went to the same restaurants in order, lol. I DO like to return to places (Paris and Yellowstone!!) but I do different things every time. I'm an extroverted introvert although most of my friends would probably judge me as an extrovert. I have to work at that but it's easier in a group I'm comfortable with.

I have decided I like more in depth travel. I don't like moving every other night but enjoy staying at a couple of hotels and doing day trips out. Over my last 2 tours I've come to know that I enjoy the dynamics of a small group. I can deal with a larger group but for me that takes some work, lol! I like outdoor focused vacations but am not in to sports - just like to walk in beautiful places! I want a history base to my trips as well.

Treemoss2, what fits you?

Pam, I think we have all four types in our local Coeur d’Alene/Spokane RS travel group. That makes such interesting & unique, well-rounded conversations when we’re not all the same type of traveler!

I’m excited to have several 1-night stops in my next Italy trip. Just try changing me - LOL!

Definitely not the Surprise Avoider, but a mixture of a little bit of the other 3.

I think the analysis of the surprise avoider needs work. I mostly fit that description, but not the travel style. If time and money were unlimited I would fit the lonely wanderer. I am a super planner, but as someone else mentioned, I can easily give up a plan if it doesn't fit the mood of the day. What I hate though is being someplace very far from home with limited time and not know what to do. I like to have the information on how/what to do for 4 times the amount of time I have and then I can pick from those things to do.

Going on tours has improved my travel skills, but I definitely prefer not being with a group and hiring day guides if feasible. I haven't done a solo multi-city trip on my own yet, and I problably never will. I feel better with another brain at my side on transportation days. I crave a completely solo trip though. I am travelling with my son once a year and we do a multi-city trip. Then I take a solo one city trip in the fall. Works out great!

I am most definitely a Lone Wanderer...even when coerced into traveling with someone I remain inside my own head as much as possible. I am not energized by dealing with strangers, though while on occasion in my travels I have had some interesting conversations I by no means seek them out.

@Jean!! "I’m excited to have several 1-night stops in my next Italy trip. Just try changing me - LOL!" AND that would drive me stark raving mad! I think you are right, I think we have a good mixture in the group!