Are You a Vacationer or a Traveler? How Your Travel Style Shapes Your Trip

Are you a vacationer or a traveler?

Because yes, I think there is a difference.

But before anyone gets defensive, neither one is right or wrong. In fact, most of us are probably a little bit of both.

The real question is how you want to feel when you're traveling.

When you picture your next trip, do you see yourself finally getting some much-needed rest and relaxation? Maybe you're sitting by the pool or on the beach, reading a book, enjoying a fruity drink and not worrying about what time you need to be somewhere.

Or are you thinking, How much can we possibly see in seven days?

Maybe you're looking at a map, making a list of museums and historic sites, researching restaurants and trying to figure out how to squeeze one more experience into the itinerary.

And maybe you're somewhere in between.

That's why I think it's more useful to talk about travel styles rather than simply calling someone a vacationer or a traveler.

So, What Kind of Traveler Are You?

Over the years, I've noticed that most travelers tend to fall into a few different categories.

And, importantly, you don't have to pick just one.

Your travel style can change depending on the trip, the destination and even who you're traveling with.

Here are six of the travel styles I see most often.

The Relaxer

"Please don't give me an itinerary. You can find me on the beach."

The Relaxer is traveling because they need a break.

They're ready for the spa, the pool, the beach, good food and a comfortable place to stay.

They don't necessarily want to know what time the museum opens or how many historic sites they can squeeze into one afternoon.

They want someone else to handle the details so they don't have to.

And honestly? Sometimes that's exactly what a vacation should be.

A Relaxer may not want to "see it all." They may want to sleep in, order another coffee, read their book and come home feeling like they've actually had a break.

The Explorer

"How much can we fit into seven days?"

The Explorer looks at a destination and thinks, We're here. Let's go.

They may only get one opportunity to visit a particular place, so they want to make the most of it. They're interested in the iconic sights, historic landmarks, museums, neighborhoods and restaurants—but they're also keeping an eye out for those lesser-known experiences along the way.

They don't mind a full day of sightseeing.

In fact, a full day of sightseeing may be their idea of a great day.

The challenge with an Explorer is making sure "seeing everything" doesn't turn into being exhausted by day three.

That's where thoughtful planning comes in. You can have a full itinerary without making every minute of the trip feel like a race.

The Experience Seeker

"So...I did a thing."

The Experience Seeker doesn't just want to visit a destination. They want to experience it.

They're signing up for the food tour. They're taking the cooking class. They're learning how to make pasta, visiting a local market, taking a hands-on workshop or finding a cultural experience they couldn't easily have at home.

For this traveler, the story they tell afterward may be more important than the number of sights they checked off a list.

They don't just want to say, "We went to Italy."

They want to say, "We took a cooking class in Italy and I can actually make that dish now."

The Best of Both Worlds

"I'm going to need to recoup after everything we did today."

This traveler wants to explore—but not every single day.

Maybe they spend several days exploring Rome and Florence before slowing things down in Tuscany.

Or maybe they take a Mediterranean cruise where they explore a new port during the day and return to dinner, entertainment and their balcony at night.

They want experiences, but they also want downtime.

This is probably one of the most common travel styles I see because, let's be honest, most of us don't want to spend our entire trip either sitting still or running from one activity to the next.

Sometimes the best itinerary is one that gives you something to look forward to and a little room to breathe.

The Dreamer

"I read about it in a book once."

The Dreamer chooses a destination because something personal inspired the trip.

Maybe it was a book. A movie. A photograph. A family story. An interest in history. Or

perhaps they've spent years wondering where their ancestors came from.

For this traveler, the destination has meaning beyond simply being somewhere they'd like to visit.

They may want to walk through the places they read about in a favorite novel. Visit filming locations from a beloved movie. Take a behind-the-scenes tour.

Or stand in the town where their great-grandparents lived and learn more about their family history.

That can turn a trip into something much more personal.

You're not just visiting a place.

You're connecting the destination to a story that already matters to you.

The Memory Maker

"Remember that trip we took?"

For the Memory Maker, the destination matters—but who they're traveling with matters even more.

They can have a great time almost anywhere because they brought the right people with them.

Maybe it's a multi-generational family trip. A milestone birthday. A girls' trip. A couples'

getaway. A trip with longtime friends.

They're thinking about the stories they'll tell later. The ridiculous things that happened. The meals everyone still talks about. The photo that makes everyone laugh.

For the Memory Maker, the destination is often the setting for the memories they're really going to remember.

You Don't Have to Pick Just One

This is important: you don't have to fit neatly into one category.

Your travel style can change depending on the trip.

You might be an Explorer on your first trip to Europe because you want to see as much as possible.

Then you might be a Relaxer on your anniversary trip to Mexico because what you really need is a few days where nobody expects anything from you.

And when you take the whole family to Disney World? You might be a Memory Maker.

None of those choices are contradictory.

The goal isn't to put yourself into a box. It's to understand what you need from this particular trip.

Why Your Travel Style Matters When Planning a Trip

This is one of the reasons I ask my clients so many questions.

Sometimes the questions probably seem a little unrelated to travel.

I want to know what you do in your free time. What you enjoy. Whether you like to be active or prefer to relax. What kinds of books you read. What you're interested in. Whether you like having every detail planned or would rather have flexibility.

And if you tell me, "I really want to go here," I want to know why.

Because the destination alone doesn't tell me what kind of trip you actually want.

Two people can tell me they want to go to Italy and need completely different vacations.

One person may want a packed itinerary with major landmarks, guided tours and plenty of sightseeing.

Another may want a beautiful hotel, long lunches, a cooking experience and several afternoons with nowhere to be.

Both can have an amazing trip to Italy.

But they shouldn't have the same trip to Italy.

That's the difference.

I'm not interested in sending a Relaxer to Ireland with a packed itinerary simply because Ireland is a popular destination. If what you really need is an easy, relaxing escape, maybe we're talking about an entirely different type of trip.

And that's why I don't want to just send you three random resorts and a random excursion because you said you want to go somewhere warm.

I want to understand what you're envisioning.

What Do You Want to Remember?

One of my favorite questions to ask is:

What do you want to remember about this trip?

• Maybe it's sitting on a beach with your spouse and realizing you haven't looked at your phone in three hours.

• Maybe it's standing in front of the Colosseum for the first time.

• Maybe it's learning to cook a traditional dish with your family.

• Maybe it's walking through the village where your ancestors lived.

• Maybe it's watching your kids experience something completely new.

Those answers tell me much more than simply knowing where you want to go.

Because the destination is important, but the right trip is about so much more than the destination.

It's about how you spend your time once you get there, who you're sharing it with, what you experience and, ultimately, how you feel when you come home.

So, What Kind of Traveler Are You?

Before you ask yourself, "Where should I go next?" maybe there's another question worth asking first:

What kind of traveler am I—and what do I need from my next trip?

You might be a Relaxer.

You might be an Explorer.

You might be an Experience Seeker, a Dreamer, a Memory Maker or some combination of all of them.

And that's where a good travel advisor can help.

At Good Trip Travel Co., we're not just trying to find you somewhere to go. We're trying to understand why you want to go and what will make the trip feel right for you.

So tell us what sounds exciting, what sounds exhausting and what you want to remember when you get home.

We'll help you build the trip around that.

Be a Good Tripper.

Inquire today to start planning your next vacation: https://www.goodtrip.biz/bookwithalyssa