How to Enjoy the Trip by Understanding Your Travel Personality

June 15, 2011 by Bryce Christiansen in Understanding Yourself

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Summer is the time we pack the bags and make the trips we’ve planned all year.  But sitting in tight spaces with other people is a recipe for “personality friction”.  So how do we make these trips enjoyable for everyone? It’s all about understanding your travel personality.

This last weekend my wife and I drove up to New Mexico to celebrate a friend’s wedding.  We knew it was going to be rough from the start.  We’d have to be up by 2:00 am to make it to Farmington by 11:00 am, attend the wedding, then drive back the next morning for another 7 hours.  We’d be spending more time in the car then we’d spend at our actual destination.

A few hours into the trip, I realized we had a number of travel personality similarities, and a couple of differences. For example, Callie and I both wanted to make the trip as thrifty as possible.  We kept a watch for good gas prices and ate food we brought with us as opposed to making a bunch of fast food stops.  We kept to speed limits, even though there were stretches where every other driver could care less.  And we both spent plenty of the free time reading.

The frustrating moments however come from your differences.  Where I was happy to let Callie navigate the trip, she was not going to trust any directions from my lips.  She was very verbal in this agreement after I offered to help when she missed an exit TWICE going both directions.  Lesson learned.  She was also very prepared, where I was more relaxed.  She packed plenty of snacks and meals, knew where every item was stowed in each bag, and kept water in several portable coolers.

I discovered there are two parts to your travel personality, your behavioral style and your values.  There are some great DISC and Values assessments that help you determine these for yourself, but I will walk you through some examples to help you understand your own below.

Your Travel Behavior

The DISC behavior system categorizes behaviors through four styles; Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness, and Compliance.

• Dominance: People who tend to have this characteristic in their travel personality tend to be in a hurry, will take the risky shortcuts, and may be competitive if it’s a whole caravan of drivers participating.

• Influencing: When you travel with this type be prepared for chatter.  While others are sleeping this is the guy telling jokes and stories.  They are trusting and are optimistic about the trip.

• Steadiness: These are the ones who come prepared and seek to help out all the travelers journeying with them.  They bring snacks for the group, they enjoy the journey and don’t need it hurried.  Changes to the plan however make them nervous.

• Compliance: The last style are your driver’s who keep the rules.  Speed limit says 45 even though everyone else is doing 70? They still won’t budge.  They have their trusty GPS ready and are exacting on the route they take.  It will be rare to see these types making mistakes without noticing.

Many times you have a mix of these styles. My high optimism, rule following, and trust in a separate navigator lends my self to be more of a Influencing/Compliance behavior style.  While Callie’s preparedness with packing ahead of time, donating her time for a friend of mine, and rule following makes her more of a Steadiness/Compliance style.

Do you recognize any these traits in yourself?

Your Travel Values

The second part of your travel personality comes from your values. In general there are six values people tend to be motivated by; Utilitarian, Theoretical, Individualistic, Traditional, Social, and Aesthetic.

• Utilitarian:  Travelers with this motivator are driven by value and usefulness.  Therefore, they will look to find the best value for their money when journeying as well as how to make the most out of the trip.  They won’t want to miss out on great opportunities the trip presents.

• Theoretical:  These types are inspired by learning new things and discovery.  Know anyone that just wants to read the whole trip or will go to a beach just to explore a good book?  Chances are they have Theoretical motivations.

• Individualistic: The person motivated by this quality enjoys leadership and renown.  They are likely to be the ones organizing the trip, getting others involved, and making sure all the necessities are met.  They are happy to take on added responsibility.

• Traditional: The Traditionals have a system of travel they prefer.  When they head to Grandma’s they make deliberate pit stops at locations that have meaning to them.  They also may have a preferred way of switching off drivers or rules for the car.

• Social: Despite what the word means in everyday conversation, the social style does not mean they like to hang out or get to know people.  The social traveler’s main motivation is their desire to help others.  These people are the ones making sure the driver has what they need to be comfortable, serves the food and drinks, or plays the music others want.

• Aesthetic:  The aesthetic traveler values form and harmony.  While everyone else is busy with their Nintendos, magazines, or DVDs, this person is admiring the scenery outside.  They will be happy to take the scenic route if it means avoiding a drive through monotonous landscapes or dilapidated towns.

Just like the behaviors above, you probably have a few styles that fit you better than the others.  I am pretty high Utilitarian and Theoretical as I saw the trip as more of a means to get to a destination, wanted to save as much money as possible, and read in the free time I wasn’t driving.

Callie was also Utilitarian but differed in having some Traditional style as well.  For example, she also worked hard to keep the cost as low as possible, but was very strict about how she traveled.  She would keep a pillow on her lap when she drove because it put her in “driving mode.”  We were both to drive equal periods of time, and the driver always had say over what the radio would play.

So What?

You’ve read through all these types of behaviors and values and learned how they relate to your travel personality, but what can you do with this information?

I’ve found if you do three simple things, your trip enjoyment will be increased exponentially.

1. Find your travel personality as well as the personalities of the others going with you. Understanding this will help you plan for a trip that everyone will enjoy.
2. Plan roles that fit the behaviors and values of those traveling with you. For example, if someone making the trip is Traditional, find out what their system of travel is.  Is there a particular stop they like to make?  Do they have expectations for how long someone should drive?  If their is a Social traveler in your group, let them be in charge of sitting by the snacks, books, or other things you may need help sharing throughout the trip.  You can do a similar exercise for the other values.
3. Adapt for the others’ styles. If you know someone has Influencing as their style, be prepared to talk with them or to at least have someone close to them that would enjoy conversation.  If you know someone is heavy in compliance, try to support them if other cars choose to speed pass them, even though they are going the speed limit.

What Travel Personality are You?

When you read through the descriptions did any of them make you say, “that’s me?” You may have also found your spouse, brother, sister, or friends as well.  It’s your turn to share what travel personality you are in the comments below!

image courtesy of chovee

Tags: assessments, DISC, personality, travel, Understanding Yourself, values