Types of Travelers

People travel all the time, an evidence of which is the constant traffic on road or water or in air. If, I were to say that, for us, travelling is a need, like taking a bath, keeping clean, I suppose it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that a person, who doesn’t get to travel at all, feels stuffy and uncomfortable, like he/she hadn’t had a bath in a while! For someone like that, a trip to somewhere, an hour’s journey even, is like a welcome monsoon shower.

Now, the question here is why? Why do we travel and why is it a necessity? Travelling is a derived necessity, unlike breathing, which is a direct need. The need to travel may be derived from a variety of reasons, reasons that influence how we travel, and also, what we think and do. We could say that there are different kinds of travelers, each driven to travel by a different reason, the motive sometimes being very complex and at other times, very straight forward. Listing out the “chief” kinds of travelers, we should start with the most prevalent kind.

“The first kind” of traveler is the everyday commuter. The everyday commuter is most of us, who go to work, to school, to college, or to any other place. He/she travels for perhaps the shortest length of time. This traveler is motivated by the need to sustain oneself, have a routine in life. In most cases, this traveler gets to come back home daily. The everyday commuter is the unsung kind of traveler, but the most prevalent. So he comes first on the list.

“The second kind” of traveler is the sight-seer. This kind of traveler travels solely to see the sights of a place – the museums, waterfalls, amusement parks, mountain ranges, caves, and even places of religion. This kind of traveler doesn’t go to a place to spend some time, relax and unwind. The sight-seer isn’t bothered much about the weather or the accommodation’s nuances; a hotel room/inn is just a place to sleep for this kind of traveler.

“The third kind” is the converse of the second kind. This traveler travels to get away from routine, and unwind. If the sight-seeing travelers are called ‘tourists’, then these travelers who want to relax and enjoy something other than routine may be called ‘vacationers’. The vacationer picks a place to travel based on the quality of the accommodation. The comforts available there, in the hotel or cottage, is more important than the sights of the place. And the weather of the place is a key factor. The vacationer travels to less crowded places and any sightseeing is just an added bonus; it could very well be replaced by a long walk.

“The fourth kind” of traveler travels on business or to visit someone. He/she travels for a purpose involving someone else – to see someone, to do something for someone, on someone else’s orders, etc. This kind of traveler is more bothered about the interactions with these people than the sights of the place or the weather or the accommodation. This traveler is driven by the urge to stay connected. He/she is generally on a tight schedule and spends any available free time by doing what is most suitable to the place, sightseeing if the place is known for its sights, or relaxing if the accommodation and weather are good and there isn’t much to see.

These four are the basic kinds of travelers; there are others who travel combining very different prospects like sightseeing and leisure in a single trip; visiting a string of places, each with its own charm and specialty. For those short on budget and wanting to see many places, combining places is a good idea.

Written by Ravi Goel