What Kind of Traveler Are You: Quiz Results
I created this Uquiz as a fun way for you to see what kind of traveler you might be. Don’t take it too seriously, answer the questions honestly, and have fun! When you get your result, you can come back here to check out the other archetypes.
Take the Quiz: Here
Chaotic Type B
You’re not sure what’s happening, how you got here, or where you’re going, but shiiiit if you’re not along for the ride! You’ve got two mismatched shoes on and a voice note from your friend asking if you’ve packed your passport yet.
(Have you? Did you check? Are you sure? Check again.) Last you remember, you were emptying out your water bottle in order to pass through TSA, and now you’re in another country! Did you pregame your red-eye? Suffice it to say, you are a menace of grand proportions. Your friends are constantly at least a little bit stressed out on your behalf, especially when your location services get turned off, and they have no idea where you are. And even more so when your service comes back on, and you call to tell them exactly what you were doing! But what is life without a little excitement? You live to entertain. And you haven’t died yet! So clearly there’s nothing that wrong, which means nothing needs to change! Now try telling that to your Type A friend.
On Top of It Type A
Let’s face it. On a group trip? You keep everyone alive. In fact, there would be no group trip if it weren’t for you. People know they can rely on you, so they get comfortable and slack off, leaving you to pull the extra weight. It’s a hard and thankless job, not unlike being a single mom who works two jobs, loves her kids, and never stops—but you’re up to it. I see you, and I thank you for your service. But when you’re flying solo? Oh la la, what luxury! You’ve had the hotels and restaurants and walking tours planned out for months; now all you have to do is follow the steps you laid out for yourself without slipping up. It’s comforting that you know exactly where you’re eating dinner tonight, and what time you need to start getting ready. It’s soothing. Calm. A little predictable. Might you even go so far as to call it a little dull? Hmm. Maybe you should have invited your Type B friend along after all.
Thrill Seeker
Your friends may think you’re suicidal, but they’ve clearly never felt the sheer adrenaline rush that comes from jumping off a mountain, the whole valley stretched out below you, wind rippling through your clothes, as you fall, fall, fall, knowing your parachute is about to catch you. They don’t know how it feels to fly like a bird, to be swimming inches away from a shark in its natural habitat, to stand face to face with a volcano, fully acknowledging your insignificance in the face of one of nature’s Goliaths. The planet does not have enough thrilling experiences to satiate you. You will never be done until you’re done, and you’re fine with that. The purpose of life is not to survive it for as long as you can. A short life well spent is worth more to you than a long one squandered. It’s not a phase, it’s a lifestyle. So go bungee jumping off the Kawarau Bridge or white water rafting in the Futaleufú River!
Just be sure you get the travel insurance, because we both know there’s a non-zero chance you end up in hospital before it’s all over.
Luxury Traveler
You’re not here to rough it in a hostel dorm with 10 strangers & 5 bunk beds, or volunteer on an organic farm- you’re here to relax and enjoy yourself. Why would you drop $1000 on a flight across the ocean just to be squatting over a compost toilet on a farm in the middle of nowhere? No, thank you. If you’re going to travel, you’re going to do it in style, with class. You’re going to go on a cruise and let other people do the housekeeping for you, or else you’ll stay in a classy hotel in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, where you can dine in the restaurant below, eating escargot, sipping wine, and watching boats drift up and down the Seine. You want culture and arts. You want to show off your finest attire as you attend the Opera, and you want to pamper yourself with a 10-step skincare routine that night before you go to bed. You’re not high maintenance; you have standards. And those standards don’t take a vacation, even when you do.
The Nomad
You are no stranger to this game. You sleep on public transit, and you can shotgun a beer at a Hostel kickback with the best of them. You know how to siphon wifi from the museum after hours, and you can confidently navigate your way through a new city, even without speaking the language. But you’ve also learned how to balance the highs and the lows. You breathe in moments of peace the same way that you embrace wild adventures. You go to the music festival, but honor your energy if you’re not up for a game of hacky-sack right now, thank-you-very-much, and would rather swing in a hammock somewhere, humming along with the band from afar.
The Romantic
You’ve seen Roman Holiday, or The Tourist, or maybe you just watched Eat, Pray, Love on the red eye over. The point is, you have certain expectations for your travels abroad. So what if you have to wake up Before Sunrise to get dolled up? You might meet your soul mate today! You see signs everywhere.
Was there a vibe between you and the teller at the Change place? Was the waiter kinda flirty? Things may get Lost in Translation in a foreign country, but how many ways can you interpret a wink? Every potential spark feels like a Little Bit of Heaven, meant just for you. Now you just have to figure out how to make a relationship last when you have to head home in a week.
But love conquers all, right? Certainly, you and your new beau will be so intertwined, like twin flames, that nothing will be able to tear you apart… once you find them, that is. Your friends may not think so, but you’ll be able to invite them all to suck it when you’re riding alongside the Adriatic Sea on the back of a Vespa, the wind in your hair and your arms wrapped tightly around a tall, dark, and very attractive stranger.
The Tourist
You may not be wearing a Hawaiian button-up and bum bag, but trust me, the locals know what you are. You’re the 7th person to photograph that water fountain this morning, and that’s just where they fill up their water receptacles to flush the toilet. But it’s nice you think it’s nice. There’s no shame in being a tourist. You’ve got a laundry list of landmarks to visit before noon, so you’d better get to it. Just don’t forget to enjoy the view when you get there. With your eyes—not just from behind the camera. You may be lured into a tourist trap where Aperols cost twelve dollars, and they sell fish by the pound. Don’t worry about “getting got”, just enjoy your time there. The staff will take good care of you. In fact, let yourself be ripped off! If you’re doing the tourist thing in a foreign place, you can probably afford it! You don’t have to haggle over pennies with street artists—just pay them the $3 and move on.
Every dollar you spend as a tourist is an investment in the community, allowing the culture you’re enjoying as a tourist to continue to survive and thrive. We learn a lot by interacting with other cultures, as locals and travelers alike. There is nothing wrong with being a tourist, as long as you acknowledge your privilege and treat the locations you visit and the locals you meet with dignity, openness, and respect.
Party Animal
I just know a hostel pub crawl hates to see you coming. You’ve been to the rooftop nightclubs, the cultural festivals, the daytime raves, you even almost drowned at a beach rave once, but it was all worth it to see the sun crest over the horizon, backlighting the DJ as morning waves crashed against the shore. You’re the heart of the party, regardless of whether there’s actually a party or not. You’re the type to bring your flask on a hike and turn a hostel movie night watching Frozen into a sing-along. Stay in your joy! You make life fun for everyone. Make friends with strangers and let out your wild side—just be sure to keep some Narcan handy nearby.
The Soul Searcher
Travel probably won’t heal you in the way you hope it will. But it might heal you. If you’re running away from something, know that you can run as far as you like, but you can’t run away from yourself. Wherever you go, there you are. For better and for worse. If you’re looking for answers, you probably won’t find the ones you seek, but travel will pose new questions and challenges that force you to confront parts of yourself you never considered before.
Travel is eye-opening and character-building—everyone should travel more! But be careful not to use other cultures as props for your own self-betterment. You have something to learn from foreign lands and people, so show respect to your teachers. You can sit with Ayahuasca, spend time with the remotest tribe in Africa, or train as a Buddhist Monk, but none of it will matter if you just go home and go on as you were. Take those lessons you learned and apply them to your life. Don’t let them exist only as memories. As a soul searcher, you have to search your soul—not just the world. That’s internal work. You can do that in Africa, or South America, or Antarctica, and you can do that right at home.
Frugal
You know the $60 taxi ride from the airport is a scam, and you’re not falling for it when there’s a perfectly good bus right there, ready to take you where you need to go, for nothing more than $2.50 and two hours of your time. Never mind the fact that your luggage is rolling all over the place and has earned you more than a few local enemies already.
Who needs to pay for a walking tour? Walking is free! And so is Google. You can Do It Yourself for Free.99, and it’s better this way, because you get to turn your vacation into an edu-cation. That’s fun. You flat out refuse to shell out $20 for each meal, especially when street food is just as good, if not better, costs pennies on the dollar, and provides you with a richer cultural experience. But…for every meal, one might ask? Yes. For every meal. So what if you get food poisoning? Sprite only costs 99 cents at the market down the block, and that shit has internationally regulated ingredients formulated specifically to stop you from throwing up—no Urgent Care today, Jose. Besides, you didn’t pay for travel insurance. You don’t need it! You’re in excellent health, and even if you’re not, some sunshine and adventure is all the medicine you need, and even if it isn’t, well, I’m sure it can wait until you get back home…
The Artist
Whether a photographer, painter, musician, filmmaker, or actor, you come to this place to laugh, to cry, to care. You come to this place… for magic.
Your travels inspire your art, and you can’t help but feel deeply moved by the things you see and the people you talk to. With every bus ride into a city center, you write the stories of the people passing by. With every hike up to a waterfall, you see a majestic painting, shimmering as water reflects the morning light. And yet, you are weighed down by the knowledge that no matter how meticulously you try to recreate this moment, you’ll never quite capture it in all its complexity, perfection, and imperfection. I hope you try anyway.
Travel Dad
You have a tendency to wander off… whether that be from the guided museum tour, the route from the airport to your hotel, or from your friends on a group trip. You have to smile when you receive the inevitable influx of messages when your friends realize you’ve disappeared, because YOU know exactly where THEY are, and you’ll rejoin when you’re ready. You can’t believe they totally missed this super cool moss-covered fresco down the rickety staircase behind the church altar.
Are you even allowed to be here? Who cares, honestly. You may be flaky, but you can be relied upon when it matters. When everyone is tucking in at the hotel, and your friends knock on your room because Ash left on the back of some Italian’s Vespa, and now you have to organize a rescue party, but shhh, don’t wake your Type A friend, because they’ve been through enough already. You pace around the museum with your hands behind your back and read the local newspaper on public transport, even if you don’t speak the language. You’re not afraid to talk to strangers—in fact, in minutes you’ll probably be best friends! Social anxiety is scared of YOU. Your head may be in the clouds, but you’re relatively grounded and have a great sense of humor when things go amiss—after all, every potential kidnapping/ public altercation/ tornado scare is just Dad lore in the making.
