What Kind of Traveler Are You?

Know Thyself

Last month, we talked about building a World Portfolio. It’s the place that you keep all of the destinations and experiences that ignite your awe. I hope it’s growing fat!

At the bottom of the post, you’ll find Our World Portfolio. It provided the basis for our Family Gap Year, and will continue to inspire our travel in the future. Use it to flesh out your own files if something there interests you!

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Travel is a delicate balance between comfort and budget

As a broke university student, I once backpacked around Europe on term break. Determined to squeeze every possible day out of my shoestring budget, I bought two pounds of peanuts and raisins in a French village and ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the better part of a week. The meal savings provided an extra night in a crummy hostel in Amsterdam. My bed was located in a 24-bed dormitory, and the woman in the bunk above me had brought her pet rat. It scampered down to visit me during an interminable, sleepless night.

Those kinds of circumstances were okay when I was 20, but these days I maintain a higher standard for creature comforts when I travel.

The point is, in starting to imagine how much money you will need for your budget, be honest with yourself about what kind of traveler you are and what creature comforts you need to be happy.

Don’t commit yourself to the least expensive lodging, public transportation, and all-cornflake diet in order to stretch your funds unless you already know that’s suitable for you.

Traveling is meant to stretch your limits, not make you miserable.

So What Type of Traveler Are You?