Vacation Styles

I found out about this site through an article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago. It is kind of fun to do the quiz and see what type of vacation works best for you. It seems pretty right on in its assessment of me and my vacation style:

As a mid-venturer, your personality fits between venturers and those more in the center of the personality spectrum ("centrics"). You share a number of characteristics in common with pure venturers. You like to travel, especially to foreign destinations and you seek new experiences and new destinations for almost all trips you take. You are also physically active at home and on trips. But, unlike your pure venturer friends, you don't want to take such extreme vacations and are more likely to plan your trips-set an itinerary of places you want to visit and schedules when you will be there. You also have more company. About 17% of the population has a personality that matches yours, vs. only 4% for pure venturers.
Your venturesome spirit leads you to seek out unique and interesting places to visit and especially to make each leisure trip different from others that you have taken. You may want to return to a place that seemed interesting but you didn't have time to explore on an earlier visit, but usually you simply want to try something new. However, there's a big difference between you and your true venturer friends: you like a comfortable bed at night (no sleeping under the stars), a warm shower, and meals that you can trust rather than taking a chance on native foods. You listen carefully to the unique travel tales of your friends and associates, or read heavily, to learn about the hidden, but interesting out of the way places that others have not yet become popular or have only recently gotten some publicity. The press has given your group a name -- the jet-set. Your interest in what's new and what's happening leads you to be one of the first to visit destinations that seem to have a new ambience, or book a few days at a new spa or resort you read about in a travel magazine, or tour a country that until recently was closed to visitors. Travel providers absolutely love you because you are central in making new destinations popular. Airlines, hotels and restaurants should give you special treatment since they benefit from the travel choices you make. You'll tell your friends about a great trip you just had and they will want to do the same when they get some time off.

Like pure venturers, you like adventure travel -- but of a different type. Physical exertion is fine, if it isn't extreme. If you took a bicycle tour of New England in the fall, you want to stop at interesting places for lunch and bed down at night in a quaint inn, rather than sleep out under the stars. And you prefer to have a van follow behind to pick you up and ride to the next overnight stop in case you or your partner feel a bit exhausted.

History holds a great fascination for many mid-venturers. But if you've seen Buckingham Palace and the Eiffel Tower, or traced Paul Revere's route in New England, you don't need to repeat the experience. Rather, you'd prefer to stop in lesser known old cities and enjoy the ambience created by old buildings that exude their own sense of importance and romance, especially if they're not listed in guide books. To discover an ancient monastery, old fort or historic building quite by chance and wander through quiet interiors unhampered by crowds, offers an opportunity to imagine what mysteries it holds and tales of romance or tragedy.

Even your media habits don't follow the norm. Typically you read more than most -- books, magazines and newspapers -- and watch TV less. When you turn on the "tube," you are much less likely to prefer any of the top ten sitcoms or "soaps." Instead, you'll seek out dramas, special news magazine format shows, and selected sports (as football and basketball; you have less interest in baseball or hockey). Consistent with your travel interests, you particularly like fact based television shows or dramas in a historic setting, and programs that explain the workings of some of our modern marvels. You hold definitive opinions about much of what you see happening in the world, especially politics, and strongly prefer commentators who agree with your views.

Exercise and good health habits -- proper diet, some use of vitamins and supplements, and following a disciplined routine to get enough sleep and exercise, even when you travel -- are more likely to be part of your daily commitment than is true for most people you know. You may prefer participating in individual sports, such as skiing or singles tennis, rather than those that are more social such as golf or bowling. You are likely to own exercise equipment at home, a treadmill or a stair climber.

You like technology and probably have a heavy loading of it as part of your daily life. Typically you will not be the first to try out new hi-tech products-that distinction belongs to the pure venturers. You're likely get on the bandwagon when they new product or service has shown that it has some relevance to your daily business or home life. But you are still willing to buy these items long before they have become so popular that they have dropped dramatically in price. More than is true for most groups included in this personality scale, you are likely to be an opinion leader. Since you show a willingness to accept innovation and change, but with a common sense attitude about it (use what is good and discard what doesn't help in some way), others look to you for guidance and direction on what to buy, choices to make in their lives, and the kinds of trips that they might like to take. This combination of character traits-mild risk taking, common sense in the decisions you make, and a friendly and outgoing personality-usually contributes to success in your career. More than most, you are likely to hold a senior position of responsibility in your company and will continue to advance in the future.

In looking for destinations that will satisfy your intellectual curiosity, seek out those that measure higher for venturers. You share so many traits in common with that group that most of these places will help ensure that your next trip will hold the enjoyment and contribute to the kinds of memories that you want. But make certain these places have adequate hotels and restaurants.

Comments

[adrienne]

Robin this is really neat!!!! Thanks for posting this!

[Carol]

Very cool! I'll have to try this one, it will probably tell me to stay home;)

[Lisa]

well, that's me. Looks like I don't have to bother taking the quiz!

[meg]

What a cool idea, I have sent the link to all my friends. Thanks

[Amber]

Interesting. I was also a mid-venturer. I think a lot of it was really true, too. I always find it interesting when they can reasonably predict things based on few questions. Of course, as a social psych professor once pointed out, we'll tend to spot the truisms in things like this, and discount the others, so no matter what you'd get, you might say it was true.