I like to imagine that based on their travel patterns, there are 7 types of travellers in the world:
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Reasonable travellers
People who spend all year saving up and/or preparing for a trip. This is THE trip. The one they’ve been longing to have – alone or with friends and family, active or relaxed, pre-booked tour or adventure off the beaten path – for a long time, and they know that next time they’re off to another destination isn’t going to be soon. So it’d better be great!
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Travel addicts
People who make many trips per year. Some trips are longer vacations, others are weekend getaways, squeezed in between lasting workdays; it can be couple of times per year, but most of them will try to escape the routine several times per month.
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Travel bees
People who travel for work. From professional singers to project managers, from football players to flight attendants to archaeologists – these “lucky ones” may have visited more places than all of their friends combined, yet they often refer to it as “just work”, because in fact they have been so busy that they barely saw anything. But in these rare free days when they get away from their busy careers and breathe in a scent of the new city, they know: it’s absolutely worth it.
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People who don’t have to work for everyday needs
It doesn’t mean that they don’t work at all, they simply have enough money whatever the circumstances, and they travel whenever they want, wherever they want. Some of them do it because it’s trendy, others want to escape the familiar, but many actually do enjoy new places and are quite happy to take their trips, however luxurious or modest.
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Travel nomads
People who leave their jobs and go to travel the world. Often they get jobs that enable their continued nomadic lifestyles. It can be programming, photography, blogging, travel writing. You can also get short-term paid jobs at different locations, such as teaching English in Vietnam, working in a hostel in New Zealand or picking strawberries in Australia. Many of those travellers start by leaving home for a year, but quickly find out that they favour this lifestyle; and so they continue travelling without looking back.
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Tim Ferriss
I honestly believe that these types are all of equal significance and equal thrill. And I know, I promised 7 types – that’s right. The type number 7 is you.
Often I read blogs by people who have chosen travelling as their lifestyle, and what I see is tips on how you could do the way THEY do it. This is perfectly logical, because everyone shares what they know and what they have experienced – our blog is no difference. But what it sparks in your head is the thought: “can I really do it THEIR way?”. You start thinking about your life and you imagine yourself following their lifestyle. But often the question is not whether you can or cannot, but whether you WANT to. It’s your life, and exactly as two sets of fingerprints are never the same, two paths are never the same. So what you really need is not to follow specific advice, but gather enough information to be able to adapt it to your life and the life you’d like to have. You want to do it YOUR way. Times when certain things were considered “normal” are way behind us, so figure out how to travel and live your way. Maybe you’d love to spend all your time travelling, but you also are one of the lucky ones who just love their jobs. Or your dream is to visit every country in the world before you’re fifty, but you also dream of having three kids before the age of thirty-five. We often choose to believe that we have to give up one or another, and that’s also a valid choice in case you know which one is the winner in your heart. But it doesn’t always have to be black and white. You can compromise, you can ask questions no one has asked before, you can make choices no one you know has ever made. People tend to concentrate on one dream and neglect other dreams, but if you have more than one – why not pursue them and make the best of it? As long as this is what YOU want and the way YOU want your life to be.