Diary of a Weekend Traveller

What kind of traveller are you? Your best friend? Your boss? Parents? Here’s my observation on what makes people travel, and I’ve grouped such reasons. Where do you fit?

You HATE the idea of leaving your city but may go if needed.

• You’re busy working in a city when a cousin of yours decides to tie the knot. Or a friend. And the very idea of your absence sounds preposterous to everyone, no matter what.
• You’re enjoying your summer vacations and suddenly its time to board the train to your boarding school. Or your engineering/medical college.
• Dean of your son’s college has called you – your son has been expelled on disciplinary grounds.
• In the first two cases, a pleasant/interesting experience awaits you while on the third, lesser said the better.

An occassion to celebrate

You LIKE the idea of travelling but only if somebody else PAYS for it.

• Its an official visit. You’ve to go another city to meet a client. Or, to work out of the client’s office. Or, your HR has decided that you’ll go to three campuses for recruitment. Even better, your company has decided to conduct its 10th AGM at Andaman.
• You are a doctor and your rich patient needs to undergo a medical treatment 1200 miles away from your place. He requested you to accompany him. First class, all expenses paid.
• You are a high school mathematics teacher. Or,a  football coach. You need to accompany your team of students to a state event 200 km from your city. Better still, to a national event 1500 km away.
• You’re married recently and you’ve received a gift of 2 days tour package for Mauritius from your brother-in-law.
• You’ve purchased a laptop at the shopping festival and the vendor gave you a free return ticket as a gift.

When the trip is free

You LOVE travelling just for the sake of it.

• Come Friday morning and it unsettles you if you haven’t made the travel plan for the weekend, even if the plan is to visit the two oldest churches in the city.
• A lady from IRCTC calls you and says something like – “You’ve booked Rs. 72000 worth of railway tickets at IRCTC. So, we’re offering you SBI Rail Card free of charge…”
• You’re as comfortable travelling in a local train in Mumbai as waiting at Kolkata International Airport. Or, auto in Bangalore, local bus in Chennai, metro in Delhi, hand rickshaw/tram in Kolkata.
• For official travel, you fly Business class. But love sleeper class on that journey from Madurai to Bangalore. Or, in Konkan Railway.
• Of 250 pictures you took in your trip to your friend’s marriage, 202 weren’t related to the marriage at all.

So, What kind are you?

Elongated Bus - Bangalore

Further Reading

• 4 types at STA Travel
• Explorer Quotient Quiz
• Travel Personality Quiz at blogthings
• Travel Personality Quiz at Jet Gurl