Random Musings

Six Types of Unfavourable Travel Companions

Uday14 Comments

We’ve all seen them and we’ve all been at least one of them. So today I thought it would be fun to list out the different kinds of personalities one usually experiences on a trip. As much as I enjoy solo traveling, I have also been on trips with a gang of people so the below is something that stemmed from my own observation.

So here are the five major kinds of unfavourable travel companions:-

1. The I’M-NOT-FEELING-WELL

Isn’t there at least one person like this in every group? You know, the kind of person you stay away from for the fear that they might vomit all over you? Especially while driving on a mountainous road? Yes that very same person. And by the way, true story.

Now, there are all kinds of problems. Some people suffer from vertigo, some cannot bear extreme weather conditions, some shy away from the prospect of any kind of physical exhaustion. Basically, they create major road blocks to what should be a smooth trip. Needless to say, they make less than ideal travel companions and you’d much rather you were without them.

The only good that can come out of having these people around? Medical supplies! These are the people who usually are found carrying every kind of medication possible. So in the off chance that you do catch a headache, you have to look up to them indeed for an aspirin.

2. The UNINTERESTED

The nonchalant. The lazy bum. Yes, the kind of person who comes on a trip just because. And not really because he wants to do/see something.

Picture this, you get all excited and explain to your group that there’s a waterfall nearby in which you could go take a dip, this person won’t even look up from his smartphone and will simply give a lifeless, “Cool.” Talk about priorities.

Oh, and don’t even try waking them up early mornings to catch the sunrise. They’d be annoyed at you for wanting to see something so mundane.

3. The DICTATOR

Who died and made you king, seriously? While it’s true that a group needs that one person to lead the decision making process, there are just some people who make it their job to drive every single thing. They decide which places you are supposed to visit, at what time, and oh, wearing what kind of clothes. And yea, have fun arguing over where to have dinner.

It’s even worse if they’re the bossy types. They won’t listen to suggestions or any of that sort. They have the entire screenplay figured out in which we’re just mere players.

The other kind of dictator is an invisible one. He will give you an illusion that you are part of the decision making process, but finally makes you agree to what he originally had in mind. Sneaky bastard.

4. The EASILY BORED

The worst. And it’s more annoying when they’re vocal about it. Enough to dampen anyone’s mood.

This is the kind of person who asks if anyone would like to join him for a game of cards, when you could go out and explore the neighborhood instead.  These people always need something exciting to be happening to keep them afloat. So it’s always fun games(!) and activities(!), instead of actually doing what you were actually meant to be doing i.e touristy things.

Surprisingly, only a very few people seem annoyed by this kind. I think homo sapiens are naturally programmed to give more importance to ‘fun’.

5. The IMPATIENT 

With them it’s always – okay we’ve seen this now, what next? 

Being excited to see a lot of things is fine. But not having the patience and interest to explore something well is just bad. And it leads to arguments, since you want to stay longer to appreciate the place or take more photographs but these people won’t have any of that!

6. The NON-FLEXIBLE

These people are pretty stringent about some aspects of their lifestyle which leads everyone else to distress. Usually very fussy, they make a big deal out of little things thereby painting a negative vibe throughout the entire trip. They want everything exactly the way they like it and will never adjust or compromise.

So that’s my list of the top unfavourable travel companions one could have. Do you think I missed out any kind? Let me know in the comments below. Also feel free to share any of your own weird travel experiences.

*Image sourced from getmecab.com

14 thoughts on “Six Types of Unfavourable Travel Companions”

  1. Lol 😀 “Who died and made you king, seriously?”
    Happens in every social scenario there is, that involves co-operation.

    There’s also that one person who instantly falls in love with the plush, cushion-ey, bouncy hotel room bed and refuses to walk up in the morning, hence thwarting all your plans.

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  2. Hello Uday 🙂

    This post is hilarious 🙂

    I agree 🙂

    Though, I have a friendly challenge for you:

    Can you do a post with 6 more travel companions with super-positive qualities? No? 3? 2?

    Love and light ❤

    Anand 🙂

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    • Hey Anand! I was thinking of doing the same today. I dunno how many types of companions I can get though. 🙂
      I wrote this post in my notebook when I was traveling with a group a couple of months back. A lot of things went wrong because of people not wanting to do things, so I was very annoyed that time. It’s only now that I got down and typed it out. 😛

      Thanks for reading, I’m glad you found it hilarious.

      Love and moonlight (coz today’s the supermoon)
      Uday 🙂

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  3. I might as well be honest I’m the dictator. The sneaky kind. On the bright side everyone’s happy since they think they had a role in making the decisions. *Yeah “suuuree” they did* 😉 In my defense I can’t help it! I just don’t want to miss anything or screw up anything. On a trip to Disney world I was driving my family insane by commanding them to get on rides in the exact order I planned so we could have enough time to cover more rides. My dad took the map from my hand gently, rolled it and dumped it in the bin and told me to just have fun. Sure that worked. I got another map instantly and got to work!😒 This is FUN for us. Nobody seems to understand that! 😛

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    • LOL! Going with parents, one NEEDS to be like that. I’m the same too. I make almost every decision as I would have already researched a lot before (nobody else bothers about stuff like this). And I’m not the sneaky kind. I’m the bossy type! 😛 But it’s always sad when things don’t turn out your way. when we’d gone to Taj Mahal I wanted to visit it early morning but no body had any interest! They had to wake up at 8 AM, laze around in the bathroom, have a sumptuous and chatty breakfast and then go to Taj Mahal at 12 noon!!!! I mean, talk about priorities!

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  4. I’ve been #1 a few times, I admit. But I’ve had to tolerate the rest more than I probably should have. You forgot one, though — my least favourite kind of people EVAR to travel with — the obnoxious tourist/ temp. I had to put up with this one more times than I can count when I lived in Japan.

    Who criticizes Japanese food in front of a Japanese tour guide and bus driver that understands and speaks English? *Who does that??* … Or, even though Japan is a country where consideration of others is of utmost importance, therefore public noise and commotion is frowned upon, the person you’re walking with lets her kids run crazy through their zen gardens, and then yells across the crowd for them to come back to her, rather than teaching the kids the customs of the country their temporarily staying in. (And you know that she knows the cultural norms because she’s been there longer than you have!) … Or that time that the tour bus stopped at a shrine, but the missionary couple raised a hand to ask if they HAD to go inside, since it was contrary to their faith? And then the tour guide all but cusses them out for taking a holier-than-thou attitude in HER country, but tells them she’d rather them stay on the bus than to go in and be disrespectful about it.

    Seriously. Being out and about with other Americans in Japan made me want to slap a Canadian bumper sticker for my forehead or whip out a British accent so that no one would think I was part of my travel groups. Ugh … I so badly wanted to say, “What is wrong with you people? Did you not read anything about your host country before coming here? Do you have no ability to discern appropriate from non-appropriate behavior? Do you have any idea how rude it is to expect other nationals to make special accommodations for you in *their* country?” I have never so badly wanted to apologize to so many strangers and say, “We’re not all like that. I swear!” Grant it, not all the people in my tour groups were this bad, but every tour group had at least one group of people like this that left me with my head on the table at the restaurant stops, wondering if it was possible to accidentally push a few of our number off of steps up to the temples or into oncoming traffic. -_-*

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    • Hahaha, LOL! I totally understand! But luckily I never had obnoxious companions in my usual trips with my friends/colleagues. Thank god for that. But you know whom your experiences reminded me of? Mom! (I can say this because she never reads my blog!) I feel bad saying this, but if I was embarrassed of anyone in our whole group, it was Mom. Because she used to do the exact same things that you mention, wherever we go. At first it was funny, but it quickly got strange and embarrassing and I literally had to halt some confrontations between her and the other person for the fear that it would get ugly.

      If I may recount one funny incident that also really made be feel for the other person; we booked this cab to take us around a hill station in North India. It is a simple place with not many places to see and at the end of the day my mom says to the driver, “You know you are not a good tourist driver, because we did not have fun today!!” The driver’s face turned white, and I gave him an apologetic smile. But he finally said, “Mam I can’t show you places that don’t exist.” And then silence filled with embarrassment. Hah! So yea, you never want to be with an obnoxious traveler indeed!

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