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While I cannot be certain of your exact expectations for this summer vacation, I can make an educated guess based on data. A survey conducted by travel company Expedia, which included over 12,000 travelers, revealed that 38 percent of participants prioritize relaxation, and 37 percent seek contentment and mental well-being. Unsurprisingly, no research findings suggest that vacationers look for increased stress and aggravation.
However, it is alarming to note that 65 percent of American travelers expect an increase in stress during their vacations. This can be attributed to various factors, such as the unpredictable nature of the airline industry, which is among the top five most disliked industries alongside cable companies, internet and cellphone service providers, and health insurers. Involuntary delays, cancellations, long lines, and inadequate explanations are the last things any vacationer desires. Financial concerns, packing difficulties, travel arrangements, and the pressure to have fun also contribute to vacation anxiety.
One often overlooked source of vacation stress is a mismatch between vacation type and personality type. If you consistently find yourself feeling less relaxed and satisfied after vacations or if you dread plans made by family and friends, it is possible that this mismatch is the culprit. With more information and consideration, you can customize your next vacation to align with your true personality.
Psychologists commonly define personality using the “Big Five” traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness toward others, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (remembered as OCEAN). Numerous studies have explored the correlation between these traits and various aspects of life, including job choices, relationship success, religiosity, and general happiness. Some researchers have even examined how these traits predict enjoyment of vacations. For instance, a study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences in 2007 found that individuals who are more conscientious and less neurotic experience lesser stress during vacations compared to their counterparts who are less conscientious and more neurotic.
The Big Five traits combine to create other personality types that impact vacation satisfaction. Take narcissism, characterized by self-centeredness, entitlement, self-importance, and disregard for others. Narcissistic individuals, particularly those with grandiose narcissism, tend to score high in extroversion and low in agreeableness. They also often have unrealistically high expectations for their vacations, leading to disappointment.
However, the most crucial personality traits that predict vacation satisfaction are openness to experience and extroversion. Openness to travel, or allocentricity, as referred to by researcher Stanley C. Plog, refers to comfort with novelty, independence, and a willingness to take risks. On the other hand, psychocentricity involves familiarity-seeking, aversion to uncertainty, and a desire for routines. Allocentric vacationers seek new experiences, spontaneity, and surprises, while psychocentrics find these aspects stressful.
Another significant trait is extroversion, where extroverts gain energy from social interactions and enjoy meeting new people. Introverts, in contrast, recharge their energy by spending time with a few close friends or relatives and feel exhausted after prolonged exposure to strangers. Vacations with crowds and many new acquaintances can be stressful for introverts but energizing for extroverts.
Researchers have combined the axes of allocentricity/psychocentricity and extroversion/introversion to create a typology of “vacation personalities” that predict varying stress levels (or even boredom) among different individuals. By identifying your vacation personality type, you can design a vacation that aligns with your desired level of risk, adventure, and exposure to crowds and strangers.
1. The Spontaneous Socializer: If you are both extroverted and allocentric, you thrive on spontaneity, adventure, and meeting new people. The ideal vacation for you would involve visiting crowded and popular destinations without a strict itinerary. For instance, booking a trip to Rome for a week with just airline tickets, hotel reservations, and a guidebook would suit you. You can engage in conversations with everyone you meet at restaurants and enjoy dancing at night.
2. The Gregarious Planner: As a psychocentric, extroverted individual, you love socializing but dislike travel uncertainties. Meeting strangers energizes you, but the idea of unplanned activities is unappealing. The best vacation for you would be a pre-organized trip to a popular destination. Consider a guided visit to Disney World or a walking tour of Jerusalem, preferably in a large group curated by a travel company.
3. The Surprise Avoider: As a psychocentric, introverted person, you feel your energy depleting when you have to constantly worry about what to do and deal with many people, especially strangers. For you, the ideal vacation would be revisiting a serene and familiar place with a small group of close friends or family. Renting a cabin by a lake for two weeks each year and inviting the same group of individuals is an example of an ideal vacation for you.
4. The Lone Wanderer: This vacation personality may seem paradoxical as it combines a love for spontaneity and risk with an aversion to strangers and crowds. However, this trait is not that unusual. My daughter, for instance, falls under this category with her allocentric, introverted personality. For her 18th birthday, she wanted to try skydiving, just accompanied by me. Another idea for this type of vacation could be a solo motorcycle ride on Route 66, without a strict itinerary, armed with only a credit card, a sleeping bag, and a few good books.
The objective of this column is not only to help you design a better vacation than your previous ones but also to guide you in designing a better life. This is because the aspects you enjoy and those that stress you during vacations are often similar to what you like and dislike throughout the year. You do not become a Lone Wanderer or a Gregarious Planner for just two weeks annually.
During a recent Uber ride, a driver expressed his dislike for his former 9-to-5 office job, where he never met new people and performed the same tasks daily. He explained that driving for a living, with its unpredictability and opportunities to encounter different individuals, made him much happier, despite the lower pay. “You are a Spontaneous Socializer,” I told him. “But you were stuck in a Surprise Avoider job.” He expressed his wish to have known this earlier in life.
Consider whether the life you have built or the one built for you leaves you stressed or understimulated. If you are an introvert, remote work from a secluded cabin in Montana might be suitable, while an extrovert would not find such isolation fulfilling regardless of convenience. If you are psychocentric, you might need more structure in your work and personal life, whereas an allocentric individual should seek a professional life filled with unpredictability and daily differences.
By aligning your circumstances with your personality, you might discover a year-round vacation experience.
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