We are a family of introverts, and we love to travel.
Not surprisingly, our introverted personalities affect how we travel.
Introvert Travel
So what does it look like when introverts travel? Well, our family – two adults and three children – are all introverts, and this is how our introversion affects our travels.
We prefer a road trip.
Instead of looking out a plane window while surrounded by strangers, we prefer to enjoy the scenery in our own company from our own vehicle. (Plus, road trips are more budget-friendly for family travel.)
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We only do certain types of tours.
Self-guided tours are our favorite. We will do guided tours as well. Interactive tours though? No, nope, nuh-uh! We do not want to answer questions or perform silly stunts as part of the tour.
We avoid crowds.
We dread crowds. They exhaust us. Thus, we often avoid crowds by visiting hidden gems and going on nature hikes during our vacations. If we are going someplace that we suspect will be crowded, we get there early in order to beat most of the crowds. And, we try not to spend more than a day or two in any big city we visit.
We require some down time.
We don’t jam-pack our days while on vacation. As longtime introverts, my husband and I know how important it is for us (and our children) to have some down time. If we have an especially busy day (or a crowd-filled day), we add a low-key day after it to our schedule.
Another thing that we do is to end our days early. This gives us downtime in the hotel each evening to relax and recharge so that we are ready for another fun-filled day in the morning.
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We only visit destinations with an online presence.
We want to be able to look up information and/or buy tickets online. We do NOT want to call to make a reservation. If a museum or accommodation does not have a helpful and informative website, we will not be visiting that place. Period.
We don’t sit in the front row.
If attending a show or on-stage performance, don’t look for us in the front row. We don’t want to be called on to answer questions or to be somehow incorporated into the act. Thus, you will find us somewhere in the middle of the audience – close enough to see and hear the show but far enough away that we won’t become part of the show.
We seek out destinations that make us think.
As introverts, we are prone to introspection and getting lost in our own thoughts. We internalize things and think stuff over from every possible angle. In other words, our introversion encourages us to “geek out” over stuff. That’s why we seek out destinations that cause us to wonder and encourage our imaginations. Whether it is a small town with a unique history or interesting terrain with awe-inspiring views, we love a destination that will get stuck in our heads for a while.
Favorite Travel Destinations for Introverts
Over the years, our family of introverts has enjoyed several travel adventures. Here are a few of our favorites:
- For imagination-inspiring adventure, we seek out amazing playgrounds for our children.
- For geeking out over Harry Potter, we visited Universal Orlando (with some scheduled down time at the beach right after, of course!)
- For inspirational nature scenery, we loved hiking at Hocking Hills in Ohio.
- For unique history that left us thinking for days, we visited a small utopian community called New Harmony in Indiana.
- For geeking out over architecture, we loved our self-guided tour of the Charlevoix Mushroom Houses.
Are you a travel-loving introvert, too?
Are you a travel-loving introvert, too? As Emily Dickinson once wrote in a poem, “Then there’s a pair of us! Don’t tell!”
Wait! Actually, please do tell.
Leave a comment below, and tell me about your experiences traveling as an introvert.
- How does your introverted personality affect your travels?
- What are some of your favorite travel destinations for introverts?
We are traveling introverts, too! We definitely need our down time away from people. We use a lot of the same strategies when traveling, although we did fly as a family for the first time this summer. It wasn’t too bad because the three of us were able to sit in our own row both flights. And the flight wasn’t too long.
We may try flying later this year, too. I hope we are lucky enough to all get seats together as well. *fingers crossed*
As an introvert myself, I completely agree!
Introverts unite! 🙂
Family of MAJOR extroverts here, but still relate to the first half of this list!
Interesting! Maybe those are not just introvert traits… maybe those are general people traits.
I’m definitely an introvert, too, although I’ve done a lot of extrovert traveling. Sometimes you have to take one for the team! Even though many of the national parks get millions of visitors each year, I find that those are some of my favorite places to visit. There’s something about the vastness of them that makes me feel like I have the whole place to myself, even though there are countless others there, too.
I completely agree about National Parks (as well as most State Parks).
I’m definitely an introvert but with a family of 2 introverts and 2 extroverts we’ve had to compromise. I don’t mind the crowds or planes as long as I do t have to talk to any strangers! Lol.
In my experience you know most of the times introvert people looking for some quiet peaceful places to travel. They just want to go somewhere and sit alone for hours to admire natural things or places. either way you have mentioned great points about them so thanks for that April. I really appreciate your work.
Fantastic post! As an introvert I totally agree! I don’t want to make phone calls or interact during a tour. Just give me my space please! 🙂
I travelled though Egypt with our daughter during Ramadan. We didn’t specifically plan it that way – it was just the only gap between engagements in two other countries, so we wedged it in. Heaven! Yes – people were grumpy because they were hungry. And we fasted by default because there wasn’t really food available during the day. But local tourists were altogether absent, and international tourists were scant. Queues were shorter! Crowds were minimal! Win! We also went with an Egypt-based travel company who co-ordinated a unique itinerary according to what we wanted to see, incl. private or self-guided tours only, as well as transportation that was private wherever possible.