What is your travel love language? What your travel style says about you

Do you know what your ‘love language’ is? In the early 1990s, the concept of five love languages, ranging from ‘words of affirmation’ and ‘quality time’ to ‘receiving gifts’, ‘acts of service’ and ‘physical touch’, was popularised, supposedly to help partners, families and parents understand each other’s needs and respond accordingly.

But travel introduces a whole other set of variables. Travel can, at times, bring out the worst in people. Long airport queues, flight delays and lost luggage are reason enough for anyone to lose their temper. Add in travel stress, jetlag and potentially a sore head or two from late-night beers, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. So, the editors at Conde Nast Traveller set out to establish the love languages of travel – the character types and personalities that describe most travellers, so you can better prepare for your next trip (and decide who you should, or shouldn’t, hop on a plane with).

Communication is key, and part of that is figuring out what type of person suits you for travel. If you are, for example, a hyper-organised, time-vigilant traveller, then perhaps you should avoid travelling with someone who loves a spontaneous excursion. Or, if you’re an early bird, consider travelling with a culture vulture – someone to spend those precious morning hours with, to squeeze in a visit to a gallery or pop to a café that gets too busy later in the day. Below, find the travel love languages – which one best describes you?

The travel love languages

The Planner

More often than not, The Planner is the one who organised the entire trip. Think of them as the Operations Manager of the holiday: this is the person who curates the itineraries, makes the schedules and books the tickets. They’re Type A through and through. They make things happen, but they can clash with certain travellers (and, more often than not, their best friend/partner/sibling has the exact opposite travel love language).

“I’m a pretty intense Type-A planner in all parts of my life, but travel is where I come into my own,” says Chloe Laws, acting audience growth manager at Conde Nast Traveller. “I’ve learnt, though, from marriage to a Type-B traveller and being surrounded by many friends who want to ‘go with the flow’, not to enforce it on other people. Gently suggest, yes, perhaps even keep a personal itinerary that I pretend is spontaneous, but try and let everyone choose their own plans – it’s their holiday, too. And if they end up going to a few bad restaurants because they’ve not done enough research, so be it!”

• Don’t travel with: The Culture Vulture. This traveller follows their nose, constantly seeking under-the-radar spots to uncover. Of course, there are times when your tastes align, but if you don’t discuss plans in advance, friction will arise.
• Where to travel: a European city break. Museums, galleries and walking tours galore, plus endless options of restaurants for perfectly timed dinner reservations. Think Porto, Marseille or Turin – cities that are a little offbeat, but offer everything you’re looking for in a holiday destination.
• Remember to pack: chances are, you’ve already made a packing list, so you don’t need us to tell you what to pack. Just remember, a touch of spontaneity goes a long way when you’re travelling – if you adjust timings or skip a reservation to follow your gut once in a while, you might stumble upon some truly amazing experiences.

The Photographer

Ah, the aesthete. Everyone’s favourite traveller. This is the person with the eye for beauty – they’ll spy a table with a view, a cute cobbled street for a drink, a perfect spot to watch the sunset from a mile off. They’re often very laidback, happy to go with the flow and see where the day takes them. The Photographer also doubles up as the Wardrobe Coordinator – the person on the trip who often has the best outfits that everyone ends up borrowing (how else are you going to get that perfect Instagram post?).