Bino ChuaYou know who they are.
You set off for your weekend getaways to Bangkok or even month-long trips to Europe, with high hopes of the places you’ll go and the things you’ll get to do. And why not? You have the backing of a few people who you’re going with – either friends of yours or other travellers you met along the way. Easy to get along with – or so you thought.
A week or two afterwards however, and these same people end up bringing misery to your trip with a capital M. And somehow, somewhere, you end up with a sense of buyer’s remorse.
Also read: 7 Types Of People You Never Want To Travel With
There’s no doubt that travelling with others has a lot of benefits… but don’t let the disadvantages outweigh it!
And so, without further ado, I present to you the six worst travel buddies that you can have (and I’m not even mentioning the usual culprits here).
1. Miss Pennies and Cents
It’s always good to save money on a trip but Miss Pennies and Cents just takes this to the extreme. Sleeping in the park, barely taking any meals, skipping the must-visit sights because there’s an admission fee… you start to wonder whether this trip is still a holiday or turning into a bout of self-punishment.
How to deall: Your travel buddies may have had a different expectation of the cost of the trip so make sure you work out the estimated budget before you leave. I have heard of rare cases where travellers holiday-ing together having an extremely disjointed expectation about the cost that one stayed in a hotel while the other separated and stayed in a guesthouse. Let it not reach this point.
2. The Never There
The never there is precisely that — they barely give any inputs and barely talk that it’s almost as if you’re travelling alone. The good news is that they’re actually still around following you wherever you go and sharing the costs but still you’re left with that nagging question of whether you are indeed alone.
How to deal – It all boils down to the purpose and intentions of your trip. I do know of some people who travel with others just to share the cost so if you fall under this category, the “never there” won’t be so bad. But if you fall under the second category of people who definitely can’t travel alone, then you’re in trouble. Your best bet is to find another travel buddy/ies to tag along with you during your trip.
3. Know-It-All
One of the greatest annoyance that you can have during your trip, the know-it-all spells out an endless blurb of useless facts about the places you’re going to, the locals you’re dealing with and so on. The know-it-all tries to impress upon you his/her expertise on a place even though, like you, he/she has also never been there before. The worst kinds of know-it-alls are the ones who actually know nothing and end up blabbing about the wrong things.
How to deal – your best bet is to bring a set of earmuffs because once you bring a know-it-all with you on a trip, there’s just no stopping them from talking about each and every minute factoid they can think of.
Also read: 10 Things to Consider Before Choosing a Travel Partner
4. Mister No
As the name implies, this type of travel buddy says no to everything. No to eating in this place. No to visiting X. No to riding this. No, no, no, no, no. Perhaps the only thing that both of you can come in an agreement with is the certainty of him/her once more saying “no” to something later on.
How to deal – While it’s not necessarily to obsessively write an itinerary down to the last detail, it pays to set out some broad expectations before the trip on the places you’ll be covering and activities you’ll be trying. If your travel buddies are the people you meet only in the destination itself, it’s better to have a short chat to see whether your interests jive before you do decide to travel together.
5. The Flowing Tongue
They go by different names, with “gift of gab” probably the most positive sounding (won’t mention about the rest). It’s good to have chatty and interesting companions on a trip but “the flowing tongue” takes it to an extreme. There’s just no quieting them down. They will comment about everything, and by everything, that includes the texture of the ground that you’re walking on or the wheels of the cars passing by. The “flowing tongue” will always find something to talk about – even at 5 hours into an 8-hour flight, after having talked for nearly 3 hours nonstop about how excited he/she is about the trip.
How to deal – Same solution as for the know-it-alls but if your travel buddy is not the deliberately annoying type, you could either match him/her with another flowing tongue in your group, or you could pretend to sleep and your flowing tongue will (hopefully) leave you alone.
6. The Diva
One of the easiest to spot, the diva will never be in Goldilocks mode – everything will either be too much or too little. But never just right. Too ugly. Too dirty. Too drab. There will be complaints about almost everything. Given that barely anything is seen as satisfactory, the diva will always demand for upgrades even without an acceptable justification for doing so.
How to deal – I do not have a solution for dealing with divas, so the best I could suggest is to learn from the experience and never include him/her again for your next trip!
At one point or another, we may have encountered a few variants of these kinds of people (or we ourselves may even be the guilty party without us realising) but fortunately, for the overwhelming majority, the worst-case scenario is that the people we do end up travelling with only exhibit these traits mildly and are not enough to be a deal breaker. But it does happen.
Also read: 12 Signs That You’ve Found Your Perfect Travel Buddy
Do you agree with these 6 types? Are there any other which really bring out your utter frustration? Do let us know!
This article originally appeared in I Wander.
