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From the Travel Hippie to the Super Technical Gear Guy: What Kind of Traveler Are You?

We all think we're unique and special, and maybe we are, when we're among our own people. But once we're out of our element, it's awfully easy to fall into a stereotype. Travel blogger David Garrett Byars was recently reflecting on the different people he's met while backpacking the world, and came up with a humorous list of the five types of travelers you're likely to encounter (or be) when you hit the road. Take The Expert, for example. He's the guy who "sipped hot green tea from the cupped hands of the Dalai Lama" and "has no friends because no one can really relate to him on his level because of the deep and meaningful experiences he has had." Yeah, I've met that guy. I might add that he'll always find a way to insult whatever guidebook you're using, because it's just so commercialized and shallow compared with the ancient papyrus scrolls he consults for wisdom. Then there's the Travel Hippie, who will recoil in horror if you order animal flesh at a restaurant, but secretly "doesn’t even like Phish and can only name two Grateful Dead songs." My favorite: Super Technical Gear Guy (pictured), whose clothing "conveys the sense that he just traversed the Sahara Desert strapped to the top of a Land Rover." So what kind of traveler are you? Possibly a little bit of each. There's a piece of Super Technical Gear Guy in all of us.

[Photo: David Garrett Byars]

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