Who you travel with is as important as where you are traveling. Let me introduce you to my two traveling companions, Liz and Dexter. Liz and I have known each other since 1997, when we were workmates at a luxury travel company based in St. Louis. We were housemates for about a year in 1999, and have been dear friends ever since. She currently resides in New York City, although she spends about 60% of the year abroad as a sales manager for Four Seasons Hotel & Resorts. Through the years, we have shared personal explorations through Honduras, Belize, Hawaii, and many other cities across the States, and visit each other in Austin or New York at least once a year. Dexter is a good friend of Liz’s in NYC, who I had met once before at Jazzfest in New Orleans in 2001. He has been traveling in and out of Africa for long stints at a time for the past fourteen years, and is interested in opening up a resort in Northern Mozambique.
When it comes to traveling with others, you have to find a good balance of personality, respect, trust space, communication, and humor. The three of us are seasoned travelers, and connected very quickly and easily to each other’s traveling style. South Africa is a slower paced country than what we experience in the States. While we may bite our tongues at the slower and less efficient service at a hotel check-in, or the lukewarm water in the sink, or the paper think toilet paper, it’s part of the beauty of traveling. It provides time for one to take a deep breath, slow down, and embrace the culture, and on the flipside, allows one to appreciate the efficiencies back home.
The great thing about traveling with Liz and Dex is that they are even keeled people. They are full of energy, yet low maintenance and roll with the punches, whichever direction they come. Additionally, I enjoy their sense of humor, which is very important when you are traveling. They crack jokes and can be a wise-ass to me, yet be the first to laugh at their own tumbles. We enjoy doing things off the beaten path, prefer the less crowded bar than the loud, popular, overcrowded clubs, aren’t huge history or museum buffs, and have a good sense of street smarts. For example, I feel comfortable leaving my personal belongings with them, knowing that they will not flake and be wise enough to cover my back.
We have similar appetite and thirst levels, and are sharers when it comes to food. This is huge for me! The Asian in me comes out at feeding time, and perhaps this explains why Chinese restaurants use Lazy Susans, or why we serve PuPu Platters…to share! There is nothing more discouraging to me, when my tablemates won’t share dishes at meals. I love food! I can’t select just ONE dish in my favorite restaurant back in Austin, let alone one choice in a foreign country staring at a new menu. Let’s order a variety of dishes, so we can try more things together!
Sorry, I often get sidetracked with the topic of food…but not only is it nice to share food, wine, and laughs when you are traveling with friends, but you can also rehash your stories with them when you return home. Although you will share your traveling tales and photos to your friends and family; your traveling companions will be the only ones that can relate to your adventure, and get the inside jokes. They are the ones, like you, that have explored and experienced the world first-hand.
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