Backpacking Tip No. 3 - Know thyself

To fully enjoy your backpacking adventure, you must know yourself. That might sound rather simple and yet it can save you a lot of frustrations and make your journey more memorable.

I'm talking about your travel preference. Do you prefer traveling solo or are you the type who can't live without a companion? Can you handle minor changes in your plans or do you fret over disruptions in your well-crafted schedule? Are you more into quantity over quality? This would determine whether your 3-day detour in Rome would be a journey to heaven or a descent to hell.

The best personality test I could think of is the Myers Briggs type indicator (MBTI) . While typically used for career profiling, an overall general description can give you insights on what delights you and what pisses you off.

As an example I am an ENFP. I thrive upon social setting, the possibilities, the big picture, values and flexibility. The E (extrovert) in me makes enjoy meeting new strangers be it inside the train or the hostel. The P (perceiving) in me makes me enjoy freedom and flexibility. I would prefer to take my time in a city and am quite flexible in changing my schedule. It is perhaps this reason why I would want to travel solo. I'd like to have a full command of my itinerary.

I would probably clash with a travel buddy that's ISTJ or ESTJ. This would typically be the folks who would like to have their itinerary covered down to the minutest detail.

There's no such thing as the best personality for traveling but knowing your preferences can at least help you plan your trip better.

You can take a free MBTI test here...
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp