The 6 best trips to meet like-minded travellers

written by James Shackell October 28, 2014

Whizzing through the skies and trekking through rainforests right now are travellers of every shape, size and background, passionate about everything from ancient Peruvian pottery to Germany’s underground rave scene. Somewhere out there is a person who shares your obsession with boutique Belgian beers, or that quirky urge to follow Bogie and Bergman’s footsteps in Casablanca.

But how to find your long lost travel soul mate? How to get that eyes-across-a-crowded-hostel feeling? While we can’t promise an enriching spiritual connection that will last a lifetime, we can introduce you to a similar breed of traveller, a group of like-minded souls who share your curiosity and your travel style, no matter how weird or wonderful.

So, what kind of traveller are you?

1. Culture Vulture

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Photo c/o Phil Roeder, Flickr

These vultures prefer picking over the corpses of long-dead empires to long-dead wildebeest. They’re never satisfied until they’ve seen every church, every temple, every museum exhibit, and have memorised major historical events in chronological order. Sleeping-in is anathema to them, as is not knowing how to spell ‘Tutankhamun’. You’ll generally find them pottering around in a corner of the cathedral no-one noticed before or scribbling notes into a Moleskine. If history does repeat, they’re going to be ready.

Sound like you? We’ve got just the thing:

Top Trips

–       Silk Road – Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan

–       Egypt Family – Feluccas & Pharaohs

2. Adrenaline Addict

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Image c/o Taro Taylor, Flickr

Adrenaline addicts love to feel the blood pumping through their veins, but via exhilarating activities rather than a high cholesterol diet. For them travel is synonymous with pushing boundaries, with finding the edge and then abseiling over it. You can generally spot them nursing a caste, or scouting out the best cycling routes. They’re always the ones at the front of every white-water raft, whooping elemental defiance like Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump.

Want to meet some fellow addicts? Try these on for size:

Top Trips

–       Active Pyrenees

–       Turkey Active

–       Active Thailand

3. Cross-Continental Crusader

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Image c/o Thomas 8047, Flickr

Some travellers just can’t stop at one country; they won’t rest until they’ve hopped across a whole continent, collecting passport stamps faster than Indiana Jones and cramming as much into their journey as they can. They’ll think nothing of traipsing across ten countries in ten days, and feel an intimate attraction to the horizon. The hard-core ones often look a little sleep-deprived, or roam the cities of Europe with their nose determinedly buried in a map. There’s no denying though, they do come home with some amazing stories.

Don’t roam alone. You’ll find other crusaders on these trips:

Top Trips

–       Amazing Central America

–       Kenya to Vic Falls

–       Europe Explorer

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4. Salty Sam

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Image c/o Joanna Penn, Flickr

Want to feel a rolling deck under your feet? Is salt and vinegar your favourite flavour of chip? You may be a Salty Sam – a budding nautical adventurer. Salty Sam’s love nothing better than the wind in their hair and a horizon to chase. They may not know their jibs from their mizzens or their port from their starboard, but they know deep down that all those overland journeys are for landlubbers.

Top Trips

–       Cuba Sailing Adventure

–       Cote d’Azur Sailing Adventure

–       Phuket Sailing Adventure

5. Trekkies

national park service

Image c/o National Park Service, Flickr

Forget Star Trek – our hikers, trampers and trekkies undertake life-changing odysseys that make Captain Kirk look like a shut-in. They know every journey begins with a single step, but that it takes many more steps to reach the summit. Trekkies can disappear into the Atlas Mountains or the foothills of Cambodia with nothing more than a compass and a change of underwear, and not use either. Their calves have a tensile strength greater than steel, and they usually possess an extensive collection of walking poles, thermal knee socks and Blistex products.

Top Trips

–       Everest Base Camo

–       Patagonia Wilderness

–       Winter Toubka

6. Food Fiends

oscar-rethwill

Image c/o Oscar Rethwill, Flickr

It’s easy to spot a real foodie: they’re the ones who’ll think nothing of trekking clear across Paris to hunt down the freshest morning baguette, who follow their nose instead of maps, who actually know how to pronounce pho and have a killer recipe for empanadas up their sleeve in case of emergencies. Of course, no one appreciates foodies quite like other foodies, so we’ve developed a range of culinary trips to get you cooking, slurping and munching with people just like you. Hungry for some inspiration? Here’s a taster menu to get you started.

Top trips

–       Real food adventure – Vietnam

–       Real food adventure  – Argenina

–       Real food adventure – Italy

Inspired to travel the world with some new companions? Enter Intrepid’s Take a Friend or Make a Friend competition, and you’ll be in with a chance to win up to $20,000 worth of travel!

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Feeling inspired?

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