The ideal traveling companion knows how to be independent and how to be part of a duo. Having similar tastes isn't really a requirement; respecting your travel mate is. The other key attribute is to find a travel companion whose sense of adventure is similar to your own.
While it's great to travel with a good friend, sustaining the friendship through some of the mundane details of the journey can become tricky. Your ideal travel mate, then, is someone with whom you can set up mutual guidelines for your trip. Once you know what you value about a trip, you're more likely to be able to spot someone in your entourage of friends who is likely to have similar values and so make a good travel mate.
Are you an adventurer looking for jungle walks, likely to rent vehicles and take off into the interior? Is it vital for you to learn about local culture, visit artisans, taste local cuisine? Or are you a beach fiend, lazing the blessed rays, content to turn over every twenty minutes or so? Will you be found deep into silence, waves and a good book? Is it important that dinner have wine and candlelight, or would a roadside stand and local specialties please you more? Know what you really want out of your journey, then communicate that clearly with potential traveling companions.
A plan needn't be restrictive, but it does give a structure on which your potential travel companions can determine whether the two of you will be a good match. My travel partner (we're two middle-aged women) has similar values to my own. We respect local culture, want to know more about the area of the world we're visiting, and we're both fascinated by the history of a place. We each like to eat well, but our culinary tastes diverge at some points. And we have other differences.
My friend loves to walk the beaches for hours each afternoon and I can only take about half an hour of that before I'm counting how many grains of sand are under my toenails. My friend would rather visit a market; I'd rather visit a museum of art. I love roadside or market stall food if it's the local sort, but my friend is leery about street food, and I understand her hesitations. I'm a water baby, but my friend doesn't swim well and is somewhat frightened of the water. So how do we deal? Compromise? NO! Then both of us lose some of the zest generated by who we are. Not at all. We make a special agreement before we leave.
Here's the gist of our agreement:
If there's time, we breakfast together and share our plans for the day. If there's no time, leave a note!
In the daytime, each of us is free to do whatever she wishes, no requirement that it be done together, and no hard feelings if one is alone. (The contrary, in fact,is true. I'm always delighted knowing we're both having a great time. "Together" is not a requirement.)
We always have supper together, and generally spend the evening together, sharing our days and exploring night life which might not be safe if we went alone.
For the days we do spend together, we alternate who pays. The payer pays for everything all day, and the other records all payments. Each evening before bed, we settle up, then switch duties for the next day. All it takes is a tiny notebook and the ability to add and divide by two. (Special shopping and souvenirs we pay for ourselves, of course!) No money disagreements.
I've learned to walk beaches for a longer time, and my friend took swimming lessons. We've reached into each others' worlds and extended ourselves, each out of respect for the other.
If you actually write down what's important to you about your trip, including the amount of alone time you think you'll want, the amount of activity and the type of activity, a few candidates will come to mind. Don't restrict yourself to the people you think will be likely to say yes, though, because you may be overlooking a wonderful surprise in someone whose company you really enjoy. My travel buddy is married (her hubby won't travel!) and I'd never have asked her to join me the first time. But I shared the sort of holiday I wanted with a large group of people and up she popped saying, "I love that sort of trip! Count me in."
Last, where do you look for this person? At work, at the gym, at church, in special interest clubs. Among your old college roommates and Spring Break pals? UM MM, maybe rethink that one!
Now you know where to find your travel companion, how to agree on the holiday you really want, and how to have a friendly face across the table from you each evening at dinner. No excuses to sit at home!