4 Tourists We DON’T Want to Travel With

I usually love meeting fellow travelers. They’ve pointed me in the right direction when I was lost, translated for me in places where I couldn’t speak the language and livened up long plane rides with fascinating conversation.

But not all my fellow travelers are such exemplary citizens. Woe be unto you if you’re trapped on a train or tour with one of the four types of travel boors below. Which ones do you recognize?

The Name Dropper

This is the tourist who can’t appreciate the place she’s in now because she’s too busy showing off where else she’s been. “This temple is almost as impressive as the one we saw in Cambodia last year!”

The Royal Pain

“Does the Mediterranean salad come with iceberg lettuce or mesclun? … Mesclun? Okay, I’ll have that. But with shrimp instead of chicken. No tomatoes or olives, but lots of extra cheese. Goat cheese though, not feta. Oh, and can you put the dressing on the side?” Oh, and can you say high-maintenance?

The Know-It-All

If you’ve ever heard someone asking a tour guide questions just so he can expound upon the guy’s answers, or been subject to an unsolicited lecture on the flora and fauna of the Costa Rican rain forest, you’ve encountered this all-too-common travel bore — er, boor.

The Traveler Who Never Leaves Home

Oh, sure, he may have flown a couple thousand miles, but he still expects all his usual creature comforts: climate control, familiar foods (“Where’s the nearest McDonald’s?”) and people around him who speak English, no matter where in the world he goes. Friendly hint: If you want all the comforts of home, just stay home.

Which travelers would you add to this list?