I love to travel...that's no secret. Traveling can be difficult, but manageable if you're an introvert...and if you've been following this blog, that's no secret. I have overcome some significant blocks to living the traveling life I love and over the course of time I will share the in's and out's of my journey on this blog.
So good to be home, but I must admit, I'm already wondering what my next adventure will be. I need to stay in and around California until after the holidays, but I'm so centrally located that just about anywhere is possible...any suggestions? Would love to hear from you.
Zan Packard - The Adventrous Introvert
So how do you manage to travel as an introvert as far as meeting people? My housemate and I are discussing traveling to Europe this summer. I have my own concerns about traveling with her, partially because I'm quite independent (actually VERY) and I prefer to go at my own pace, which can sometimes be rather quick. Anyhow, I also want to meet new people but it's difficult enough here in the US to meet new people, but overseas, oh gosh! On top of that, I am also hard of hearing, so that makes it even harder. What strategies do you use? Feel free to email me at janel.kisner@gmail.com or on facebook :)
ReplyDeleteHi Janel, Congratulations on wanting to adventure out of your comfort zone. It's not easy, but it is manageable with enough planning.
ReplyDeleteWhen I travel overseas I find that MOST people I encounter are glad to practice their English with anyone who takes the time to speak with them. In fact, Europe seems far friendlier that most parts of the USA.
That said, it sounds like you are wondering how to go about meeting people when your introvert inclination is to keep to yourself, combined with the added challenge of the introvert's distaste for small-talk. Well, there's no one right answer, and of course it will depend on your personal style and comfort zone, but one thing that helped me was to have a 'set' of questions that would invite conversation: If you asked questions about subjects you are genuinely interested in it will be more a fact-finding conversation than small talk. Try coming up with a few questions for each area you will be visiting. I know that I enjoy sharing information with strangers about my area...it seems that most do too. That could be the starting point to a fuller conversation or just a quick interaction and you come away with great information.
I'm not ignoring your hard of hearing, and can imagine that it has many additional challenges, but you would probably deal with them similarly to the way you interact now.
Hope this helps....If I have missed something, or you have another question, be sure to post it. Warmly, Zan