What Kind Of Rambler Are You?

Few things define a person more than their choice of holidays, walking holidays even more so. If you’re a serious rambler, you’ll be very specific about the season, the destination, the pace and even the goal of your hike. Some tend to adopt a ‘stop and smell the roses’ approach, others leap out of their beds in the morning eager to burn up the trail. Wherever you choose to spend your trekking holiday, walking holiday or just the occasional amble, here’s a guide to what kind of walker you may be.

What Kind of Rambler are You?

The Romantic

Style: Consumed; Given to stunned contemplation of the infinite.
Heroes: T.E.Lawrence, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
You cannot be without: Parchment and a quill.
Good companion for a walking holiday?: Only if it need be immortalised in verse.

The Nomad

Style: Stoic; Long suffering.
Heroes: Moses, The Tuareg of the Sahara interior.
You cannot be without: New horizons.
Good Companion for a walking holiday?: Undoubtedly, though the journey may never end.

The Survivalist

Style: Wary; Self sufficient
Heroes: Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee, Ray Mears
You cannot be without: A machete.
Good Companion for a walking holiday?: No, for disaster inevitably seeks you out.

The Natural Philosopher

Style: Obsessive; Simultaneously baffled and astonished.
Heroes: Charles Darwin, James Cook
You cannot be without: A rigidly maintained journal.
Good Companion for a walking holiday?: Yes, purely for the Royal Society dinner upon return.

The Captain of Industry

Style: Commanding; Resentfully unconcerned by natural disaster.
Heroes: Richard Branson, Scipione Borghese
You cannot be without: 23 Sherpas to supply your entourage.
Good Companion for a walking holiday?: Absolutely not. Ever.

The Explorer

Style: Audacious; Listless when comfortable.
Heroes: John Cabot, Ferdinand Magellan
You cannot be without: A sextant.
Good Companion for a walking holiday?: Yes, if unfettered by Curs and Blackguards.

The ‘Summiteer’

Style: Perennially in the grip of ‘Summit Fever’; Indefatigable.
Heroes: Reinhold Messner, Richard Bass.
You cannot be without: A flag emblazoned with your face.
Good Companion for a walking holiday?: In no way whatsoever. You stand alone.

There you have it. You may recognise yourself in these descriptions, you may not. Perhaps you’ve found that you’re a mixture of many different styles… A ‘Romantic Explorer’ for example, or a ‘Survivalist Philosopher’… Perhaps it’s difficult to be an objective judge of your own characteristics and you’ll need to ask your long suffering travel companions to tell you the truth about yourself. I sincerely hope that this cements some much treasured friendships and doesn’t tear any apart!

Keep your eyes peeled for more observations on the trekking holiday and walking holiday scene. Doubtless there are plenty of attitudes and outlooks that I’ve left out of the above descriptions, so there’ll be more to come in the future. Look out for my ‘destinations guide’ for each of these styles coming in a few weeks. Each type of rambler has their own ideal environment and location and I’ll be endeavouring to pinpoint exactly which destination would suit each one of the above, make sure not to miss it!