Come Away with Me

Stating the obvious, who you travel with matters – a lot…. like there are certain people I would be willing to go away with for a long, fun-filled weekend in Mexico but I couldn’t possibly handle on a two-week trip to experience the culture and countryside of France (and vice versa). In an ideal world,

• Almost 3 in 4 Americans would choose to travel with their spouse or significant other.
• About 4 in 10 would choose to go away with their kids.
• About 4 in 10 would choose to travel with friends.
• About 1 in 5 would choose to travel with their own parents, while less than 1 in 20 would choose to go away with their in-laws (no surprise here).
• Approximately 1 in 20 would choose to travel with strangers or on their own.

Interestingly, 7% of married couples say they would prefer to travel without their spouse; and 1% would rather travel with strangers. And wait, what’s that? Men are more likely to want to go away with their spouse or significant other than women are. Holy anti-stereotype.

Age impacts this paradigm too.

• Gen Y-ish adults (i.e., ages 18-29) are most likely to want to take a vacation with friends.
• Those ages 30-64 are most likely to want to travel with their immediate family (i.e., their spouse/significant other and their kids), probably because they are more likely to have a partner and kids to begin with.
• The youngest and the oldest cohorts (18-29 and 65+) are most likely to want to travel solo, though I am guessing for different reasons.

Who would you take on your ideal/pretty good vacation? Would they choose to take you?