How You Pack for a Vacation, Based On Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type
It’s that time of the year again – vacation time! You’ve been looking forward to this moment for months and can’t wait to relax and unwind. While some people pack way too much or simply forget some essentials, others seem to have mastered the art of packing perfectly. However, have you ever considered how personality types affect the packing process? In this humorous post, we’ll take a look at how the 16 Myers-Briggs® personality types would pack for a vacation. Let’s get started!
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Here’s How You Pack for a Trip, Based On Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type
ISTJ
You’ve had an excel spreadsheet prepared six months in advance of your planned vacation. Every item is organized by category and you’ve budgeted accordingly. You’ve also purchased travel insurance and made hard and soft copies of your passport. Vacations are serious business and you will remind everyone of this fact. When your six-year-old daughter tries to squeeze the inflatable unicorn into her suitcase, you’ll sternly prick a hole in the unicorn’s horn and (over the sound of deflating air) remind her that her schoolbooks take priority.
ISTP
The night before your trip, you’ll find a way to pack grappling hooks, a pocket knife, and a compass into your duffle bag. You’ll also manage to sneak a few snacks that you know won’t be approved by airport security. Your goal is to have enough gear so that you’re prepared for any adventure life throws at you, and nothing will get in the way of that!
ISFJ
Several months before the trip, you’ll be mapping out every detail of the location you’re going to. No amount of information will be enough. How likely are natural disasters? What is the crime rate? What are the local customs? What treacherous insects should you be prepared to avoid? A first-aid kit and a photo album of family memories are must-haves – just in case. You don’t want to get caught in an earthquake wishing you’d brought your wedding photos!
ISFP
The morning of your vacation you’ll absent-mindedly throw a few random items of clothing into your bag. If anyone else had done this they’d look horrible, but you manage to come up with a weeks worth of perfectly complementary outfits. Most of your suitcase is filled with art supplies and musical instruments (the ukelele was a last-minute addition). Your main goal is to be prepared for any creative inspiration the trip might bring. Let’s hope you don’t forget your passport!
INTJ
A year before your vacation you’ve come up with the optimal strategy to pack for the trip. Your suitcase contains a list of items that are expertly categorized in order of importance – from essential to ‘in case of emergency’. You’ve downloaded audio books onto your phone to save space, and have prepared several detailed itineraries for each day. You have the addresses of all the embassies, exchange currencies, and emergency contacts jotted down in a notebook. However, when you inadvertently give the security guard a grumpy scowl during screening (it wasn’t personal, you were considering the impacts of climate change), you realize that your plans didn’t include a strategy for avoiding awkward airport interactions. After twenty minutes in a crowded security line, you crumple up your itineraries and toss them in the garbage. You’ll spend your week in a hotel room recovering from this overwhelming dose of human contact.
INTP
The day before your vacation, you map out the optimal strategy for packing. Your bag will be filled with must-have practical items such as books on cosmology, quantum physics, and artificial intelligence. You’ll also research ways to avoid people as much as possible; discovering off-the-beaten-path activities that provide the most value for your money. Your partner ends up filing a missing persons report three days after you arrive at your location because you were so busy avoiding people that you wound up on a boat to a deserted island and got “lost.” You’ve already set up a research station and are doing experiments on the local marine life.
INFJ
Two days before your trip you’ll be in a contemplative trance, imagining exactly how every step of the vacation will go and how emotionally and spiritually impacted each of your family members will be. Your suitcase will contain items for each, such as books that offer emotional healing and calming music to meditate to. You also pack a few inspirational movies and audiobooks just in case the mood should turn sour. As the vacation unfolds, you nod and smile knowingly as each plays out precisely as you had imagined it.
INFP
You’ve spent many months fantasizing about all the paths your vacation could take. But you don’t like to settle on just one path, so the day before your trip you find yourself with seven suitcases packed with all manner of toys for all manner of possibilities. You’ve packed a collection of journals, with an aesthetic for whichever mood you happen to be in, a collection of books (even though you know you’ll re-read your favorite fantasy novel), and some crystals for spiritual guidance. When you arrive at your hotel you realize you’ve forgotten your toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, cell phone charger, and debit card.
ESTJ
One week before the trip you’ll give each member of your family an excel sheet of all the must-have items to pack and where they should contain them in their suitcases. Your highly-trained children will pack your suitcase for you because you’ll have more important things to do (those taxes aren’t going to file themselves). When you arrive at your destination, you open your suitcase to experience an explosion of confetti, glitter, tiny balloons, and a sign that reads ‘Next time pack your own bag.’ You knew you shouldn’t have left the packing to your angsty ENFP teen!
ESTP
It’s the night before the trip and you’re running around your house gathering items for your suitcase. You’ll pack a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, your swimsuit, and flip-flops for everyday wear. Then come all the adventure supplies – camping gear (just in case), plenty of snacks, energy drinks, rope to rappel down mountains, a couple of bottles of tequila, and a harmonica (in case you get stranded). You take one final look around your room hoping you haven’t forgotten anything important. Oh well, no time like the present to find out!
ESFJ
Weeks ahead of time you’ll agonize over every detail of the trip. You want to make sure that everyone else is as comfortable and well taken care of as possible. Your suitcase will contain throw pillows, blankets, a first-aid kit, inhaler for your best friend (you’re sure she’ll forget), family heirlooms in case of a natural disaster and a collection of small trinkets for your nieces and nephews. You’ll also include some baked goodies lovingly prepared in your kitchen. When you arrive at your destination, you’ll realize you completely forgot to pack any of your own things. But this gives you the opportunity to have a shopping spree with your besties and create a whole new beach-inspired wardrobe! Maybe your unconscious calculated this plan all along.
ESFP
It’s the day of your trip and you’ll be running around your house like a madman trying to get all your things together. You need to make sure you’re dressed to impress with some elements to keep the party going. Your suitcase will contain an eclectic mix of clothes from different decades, party blowers, a selfie stick, a karaoke machine for late night sing-alongs, and a cotton candy machine. You will make sure the fun is with you regardless of what the destination has to offer!
ENTJ
The week before your trip you’ll read a how-to book on piloting a large aircraft. After having your minions (partner/children/employees) pack your bags, you’ll set off for vacay. 15 minutes into the flight you’ll decide the pilot is too busy making jokes and not as focused on riding against the wind at full speed to get people to their destination as quickly as possible. You manage to convince the pilot that you’re a skilled professional and with your pristine suit and tie and commanding demeanor he backs away from his seat. “Let’s kick the tires and light the fires” you command as you take control of the aircraft. You manage to get your jet to fly at intense speed, even through extreme turbulence. But comfort doesn’t matter – you have a place to get, and time that needs to be saved! You arrive at your destination ahead of schedule and await thankful expressions from the passengers and crew. The beleaguered lot stumble out of the plane clutching vomit bags and giving you exhausted glares.
ENFJ
You spend the weeks preceding your trip daydreaming about every little detail of how it will play out. You predict everyone’s emotional reactions to the trip and plan accordingly. Your suitcase will be a self-care package for everyone else on the trip. There will be extra tissues for grandma who will get sentimental, noise-canceling earphones for your highly-sensitive cousin, and confetti for your ENFP sister. A journal and quill pens are also included for your own personal reflections and you anticipate many quiet nights spent reflecting on the veranda of your hotel room jotting down pleasant memories and insights.
Unfortunately, traveling is never without its drama and you wind up playing counselor to your extended family the entire time and your journal never makes an appearance till you get home and sadly jot down the words, “What vacation?”. But even in the midst of chaos you find a way to bring joy and hope. You are an ENFJ after all!
ENTP
You’ve been so busy fantasizing about the amazing discoveries awaiting you on your trip that time has gotten away from you. You’ll throw your suitcase together just 1 hour before the flight and hope for the best. You’ll make sure to include a laptop, charging cables, extra charging cables, extra power cords, and multiple adapters to cater for the different power outlets of different countries. You’ll also have to reach out to some sketchy contacts to get your hands on a few items “necessary” for your journey, such as an experimental drone, a fake passport, and AI-powered sunglasses. Disney World won’t know what hit it.
ENFP
15 minutes before your scheduled to leave for the airport, you throw a few basic travel essentials into a bag. These include: party blowers, a book about the origins of consciousness, a guitar for those spontaneous jam sessions, and your trusty journal to document all your musings while on vacation. Once you get to the airport you realize to your dismay that you left your wallet and passport at home, and you spend the rest of your pre-flight time trying to explain to airport security that it’s all a misunderstanding. After a few minutes you realize they are laughing with you instead of at you! It turns out one of them is an ENFP too. With a sigh of relief, you board the plane to start your much needed vacation!
Other Articles You Might Enjoy:
How to Ruin a Friendship with Each Myers-Briggs® Personality Type
Here’s Why You Should Avoid Each Myers-Briggs® Personality Type
Here’s What You Do At a Party, Based On Your Myers-Briggs® Personality Type
What Are Your Thoughts?
Have you enjoyed this article? What’s your packing style like? Let us and other readers know in the comments!
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I’m an ENFP who learned, a long time ago. to plan and pack. I kind of “kitchen sink” it. I never know what I’ll need. But I have nightmares about not being ready, being late, forgetting my stuff, especially my passport/wallet/purse. I love to travel, I just hate the stress of getting out of my happy place to deal with stuff last minute.
The INTP vacation is humorous, if a bit exaggerated…If possible I start packing days in advance, although most things can’t be packed until the last minute – e.g., frequently worn clothing items, toiletries – and multiple lists are a must to avoid becoming a headless chicken as I run around trying to remember those last few things I don’t want to be without but have slipped my mind. A loose itinerary and list of possible activities is helpful for planning purposes, but neither do I want my itinerary decided for me or to get looped into someone else’s schedule. I also don’t care for festivals or concerts or other tourist-traps, but I can accept that complete isolation is not feasible as long as I can have adequate time alone. About a week at a time is all I can tolerate before the stress begins rising and I’m ready to go home.
INTJ who travels internationally and domestically several times a year for work and pleasure – I travel efficient. Carry. On. Only. Pack light. Is it essential? If you have to ask, it probably isn’t. None of this waiting at the carousel, standing around like sheep, hoping the airline hasn’t lost my baggage. I’m in and out. Isle seat for easy access to the overhead lockers and for proximity to the exit. I choose my seat based on where the plane is likely to disembark (fron, middle or rear). As soon as I’m allowed to turn off Flight Mode in my phone, I’m on the Uber app trying to get a ride to the hotel. If I’m not already familiar with the airport layout, Ive researched online for the most efficient way to the exit and designated ride share pick-up zones. I need to get away from all the people. Travel alone whenever possible. Noise cancelling headphones/earphones are a must. Business class or first class is preferable, if within budget. Is it a necessity? Absolutely not. But are the benefits worth the price? Cost/benefit: no. Cost/value: yes. What’s the difference? An INTJ would (read: should) know. Example: I’d pay for the business class ticket just for the lie-flat bed, especially if the flight is 10+ hours. I value having a painless lower back during my trip more than the savings of an economy ticket. It’s worth it to me, even if the cost/benefit equation says otherwise.
I am an INTJ, my husband an INTP, my daughters (both adult now) INFP and ENTJ….. your article had me laughing out loud! Marvelously tongue in cheek, but strangely accurate. Life was interesting in our house, and vacations even more so, with that mix of personalities.
Thank you for an entertaining read!
The description here for INFP does not describe me at all.
I don’t take books to read, or journals, or crystals (What the…?)
I organise and schedule every detail, wanting firm bookings and confirmations. I’ve never accidentally left important things behind.
Same for me. I’m very efficient at packing for a vacation. No crystals needed, I’m not into woo. I might pack one book to read at night. Otherwise, I reserve and confirm the motel, and pack our suitcase with everything we need. Anything I’ve forgotten, I can easily buy at a store, so I make sure I’m packing the essentials I can’t buy. Why would an INFP necessarily be that forgetful?
I really like…a lot…what you said about my ENTJ husband! He got a bit of a kick out of it, too, after trying to rationalize what wouldn’t be true of him and I had to keep repeating to him that it is just humorous. Mine…INTJ… rang true more than not. You made us both laugh. INTP son, good, ESFP daughter, good, ESTP son, also good. Our ESTJ guy friend also humorous! Thanks for the laughs!
I must add….My ENTJ husband has amusingly (though a bit irritatingly) said to me when commenting to “slow down” and “could we please walk together?” on his routine way of walking fast and always four to five steps ahead of me in the airport, “I’m just trying to get to the [security, customs line, escalator, shuttle bus, check-in, baggage claim, etc., etc.].” As though I’m not trying to do the same thing, just not at break-neck speed. He’s a hoot/piece of work!
INFP here. I laughed out loud in recognition of myself here. Crystals, books, etc. and what???? No cell phone charger??? 🤣🤣
I do make a list now, which I really need.
lol, one of my friends is an ENTJ and that sounds like exactly what she’d do and the INFJ bit is also very accurate