As we prepare to leave for Disney early tomorrow morning, I got to thinking about what inspires us to travel. As far as I can see there are various types of vacation. From my own personal experience I can think of six main types. I’ve divided them into neat little categories below (as historians are wont to do).

Celebration Vacation! This is a trip done in lieu of a major event or milestone. In the case of our upcoming Disney trip: Natalie’s graduation from high school.

Volunteer Venture: This type of trip is usually a combination of service and sightseeing. My favorite way to do this trip is by working during the day and exploring at night. My recent trips to New Orleans and Haiti fall into this category.

Family-Time Travel: People on this type of vacation are easy to spot–they’re the ones wearing the same shirt and matching ball caps. These trips are more focused on the people you are with than the destination (and, no they don’t always have to wear matching outfits).

Extravagant Excursion: These trips are all about the quality of your day-to-day stay. You can tell you’re on an extravagant excursion if there is chocolate on the pillows at night and you are as inclined to stay in your room as you are to venture outside during the day.

Journey’s End Jet Setting: This type of trip is all about the destination. The motivation for traveling is the location itself.

Aerobic Adventure: These trips are not for the faint of heart or the faint of muscle and usually involve time spent in nature–trekking, sky-diving, snorkeling, sailing, or hiking.

And since I’ve run out of alliterative phrases and rhyming words I’ll stop there.

I think there’s value in all of these kinds of trips and it’s rather difficult to fall into one category exclusively without touching on a few others.

Which categories does your ideal vacation fit into?