2017 trip – day 23 – The Myers-Briggs traveling primer

Seems like a good day to talk about choosing your traveling companion for a long trip like the one we are on.  I would recommend the following steps.

1 – Take the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory.

2 – Choose a traveling companion who matches up with you in at least 3 of the four factors.

3 – Enjoy a almost conflict free trip.

This approach has definitely worked for us.  I am an INTP and Peg is an INFP.

I won’t try to explain the whole Myers-Briggs theory as that would take several books but just as a summary the letters mean:

“I” means we are both more introverted than extroverted.  This works well on the long periods in the trip when we are essentially out of contact with the rest of the world.  Neither of us feels a need to be on the phone or in contact with other people on a continuous basis.  While we spend a lot of out time together talking we are both quite comfortable with long periods of silence.

“N” means we are both more intuitive than sensate, meaning we quickly move beyond the specific new information we discover on our journeys and find intuitive insights.

“T” means my first reaction to a new situation is to decide what I think about it.  “F” means Peg’s first reaction is going to be more feeling based.  Not having all 4 factors in common helps keep life interesting.

Finally “P” reflects how much we are inclined to stick to a plan.  A high “J” would feel compelled to stick to a plan once it was made.  As a high P the very fact that a plan was made makes us both start to think about how we might change it.

Today my high “F” spouse was concerned for me and helped us decide to exercise our high “P” quality and make a change.  Two national parks and a family history related cemetery in South East Ohio will have to wait for another trip.  I can get caught up in the thought and planning process and think we need to maximize our travel time and check off as many items on our list as we can.  Peg helped bring the focus to what would be the best for us on this day to be in good shape for the rest of the trip.   GOOD CALL!

So, straight to the Dayton area for a shorter day.  The way to our first stop at the Champaign Air Museum in Urbana, Ohio, felt like a living example of Zeno’s paradox.  It wasn’t supposed to be far but our GPS guidance, known affectionately as “Gypsy”, made it seem like we might just never get there.  80 miles then turn right, then 40 miles and turn left, then 20 miles and turn again.  Every time I thought we were almost there the remaining distance was half of the prior guidance.  Now go 10 miles and turn right again, then 5 and take the left fork in the road, then 3 and turn left, then 1 ½ and turn south.  Just when I thought I was caught in an endless paradox, there we were.

After the museum, onto the hotel where one of us took and nap and the other took a walk.  I had a dream in which I invented a new term which I still liked when I woke up so I will share it.  The term is “loom people” which means people who make too much of themselves, as in they “weave” stories which make them seem more important than they really are.  Seems like it might apply to one or more of our “leaders” in DC right now.

Anyway, not much else to log: no new states or national parks, only one more license, Kansas, so only 8 more to go.  Just before sunset we did drive about 10 miles out of town and found a tiny cemetery where Peg’s great great great great grandmother, Rebecca Griffith, was buried.  She is one of my brick walls and I do not even have her maiden name.  Her granddaughter Caroline Griffith was the person whose neighborhood in Cleveland in 1880 we found just 2 days ago.  Also, this region of Ohio is another area where both Peg and I had ancestors living close together.  Her Griffith ancestors lived here about the same time my Miller ancestors did.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *