‘She doesn't stop talking’: How extroverts unknowingly irritate fellow travelers

My husband — a brooding New Yorker, polite and tolerant of much — broke on the seventh day of our family vacation.

“She doesn't stop talking,” he said.

The "she" is my mother — a bubbly Midwesterner — who can hold court in a room of strangers with the deftness of a small-town politician at a church picnic. Awkward silences don't stand a chance — even in a jam-packed elevator.

But some people like silence. They thrive on it, said John Hackston, head of thought leadership at The Myers-Briggs Company.

That's one of many areas that can pose problems for travel companions on opposite ends of the introversion-extroversion spectrum, he said. Be it spouses, best friends or acquaintances, travelers enduring long stretches of time together often struggle to find a middle ground.

More than a decade of introversion advocacy — jumpstarted by the publication of Susan Cain’s “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking” — has helped many introverts accept and publicly champion what makes them tick.

But the same level of reflection hasn’t happened with extroverts, said Hackston.

“There's been less of an emphasis on extroverts understanding of selves,” said Hackston, because “Western society, in particular, tends to see extroversion as the right way to do things.”

As a result, many remain in the dark as to how they can affect those around them.  

When it comes to vacations, personality-based problems can start at the planning stage, said Hackston.

Since extroverts tend to get energy from the outside world, many are attracted to certain types of vacations, like cruises or traveling with friends to an island with vibrant nightlife, he said.  

The problem, said Hackston, is that extroverts often assume others think and feel as