For generations of Australians, the great family holiday has been treated as gospel. Load the car, book the flights, grin and bear it. Blood is thicker than water. Or so we’ve always told ourselves.
Fresh research out of Edith Cowan University now suggests that some of that long-held faith may be more tradition than truth.
As the holiday season looms and Australians once again start comparing leave balances and flight prices, ECU’s latest study has delivered a quietly confronting message: your ideal travel companion may have nothing to do with DNA.
Led by Professor Sam Huang, Head of the Centre for Tourism Research at ECU’s School of Business and Law, the study takes a deep dive into what actually makes or breaks a successful trip. It draws on the “Dazi” phenomenon, a popular social trend in China in which young people deliberately seek temporary companions for specific shared activities, such as travel.
In plain terms, it’s the science of choosing a travel mate with purpose.
Professor Huang says the rise of digital platforms has dramatically reshaped how people form travel partnerships.
“With the advent of social media, access to travel companions has transcended traditional kinship and social circles. More and more young travellers tend to establish temporary travel partner relationships with strangers who share common travel goals through online travel communities,” he said.
The research confirms what frequent flyers already suspected: travelling with the right person significantly outperforms travelling alone. Companioned travel generates richer memories, deeper engagement and an added layer of personal safety.
But the wrong companion? That’s where turbulence sets in long before the boarding gate.
According to the study, two traits stand out above all others for successful travel partnerships: experience and conscientiousness. Travellers who bring both to the table were found to be far better at navigating disruption, setbacks and the small daily frictions that define life on the road.
Missed connections, language barriers, budget blowouts and cultural missteps are no longer stress multipliers when both parties are organised, adaptable and experienced.
Just as significantly, alignment matters. And not in a Hallmark-card sort of way.
The research found that compatibility in consumption values, travel preferences and lifestyle habits significantly reduces conflict. When travellers agree on how fast they move, how they spend and how they live day-to-day, trips tend to unfold with fewer flashpoints and far more goodwill.
“Interestingly, the research revealed that the best travel partner may depend on what each traveller values most,” Professor Huang said.
For those who place a premium on emotional support and companionship, the findings were obvious. These travellers were generally better matched with same-sex companions who also exhibited strong emotional intelligence and conscientiousness traits, both of which are directly linked to harmonious interaction and mutual understanding.
In contrast, travellers motivated more by practical advantage — shared knowledge, technical skills or problem-solving capacity — often fared better with opposite-sex travel partners. In these pairings, diversity of perspective and complementary abilities proved more valuable than emotional mirroring.
Here again, travel experience and conscientiousness were the decisive stabilisers.
And what of the sacred Australian family holiday?
Professor Huang is careful not to position the findings as an attack on family travel, but he does suggest that many families walk into trips dangerously unprepared.
“The research in no way suggest that you shouldn’t be traveling with your wife, or even your in-laws. But the advice is that if you are travelling with family, be sure to set some goals and expectations before packing your bags,” he said.
That advice may sound unremarkable. In reality, it cuts straight to the fault line of most family travel disputes: unspoken assumptions.
Who sets the pace? Who pays for what? Who gets downtime? Who leads when plans unravel? Left undiscussed, these questions have a habit of surfacing at the worst possible moments, usually somewhere between the second airport delay and the first shared hotel room.
The ECU findings land at a time when Australians are travelling in more deliberate, personalised ways than ever before. Post-pandemic travel has become less routine and more intentional. People are no longer simply “going away”. They are curating experiences.
In that environment, the idea of selecting a travel partner based on shared goals rather than shared surnames no longer seems radical. It seems practical.
The research ultimately reframes a familiar truth with academic precision: successful travel is not about who you feel obliged to journey with, but who you function well beside when plans unravel, money tightens, and fatigue sets in.
Or, put another way, the perfect travel partner isn’t always the person you love most; it’s the person you least need to manage.
For an industry built on falling in love with destinations, that may be one of its most valuable lessons yet.
By Karuna Johnson – (c) 2025
Read Time: 4 minutes.
About the Writer
Karuna Johnson has one of those rare careers that could only belong to someone who genuinely loves travel. A Thai national with dual citizenship, she’s as comfortable swapping stories over street food in Bangkok as she is discussing strategy in a Sydney boardroom.
Educated in Thailand and Australia, Karuna speaks several languages fluently, a skill that’s served her well throughout a career spanning the inner workings of three Destination Management Companies and a string of hotels. She’s done everything from sales to admin, always with the kind of quiet competence that keeps things moving while everyone else still finds the coffee.
Her travels have taken her far and wide across Asia, Europe, and the United States, yet she still finds joy in the details: the people, the culture, and the stories behind every journey.
She’s worldly, poised, and precisely the kind of voice Global Travel Media was made for.
