I'm pretty introverted and independent in everyday life, and that carries over into chasing. I won't mince words: I think I'm pretty selfish about chasing, too. I rarely have much interest in accommodating a potential chase partner's scheduling constraints if I don't have any constraints myself, for example.
I think chasing has a social component for just about everyone. For me, it's just a smaller component than for most chasers. I have a short list of "trusted" chase partners, mostly very experienced themselves, whom I chase with at least several times a year. More often than not, I thoroughly enjoy that experience. Busts are a lot easier to take when there's company (unless internal conflict/disagreements precipitated the bust, of course)!
Where I may differ is that I absolutely love chasing solo, too, and tend to go out solo more days than not. The unfettered freedom and autonomy of calling every shot throughout the day -- whether it's forecasting, side trips before initiation, road options, on-storm positioning, tolerance for risk, where/when to bail and find dinner, and whether to shoot lightning after dark -- is hard to give up once you grow used to it. It's funny, because I have friends who are hardcore chasers but literally have never gone out solo, so they don't get it. I've even heard some serious chasers say they would lose interest entirely if they didn't have company; that the social component is large enough to constitute much of why they love chasing. That's definitely not me; the feeling of scoring big on a day where you did *everything* yourself is hard to top.
Ultimately, when I'm not chasing solo, I'm likely looking for partners with lots of experience, no major scheduling or timing constraints that day (or subsequent days if it's a late season setup up north), and ideally someone who also appreciates structure/lightning/mammatus so that we don't have to throw in the towel the second the potential for violent tornadoes ends or doesn't materialize. There are lots of people I can think of whom I'd be totally willing to chase with all the time with if not for that last condition! Really, it's just a difference in priorities; I respect others' preferences, but I'm willing to pony up the gas money to lock down my own priorities most days. I never mean any offense by it, although again, I think that can be lost on people if they're the type who are totally unwilling to go solo themselves ("you're
leaving me to sit the day out just cause you don't want to be home by 8?"
).
I can see myself softening on this a lot over time, which would probably be good. The more good storms you see, the less pressure there is to succeed on every half decent event. I hope I'm reaching that point where, despite the drive and addiction we all know so well, I can relax more and accept the occasional miss that owes to something out of my control.
