New research from Washington State University indicates that travel can boost your happiness. Traveling can make you feel more satisfied with life and it can help you break away from your daily routines. The researchers found that travelers were 7 percent happier than those who didn’t travel. If you don’t have the money to travel, you can still get a boost of happiness from new experiences.
Travel can also help you develop new relationships and connections. Having new friends and acquaintances can make you feel happier overall. People who are able to engage with different cultures are more satisfied and have fewer stress-related problems. For many, travel is a great way to find happiness.
While there are no direct links between happiness and vacation length, it is thought that the anticipation of a holiday increases people’s happiness. This boost occurs before the trip and during the trip, but it does not last for long. Travelers often prefer short holidays over longer vacations, so they can take more trips during the year. While most studies show that the length of a holiday does not impact a person’s happiness, a recent study by Neal and Sirgy (2004) did find a link between holiday length and post-trip happiness.
Travelers are more likely to share experiences with others, which is the number one source of happiness. They are also more likely to spend money on activities during travel. The researchers found that people who bought travel experiences were happier than those who bought non-experiences. This association is stronger with travel than with other types of products and services.
The authors found that those who take vacations are happier than non-vacationers, and their happiness scores increased by about a point. This increase was primarily due to the positive effect that travel has on happiness. This study also found a link between vacation days and Affect Balance.
Moreover, this study also showed that vacationers are more satisfied with their life. As a result, they had a higher life-satisfaction score and a lower Affect balance score than non-vacationers. However, non-vacationers also had lower Affect Balance scores than vacationers.
The benefits of travel go beyond mental health in the short-term. It can increase your self-confidence and help you cope with stress. It can also give you new experiences and memories. It also broadens your mind, allowing you to view things in a more global perspective.
