Trip Anticipation & Happiness
This article is part of a new series called "The Travelers Mind" dealing with the psychology of travel with the goal of creating an ongoing discussion. If you have any suggestions for future posts please feel free to leave a comment below.
;)
Perhentian Islands, Malaysia (Pulau Perhentian Kecil)
A study, published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, showed that the largest boost in happiness comes from the simple act of planning a vacation. In the study, the effect of vacation anticipation boosted happiness for eight weeks.
via Marginal Revolution & NY Times
Now, the type of long-term travel that many of us find ourselves in isn't the same as a week 'vacation' in the Bahamas. As of this moment, I can only speak to the the time before departure, which for me was more stressful than anything. Dealing with 2 major itinerary changes and the emotions of leaving was difficult to say the least.
How has your happiness level changed in the before / during / after phases of your long term travel?
Does the stress that comes with travel in far away places, and the process of heading back home to 'regular life' seem to diminish some of the things you experienced along the way?
August 11, 2010
Reader Comments (11)
Before traveling I am normally pumped and excited to plan. This trip is a bit different since my girlfriend is staying behind so I am kind of bummed in the final days going to it once everything is solid and ready to go. During other trips I am pretty happy for the most part except for when it gets to the final two or three days before I have to go home. Its almost a mix of burn out and longing for home. I think going abroad for long term might not have that effect at the 3 week mark, because I think it is mostly due to the fact that I know I have to go home, and not another city. Almost like a 'lets get it over with' sort of feeling. Immediately after returning home I am still pretty happy even if I do have to go to work, because all the time putting pictures up online, blogging, etc, helps relive the memories. Hopefully at the end of that you just start over and plan a new trip. After getting back from my long term trip we're already talking about vacation spots for the next few years.... (sneak peak for you, NYC, Vegas, East Coast USA, Chicago, Norway, California, and maybe the Caribbean) and a year off around the world (together) when she gets done with school. It never ends, especially if you blog about it :)
I think I travel for the anticipation and the memories. Real travel can alternately be boring, frustrating, expensive, and underwhelming. But I'm always really excited before I go, and the memories just improve over time.
travel planning is pure excitement, especially in Africa (Kenya next on the list - hoping to meet these guys - http://bit.ly/cOIgdZ!!!) - as there are endless experiences from big five game driving to dive, culture, beach and city stays. For me it's the thought of soaking up all the wildlife...and on the continent, the excitement always builds as you learn to expect the unexpected! The thought of returning home - well, after an amazing trip that's always pretty depressing, but my photo library keeps me going until the next adventure!!!
Skinny,
Great post idea! Happiness is very difficult to measure, since each of us have different ways of defining it. For some it might be the 'high' from the sport, like hiking/climbing/biking; for others it may be the 'high' of having bragging rights amongst their friends back home that they saw a famous landmark or city.
I figure, to each his own! We should be seeking what makes us happy, as long as it's not at the expense of someone else's happiness. We travel to see new places, for sure, but we're mostly into getting an immersion experience (as much as feasible), which explains our move to Chiang Mai. Getting to know people, whether they be retired expats, backpackers (skinny or otherwise!) passing through, or young people relocating here, not to mention local Thais and Burmese (and Burmese refugees), is a highlight of our travel experience. The potential to make life-long friends is very exciting to us, and we seem to be making those new friends every week!
Dustin, I couldn't access the article through the link in your interesting post, through Marginal Revolution, or through the NYTimes. I assumed that journal title is Applied Research in Quality of Life, searched on that, and got this link: http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/well-being/journal/11482. An abstract is available there. The article is available to journalists in .pdf form. As far as I can tell, it is the second article in a set. The first article in the set, "Vacationers Happier, but Most not Happier After a Holiday," is available in .pdf. The variable that seems to be most related to post-vacation happiness is a "relaxed holiday trip." Will you include the info from the first article in your study, too?
I'm assuming that your study will consist largely of your own self-report, plus self-reports by subscribers to this blog. Is that correct?
Will you have people who post on this topic take the authors' pre-and post-tests?
I like your idea, but I'm wondering whether there's much difference between it and blogging about travel in general. Are you planning to write about your happiness before and after a trip, or a leg of your journey?
Good luck in your project. More to come.
Russ Burck (Scribbler) http://scribblerstravels.com/
I think your point about the difference between your kind of rtw travel and going for a week to the Bahamas, the kind of travel I'm more likely to do (but not to the Bahamas) is worth developing and describing in detail. I don't know whether you'd post it or not, but I bet you'd post parts of it, at the very least. I saw in Johnny Vagabond that rtw travelers have to have innoculations, which cost money, which many/some rtw travelers have to take care of very carefully. He has a suggestion for innoculations at a lower price. As long as my wife and I are traveling in the "safe" world, we don't have challenges like that. Or how to get our money? We do face that problem, but only on a minor scale. So what are those preparations, what kinds of stresses do they impose on you, how does it feel to have them behind you, or is there always the feeling that something isn't behind you and you're not sure what it is? You get the idea.
Sorry about duplicating the second reply. I couldn't tell whether the link to my website had worked. Russ
I think the worst part of any trip is the coming home part no matter the length of the trip its rare anyone wants it to end. For those few day or months you are away from it all & just doing your thing. In a way you are away from reality & coming back brings you back to it.
I do think planning a trip is just as fun as when your on it. I am currently planning my RTW trip & its an amazing joy ride with up & downs.
@Russell I'm not really doing a study, just inviting a conversation and viewpoints from travelers and prospective travelers. Thanks for all your input!
@Ahi I think I'll do a post about memories appreciating over time, like a good investment :) I'm curious how much of travel stories are like fish stories, and how people may 'stretch' the details over time for effect.
@Jack You're almost on a permanent vacation! Well kind of at least !
@Jaime Enjoy the planning, the study shows it's all downhill from here (though many of us rtw travelers may feel differently) hah.
Thank you for posting this - I really needed it... I'm in the last 3 weeks of prep for my 6-months trip through Asia. And while I've been madly enjoying planning the trip, pre-departure stress is building up as well. At the moment I'm torn between excitement and anxiety.
For me things that add to stress before any long-term travel fall into 2 categories: wrapping things up (closing projects at work, subletting apartment, settling financial issues, etc.) and getting ready (taking care of visas, tickets, insurance, jabs, etc.) As a result, something absolutely weird is happening with time: it seems to both fly ("Only 3 weeks! Still so much to do!!!"), and freaking crawl ("Oh, when will I be gone already!")
But the idea that soon I'll be on the road doesn't fail to put the widest smile on my face regardless of any pressure!
Thanks Lena, glad you got something out of it. Keep us in the know of how things feel over days / weeks / months / years (??) :)