Vacations

I’m a big believer in living life as an extended working vacation. – Victoria Moran

Vacations

image by: Public Holidays Co.,Ltd.

If you haven't already booked your next vacation, there's some good news: Science can help you plan a getaway for maximum happiness and well-being.

In recent years, consumer psychology and happiness researchers have been looking at what makes vacations work best for people. A few recent articles parsed the evidence, and had these key ideas to keep in mind while planning: 1) Longer isn't necessarily better. In this Wall Street Journal piece, Sumathi Reddy writes that researchers have found well-being improves in as little as two days, so staying away for weeks isn't necessarily correlated with deriving the most happiness from your trip.

2) Plan farther ahead for more joyful anticipation. We get a lot of pleasure from dreaming up and organizing a trip, so researchers suggest drawing that experience out. In this TEDx talk about the science of vacations, Ian Cole suggests that anticipation is key. Plus, looking forward to a trip during a frazzled time can offer happiness and pressure relief.

3) See or do something new. As one of the researchers told Reddy, "Once we’ve already seen somewhere we’re not necessarily absorbing what’s new about it. People who always go to the same place will often sort of start to have memories blur." Even if you're on a staycation, planning a new experience will have more impact.

4) Maximize the start and finish of your vacation. Over at the Science of Us, Jesse Singal points out that research suggests the beginning and end of a vacation matter a lot in terms of the impression they leave with you. So try to ensure those days are extra blissful.

Source: Julia Belluz, The smartest way to vacation, according to science, Vox, September 2, 2015.

Health benefits of taking a vacation (even during COVID-19)

More and more studies have shown that vacations are good for your health—physically, mentally, and emotionally. But despite these findings, the vacation track record of Americans is remarkably dismal compared with other industrialized nations, even before COVID-19 struck.

Thinking of Skipping Vacation? Don’t!

Several studies indicate that performance nose-dives when we work for extended periods without a break. In addition, the benefits of taking a vacation are clear: It results in improved productivity, lower stress and better overall mental health. It also spurs greater creativity — for example, Lin-Manuel Miranda conceived of Hamilton while on vacation

Why going camping could be the answer to your lockdown holiday woes

For many of us, the forced confinement of lockdown has reiterated the importance of being out and about in nature – along with the benefits it can bring.

Hell Is Other People’s Vacations

Beyond souvenirs and suntans, the best reason to take a break may be your own health. For the Helsinki Businessmen Study—a 40-year cardiovascular-health study that also happens to be the working title of the solo album I’ll probably never get around to recording—researchers treated men at risk of heart disease. From 1974 to 2004, those men who took at least three weeks of vacation were 37 percent less likely to die than those who took fewer weeks off.

Here's How You Can Be Anxious And Still Enjoy Your Vacation

Step one: accepting that you are the same person on vacation as you are at home.

How to have a successful summer vacation

Research shows that about 40 per cent of people return from their vacations and feel either no better, or even worse, than before they left.

How to Prepare for Health Problems on a Trip Abroad

It’s the worst-case scenario for even the most intrepid traveler: a medical emergency or health crisis in a foreign country. Though many travelers take important steps against infectious disease, including vaccinations, malaria pills and diarrhea remedies, experts say they often overlook other physical dangers: sudden catastrophic illness, accident, assault or natural disaster...

How to Take a Safe-ish Vacation Once It Gets Cold Outside

The best way to travel this fall and winter is to combine meticulous trip planning with in-the-moment flexibility.

How to turn your long weekend into a vacation

Long weekends can give each of us a chance to recharge our drained batteries, but only if we make smart choices about how we spend our time away from work. All weekends are not created equal.

Relax! Vacations Are Good For Your Health

Europeans embrace this idea almost religiously. Vacations are enshrined in law. In countries like Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, employers are required to provide up to 20 days of paid leave. Americans, on the other hand, get an average of 12 days every year. A study conducted by the Families and Work Institute found that less than half of U.S. employees take the full vacation.

The Case for Vacation: Why Science Says Breaks Are Good for Productivity

Just as small breaks improve concentration, long breaks replenish job performance. Vacation deprivation increases mistakes and resentment at co-workers...

Vacations Are Good for You, Medically Speaking

The trick, these days when going on vacation, is not only to physically remove yourself from your normal routine, but mentally as well.

Why is it so hard to go back to work after vacation?

Sometimes you feel even more drained after taking a few days off. Here’s what you can do to cope.

Why Traveling Is Good For Your Health

When you return from a vacation feeling relaxed and refreshed, that’s not just an emotional response to time away from work and daily worries: you’re experiencing some of the nourishing effects of traveling.

The smartest way to vacation, according to science

If you haven't already booked your next vacation, there's some good news: Science can help you plan a getaway for maximum happiness and well-being.

5 Reasons You Need to Take a Vacation, According to Science

Can you buy a ticket to a better mood? Hop a flight to a healthier heart? The travel industry would say yes—and increasingly, so does science.

Wellness For Not Just The 'Well To Do'

Wellness defines the murky divide between ‘health’ and something even better - Gideon M-K

Rick Steves: Using Travel to Better the World

“Keep on travelin’,” he says at the end of most of his travelogues. But for Rick Steves, it’s a catchphrase that is no less about self-betterment than sightseeing. And he walks the walk.

Marathon Man, Meet Marathon Goddess

With passion, purpose and your incredible will, you too can achieve the impossible. That includes finding a cure for pancreatic cancer - Julie Weiss

Wellness For Not Just The 'Well To Do'

Wellness defines the murky divide between ‘health’ and something even better - Gideon M-K

Rick Steves: Using Travel to Better the World

“Keep on travelin’,” he says at the end of most of his travelogues. But for Rick Steves, it’s a catchphrase that is no less about self-betterment than sightseeing. And he walks the walk.

Marathon Man, Meet Marathon Goddess

With passion, purpose and your incredible will, you too can achieve the impossible. That includes finding a cure for pancreatic cancer - Julie Weiss

Wellness For Not Just The 'Well To Do'

Wellness defines the murky divide between ‘health’ and something even better - Gideon M-K

Rick Steves: Using Travel to Better the World

“Keep on travelin’,” he says at the end of most of his travelogues. But for Rick Steves, it’s a catchphrase that is no less about self-betterment than sightseeing. And he walks the walk.