My vacation was over three weeks ago. As I mentioned, the combination of going away on an active, fun vacation followed by a week at home to play and work around the house on a relaxed schedule was “very” restful and I actually felt refreshed when I returned for a week or so. Alas, at three weeks the afterglow is gone. But there’s always the next one to look forward to…maybe a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in the fall.

A recent study done in the Netherlands confirms those two ideas. It may be the anticipation that makes us happiest. In an analysis of 1,530 people, 974 of whom took a vacation during the study, researchers found that, unsurprisingly, people anticipating a trip reported feeling more content than those not about to go on vacation. But, perhaps more interesting, people reported being happiest in the time leading up to the vacation.

Once vacationers returned from their trip, generally speaking, they were no more likely to experience an afterglow of happiness than those who'd been working away the whole time. After the vacation, happiness quickly dropped back to baseline levels for most people. How much stress or relaxation a traveler experienced on the trip appeared to influence post-vacation happiness. There was no post-trip happiness benefit for travelers who said the vacation was “neutral” or stressful.” Surprisingly, even those travelers who described the trip as “relaxing” showed no additional jump in happiness after the trip. But those who had been on a "very relaxed holiday trip" felt an afterglow from the vacation that lasted up to about two weeks.

The study didn’t find any relationship between the length of the vacation and overall happiness. Since most of the happiness boost comes from planning and anticipating a vacation, the study suggests that people may get more out of several small trips a year than one big vacation.

So keep a bunch of vacation plans in the pipeline to increase that anticipation factor, even if they are only daytrips or long weekends. Half the fun is planning, researching and dreaming about your next adventure. And that will probably increase the likelihood that you’ll feel “very relaxed” once you do go. The key here is to make sure you plan activities that help you to achieve that relaxed state. For one person its laying on the beach with a tropical drink within easy reach, for another it’s a very active itinerary exploring ancient ruins or white water rafting. What’s your next vacation going to be?

Source: Applied Research in Quality of Life, Volume 5, Number 1 / March, 2010
Call Solutions EAP at 1-800-526-3485 for assistance for all of life's challenges.
It’s free, confidential and open to your family members.
Check us out on-line at
http://www.solutions-eap.com

George "Bud" Wassell, M.S., LPC, CEAP
Director, Solutions EAP
213 Court Street
Middletown, CT 06457
1-800-526-3485
fax: 860-704-6221
www.solutions-eap.com