How to Get the Most Out of Your Vacation, According to Science

If you’re like most people, you want all of your vacations to happen as soon as possible, to last as long as possible, and to leave you with the best possible memories. Over the past few years, behavioral scientists have been looking into how you can make the most of your precious time off.

Here's what they've learned.

1. Enjoy the Planning

Research from the Netherlands (1) suggests savoring the pre-vacation period because looking ahead to your vacation can likely bring you more joy than looking back.

The researchers interviewed about 1,000 vacationers and found they were happiest during the planning stages of a trip, as they looked forward to the good times ahead, unencumbered by thoughts of potential downsides like delayed flights, lost luggage, or arguments over spending.

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2. Take Multiple Vacations per Year

Planning on taking one long vacation? You’ll be interested to know that you probably don't need much more than a week to get the most out of it.

(2) Researchers from Finland's University of Tamper asked 54 vacationers who were going away for at least two weeks to answer questions about their health and well-being before, three or four times during, and five times after their vacation. Analysis of the survey results revealed that no matter how long the vacation, people's health & wellness benefits peaked about eight days in and then returned to baseline level within the first week of getting back to work.

Instead, plan more vacations throughout the year and you’ll maintain a better and more healthy work/life balance.

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3. Get Into Nature

While you're creating your schedule, consider planning some outdoor activities. Spending time in nature creates a sense of calm and relaxation, reducing our physiological arousal and making time seem to pass more slowly.

Canadian research (3) recently found that people who took a walk in a natural setting perceived their walk as taking significantly longer than people who took a walk in an urban setting.

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4. Make Unforgettable Memories

Researchers a the University of Canterbury in New Zealand asked 49 students to report their happiness levels before, every day during, and after their vacations, and found that the students' overall recall that happiness was most strongly associated with their most memorable or unusual vacation day. (4)

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5. Stay in the Moment

Mindfulness has been shown to slow down our perception of time (5) by internally focusing our attention on being in the present moment and decreasing our physiological arousal levels. By paying attention to what you see, taste, smell, and hear, you can stretch out your vacation time and make it more enjoyable.

Savor your planning period, be in the moment during your vacation, accept that it will end, and don't let that get in the way of your enjoyment. You can start planning the next one as soon as you get back!

REFERENCES

(1) Nawijn, J., Marchand, M. A., Veenhoven, R., & Vingerhoets, A. J. (2010). Vacationers Happier, but Most not Happier After a Holiday. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 5(1), 35-47. 

(2) de Bloom, J., Geurts, S. A. E., Kompier, M. A. J. (2013). Vacation (after-) effects on employee health and well-being, and the role of vacation activities, experiences and sleep. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(2), 613-633.

(3) Davydenko, M. (2016). Time Grows on Trees: The Effect of Nature Settings on Time Perception. Unpublished thesis, Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario.

(4) Kemp, S., Burt, C.D.B. & Furneaux, L. (2008). A test of the peak-end rule with extended autobiographical events. Memory and Cognition, 36, 132-138. 
(5) Kramer, R. S., Weger, U. W., & Sharma, D. (2013). The effect of mindfulness meditation on time perception. Consciousness and cognition, 22(3), 846-852.