People who dream of traveling after COVID-19 now have some scientific data to support their wanderlust. A new study shows that frequent travelers are happier with their lives than people who don't travel at all. Chun-Chu (Bamboo) Chen, an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management at Washington State University, conducted a study to find out why some people travel more often than others and whether travel and tourism experiences have a long-lasting effect. have on happiness and well-being.
The results of his analysis show that individuals who pay more attention to tourism-related information and often discuss their travel plans with friends are more likely to go on vacation than those who do not constantly think about their next trip.
In addition, participants who regularly traveled at least 75 miles from home also reported that they were about 7% happier when asked about their overall well-being than those who reported traveling very rarely or not at all.
“While things like work, family life, and friends play a larger role in overall well-being reports, the accumulation of travel experiences appears to have a small but noticeable effect on self-reported life satisfaction,” Chen said. “It really illustrates how important it is to get out of your routine and experience new things.”
Previous studies have examined the stress reduction, health and wellness benefits of tourist experiences, but they tend to examine the effect of a one-way trip or vacation. Chen's research goes one step further by looking at the lasting benefits of travel over the course of a year.
Study participants were asked about the importance of travel in their lives, how much time they spent looking at and planning future vacations, and how many trips they made in a year. They were also asked about their perceived life satisfaction. Of the 500 survey participants, just over half said they take more than four pleasure trips a year. Only 7% of the respondents did not take a holiday.
“This research shows that the more people talk about vacations and plan vacations, the more likely they are to take them,” he said. “If you're like me and can't wait to see something new, hopefully this research will provide additional motivation to start planning your next vacation.”
