Four Science-Backed Ways to Make Your Holiday’s Good Feeling Last Longer

Summer holidays are brief, which raises an obvious question: what is the smartest way to spend that precious time off so the good feeling lasts once you’re back home? Psychologists studying vacation behaviour have identified four factors that matter more than most people assume.

Length matters less than detachment

It seems logical that a longer break should deliver more stress relief than a short one, but a review of 13 separate studies by Franziska Speth of Dresden University of Technology found trip duration barely affects how restored people feel afterwards. What does matter is how completely someone switches off from daily pressures. “It’s why checking your emails can undo some of the benefits,” notes Michigan-based researcher Ethan Kross, who wrote the book Shift: How To Manage Your Emotions So They Don’t Manage You. Clearing your inbox before returning to work might feel responsible, but research suggests muting notifications entirely leaves you in a far better mental state to tackle problems once the holiday ends.

Revisit places that feel like home

Certain locations can trigger an emotional shift the same way close relationships do, a phenomenon researchers call “place attachment.” Kross notes this isn’t about any special quality of the place itself, but how it resonates personally with the visitor. That means there’s no need to feel guilty about returning to a familiar favourite spot rather than chasing novelty — the nostalgia such places evoke is itself linked to greater wellbeing, even if, when visiting somewhere new, it helps to seek out the type of setting that has brought comfort before.

Chase feelings of awe

Trips also offer a chance to step back from everyday worries, and Kross says awe is one of the most effective triggers for that shift, since it widens attention and interrupts repetitive, anxious thinking. In one study, whitewater rafters on Utah’s Green River — including military veterans at risk of PTSD — reported markedly lower stress afterwards, with the scenery’s awe-inducing effect the strongest predictor of that change. Nature isn’t required, though: Kross says cities can produce the same “self-transcendent state,” whether through a striking skyline view or a transfixing piece of art.

Stop trying to optimise everything

Finally, don’t over-plan. Psychologists distinguish “maximisers,” who exhaustively compare every option before deciding, from “satisficers,” who settle once something is good enough. “They will search until they’ve exhausted absolutely every option,” says Ondrej Mitas of Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, who has found across several studies that satisficers tend to end up happier. In research involving 376 questionnaires and interviews with working Germans, Mitas and colleagues found maximisers planned more thoroughly yet enjoyed their trips less, weighed down by rigid schedules and nagging doubt. One Taiwanese traveller, unable to deviate from a fixed itinerary despite tempting suggestions from fellow tourists, told researchers: “I miss out on many things. That’s not even a vacation, that’s just sticking to a plan.” A follow-up study of Dutch travellers, still unpublished, did not replicate the finding, suggesting culture may play a role — but the broader lesson holds: loosen the plan, and let some of the magic come from the unexpected.

Source: BBC News