The warm feeling derived from purchasing cheap fares, whether they are cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages, feels even better when you return from a fabulous vacation. However, for most people after they return to work and its stresses it quickly feels like they were never on vacation. Many travelers would like to know how to retain the good feelings generated by a great trip.
A study tracking the happiness levels of 974 vacationers and 556 nonvacationers over several weeks was recently published in the journal of Applied Research in Quality of Life. The vacationers level of happiness was tracked before, during, and after vacation.
Not surprising, the vacationers happiness levels were higher than the nonvacationers pre-vacation (when they were anticipating their trips) and during their vacations, while after their vacation they felt similar to nonvacationers.
The study found that the length of the vacation had no impact on the vacationers later happiness levels.
The study came up with two strategies for maximizing the number of post vacation days of happiness:
Take very relaxing vacations.
Since the length of a vacation has no impact on later happiness the more multiple shorter vacations taken should result in more total happiness days after vacation.
The following strategies for extending the afterglow following vacation were recommended:
Relish your most enjoyable experiences. Take pictures while on vacation and later share those pictures and special experiences with others.
If there was someone at a hotel or one who participated in an activity that was particularly helpful to you, thank those persons (either via a call or email). Making new friends and staying in touch creates more opportunities for reminiscing.
Vacations where the traveler learns new skills, be they yoga, art classes, or bird watching, contribute to greater happiness in the long run if the vacationer makes the effort to integrate them into his or her everyday life.
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