What relieves stress, decreases the risk of heart disease, and promotes physical activity while boosting your overall happiness? Traveling. Traveling is a wonderful adventure that impacts your health in all the right ways. Don’t believe us? Check out this article by NBC that has documentation by the Global Commission on Aging and Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and the U.S. Travel Association. This is just some food for thought when trying to weigh the pros and cons of your next travel adventure.
Happiness
Increased happiness is the most obvious result of traveling. However, did you know that the benefits start before your trip even begins? Even the discussions before your trip while you’re still in planning phases helps increase your overall happiness. The food, amenities, logistics, activities and anything fun begins to boost your mood. A study conducted by Cornell University found that discussing these types of experiences and destinations makes your overall mood improve and allows you to easily take on your normal daily stressors.
Fitness
Something that’s always on top of everyone’s “to do” list or new year’s resolution goals is increasing their personal fitness. You’re in luck because traveling typically always increases someone’s physical activity. Taking a trip gives you the opportunity to be active throughout the day whereas your day to day you might only be active during that one hour you’ve cut out for a walk or workout. When you’re in a new place you’re excited and eager to explore, you will want to submerge yourself in all the activities and experiences you can. While lying on the beach or in your hotel bed relaxing for one day might be nice (and necessary), chances are you’re going to want to do all the things you can for the majority of your trip.
Stress Less
First off, we will admit that not ALL aspects of traveling are stress free and some are actually pretty high stress like when you miss a connecting flight or when your bag doesn’t make it to the right destination. However, studies have shown that after approximately 72 hours people feel less anxious, have an improved mood, and overall a more positive outlook. While some of the stressors are more intense than others most are short lived whereas the benefits of traveling tend to carry through longer.
There are some obvious benefits when it comes to traveling but with scientific research supporting a trip, how can you not start packing your bags? Start planning, discussing the fun activities, looking through all the amenities, figuring out what food you will be consuming, and enjoy your next trip!