Do Vacations Really Make You Happier?

By , SparkPeople Blogger
I remember the first time we went on vacation as a family with my (then) 9-month old daughter. As a tired new mom, I was looking forward to a relaxing week at the beach with my family. But the week didn't go exactly as I'd planned. We had great weather, good food and lively conversation, but it was stressful. For some reason I thought "vacation" meant that my daughter would require less work and I could relax. But she still needed to be fed, changed, played with, etc. And that was even more challenging in a new place when she wasn't sleeping in her own bed and I had to constantly watch her in a condo that was far from baby-proofed. I ended up coming back from the trip more tired than when we left. Ever since then, I've revised my expectations about vacations. Now new research is measuring how vacations affect overall happiness and how long it lasts.

The study, published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life studied happiness levels in over 1,500 Dutch adults, 974 of whom took a vacation during the 32-week study period. The study found that vacation anticipation boosted happiness levels for an average of eight weeks before the trip. But for most people, their happiness levels returned to baseline after the vacation was over. Only those who said their trip was "very relaxed" showed an improvement in happiness levels after the trip- and that effect only lasted about two weeks. Most others found the most benefit from planning and less from the vacation itself.

The study also didn't find a relationship between length of the trip and happiness levels. So you might get just as much benefit from a few weekend trips throughout the year instead of one long vacation. It can also be stressful to think about returning to every day life- the piles of laundry, work emails and other tasks- that have piled up while you were gone. Shorter trips can be more economical and reduce the amount of "catch up" stress you experience after you get home.

What do you think? Do you notice a long-lasting change in your happiness levels when you return from a great vacation?