Planning (not taking) vacation makes us happy
Life is a journey, not a destination. The people who figure out that working for and anticipating something are often more pleasurable than achieving the goal have begun to figure out the secret of success. Here's an elegant little study that demonstrates this and seems to prove what we all intuitively knew was true.
Social scientists looking at about 1,500 Dutch people found that the act of planning a vacation significantly boosted happiness for about two months before the vacation. But afterward, "generally, there is no difference between vacationers’ and non-vacationers’ post-trip happiness," the researchers reported.
Comments
This extends to the little things too.
An afternoon fishing or playing golf is whole lot more fun when you are ditching work than when you don't have those responsibilities.
Posted by: MrRational | February 22, 2010 5:05 PM
I can see that rational having merit. Looking forward to something is always comforting and delightful.
Posted by: NotableM | February 22, 2010 7:25 PM
I can see what the article is saying. I have a lot of fun planning for my vacation/roadtrips. I became sad when the actual vacation/ roadtrip comes to an end.
Posted by: Mark | February 22, 2010 10:07 PM