New research suggests the act of travelling is found to have positive affects on mental health. With Christmas and New Year’s around the corner and plenty of public holidays on the calendar, we discover the link between taking time off and the benefits to your mental health.
Holidays are perceived as totally different things to each person.
From lazing around home to travelling to a new destination for some sightseeing, however you choose to spend those much deserved days off, it’s been proven that travelling can do wonders to your mental wellbeing.
Identifying the links between mental health and travel can be easy. Some beneficial factors include:
- Stress reliever
- Improve happiness and satisfaction
- Release from burnout
- Personal reinvention
- Boosts overall health and wellbeing
Stepping away from the daily grind helps rewire the brain
Are you packing your bags and travelling abroad for the holidays?
Turning off your emails, removing yourself from work and disconnecting from the everyday routine for an extended period of time will set your mind at ease.
Travel is known to be a proven stress reliever as one study from Austria found that merely three days into a holiday the traveller was already feeling less stressed, anxious and overall more rested.
Happiness and satisfaction are innately tied together. The thinking, planning and anticipation of travel boosts each of these attributes.
A study from Cornell University found the multi-step process of looking forward to then going away on a trip substantially increases happiness and mental health.
On a deeper level, travel can promote personal reinvention.
Experienced travellers will teach you to learn the different perspectives, lifestyles, principles and values of a foreign country.
By travelling and interacting with people and places across the world, you too can incorporate what you’ve learnt into your normal, everyday life.
Does travelling provide lasting mental health benefits?
A holiday is the gift that keeps on giving.
The mental refreshing and rejuvenating factors of a holiday don’t stop there, however!
It’s been noted that people experience stress far less at least five weeks after the holiday.
Although not everyone has the time or money to take a holiday, it’s highly encouraged to try take a few days or weeks away from work and your routine.
Even a short respite has incredibly restorative benefits.
Take some time for yourself and revive the mind.