Who doesn’t love a holiday? Apart from my husband, who thinks we should save the money in case our boiler packs up. But many people live for them – a time to recover from work and feel less tired and tense. A New York study of middle-aged men at high risk of heart disease found that the more vacations they took, the less likely they were to die over a period of nine years. But the reality of a holiday can be different from those adverts showing smiling families on blissful, empty beaches. Do they really make us healthier and happier?
The solution
Research generally shows that while workers return to their offices feeling happier and healthier, effects fade within two weeks. A study from Tilburg University found that (in a sample of 1,128 men and women) up to 4% of people get sick and bored on vacation or at weekends – a condition the researchers called “leisure sickness”. But Dr Jerome Nawijn, at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, in the Netherlands, who has done a lot of research into holidays, thinks there is a “happiness curve”. During the first 10% of their holiday, people are often in a lower mood (the travel phase), those in the next 70% are in a higher mood, followed by a dip between the 80th and 90th % and an upsurge in happiness at the end.
There is also some evidence that people anticipate and recall holidays as more enjoyable than they actually were – a “rosy glow” effect. Simon Kemp from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, who interviewed 49 holidaymakers, found that their most memorable or unusual 24 hours set the tone for the memory of the holiday. However, what constitutes memorable doesn’t have to be that dramatic. A study from the University of Aalborg of German and Danish families found that it could be as simple as everyone sitting down to enjoy an ice-cream.
The most restorative holidays tend to be ones that allow people to have time for themselves, choose activities they enjoy, sleep well, exercise and socialise in a warm climate.
In a review of the research, Jessica de Bloom, from Radbound University, The Netherlands, says that the vacation effects of feeling healthy and happier are very strong but shortlived, so take more holidays – a short break seems as good as a two-week one (there isn’t research on anything longer). Prepare beforehand to avoid irritations such as disagreements about activities, or the car breaking down. Prevent a high workload when you get back, as this reduces the healthy effects of a vacation very quickly. Do pleasant things and relax. The effects may not last for long when you return, but at least you had them on holiday.
