Spend your money on traveling, science says

Traveling is synonymous with happiness

Science teaches us why we should spend our money on experiences and why we say “spend your money on traveling”, instead of spending on material things. Money is not infinite, spending it on experiences will make you happier according to this research.

There are economists who think that happiness is the best indicator of the health of a society. We know that money can make you happier, though after your basic needs are met, it doesn't make you much happier… But one of the most important questions is how to allocate the money, What is it (for most of us) a limited resource.

There is a very logical assumption that most people make when thinking about what to spend their money on.: Spend on things first because a physical object will last longer and make us happier for a longer time than a one-time experience like a concert or vacation. According to recent research, turns out that assumption is completely wrong.

Snowy Rila Monastery, get to know him here.

“One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation,” says Dr.. Thomas Gilovich, professor of psychology at Cornell University in the United States who has been studying the question of money and happiness for more than two decades. “We buy things to make us happy, and we are successful, but only for a while. New things are very interesting to us at first, but then we adapt to them.” In his studies he asked people for a self-report of their happiness after spending their money on objects and also on trips. Initially, happiness with shopping for things was high, but with time, people's satisfaction with the things they bought went down, while your satisfaction with travel purchases rose.

So instead of buying the latest smartphone or a new car, Dr. Gilovich suggests that more happiness will be gained by spending money on experiences like doing outdoor activities, learn a new skill, or spend your money on traveling. Those who have decided to travel know that they enjoy their memory for a long time.. There is nothing you can buy in a mall that can compare to the joy of being in a foreign country and getting ready to explore it and see new places.. There is not enough luxury car to be able to overcome the fun and excitement of being in a place where you do not speak the language and your stay in the country becomes a daily adventure (even more if the language also uses Cyrillic letters, as for example happens when traveling to Bulgaria).

Tram in Sofia (Bulgaria). Learn more about Sofia here.

Also another study by Gilovich even showed that if people have a negative experience, once they have a chance to talk about it, your assessment that the experience however increases. Gilovich attributes this to the fact that something that might have been stressful or caused fear in the past, anguish, anger, etc. it can later become a fun story to tell at a party or be seen backwards as an experience that makes us laugh and is noteworthy, that way of sharing our experience with others, although at the time it was negative, makes us happy.

Bad travel experience?: tell it and laugh!!!

Did you have a bad travel experience sitting next to a person you would never have chosen as your travel companion?? Tell it and you will feel better…

Another reason is that experiences shared with others connect us more to other people than shared consumerism.. That is to say, you are much more likely to feel connected to someone who, for example, decided to travel to Bulgaria for a vacation than to someone who just bought a television for their home, there are more things to tell and comment when traveling to Bulgaria than when buying a television…(is understood by most people, then there are geeks and geeks). Says Doctor Gilovich. “we live experiences, and after they have passed, they are part of the stories we tell each other” (be they good or bad).

Another study, conducted by researchers Ryan Howell and Graham Hill, found it easier for people to compare material goods and feel dissatisfied: how many carats does your ring have compared to mine? How fast is your laptop?, your car is more luxurious than mine?… These comparisons generate dissatisfaction and also promote even more consumerism and spending. On the contrary, we take the experiences that each one of us live in a personal way., They are part of us and do not create much comparison with what others live in comparison with material goods. “The trend of keeping up with the times or fashion tends to be more pronounced for material goods than for travel and experience purchases.”, dice Gilovich. “Definitely, it bothers us if we are on vacation and we see people staying in a better hotel or first class flight. But it does not produce as much envy as when we are surpassed in material goods by the neighbor”.

Thermal water pool in winter. Thermal SPA trip here.

Travel to Bulgaria by MTB here.

Gilovich's research has implications for people who want to maximize their happiness based on their financial investments., for employers who want happier employees and for politicians who want happy citizenship. For example, an entrepreneur who takes these studies into account can help generate more happiness among his employees by giving away a paid weekend trip instead of a luxurious Christmas basket that will be forgotten when the weeks go by., the trip will last longer as a generator of happiness…

“As a society, Shouldn't we be making it easier for people to access experiences than material objects?” asks Gilovich and his co-author, Amit Kumar, in his recent article in the academic journal “Experimental Social Psychology”. Let's also think about our young children, when Christmas or his birthday arrives, What do you get the most? Material gifts or experiences and activities?….

In short, all you have to do is decide to travel, leaving home, and see the world instead of trying to secure ownership of little bits of it. Visit, know, comer, to explore, run the full range of experiences. And if after traveling you have gone through joy, afraid, surprise, confusion, etc, all are experiences that positive or negative will make you happier in the long run. We are sincere, We love to travel and we make this recommendation to you from senderismoeuropa.com that we organize active trips but there is the study of the researchers. In the end what counts is what you believe: Do you think travel brings happiness? Or do you prefer to spend money on physical things?…. If you think like us, share this article on your social networks with the buttons above and you will make us happy too 😉