Now, what does research say on the link between happiness and travel?
A research conducted by 2011 examined the links between happiness and vacations. The study expounded that tourism may add to one’s happiness quotient in two ways: First, through anticipating what the trip would be like, through the trip itself, and then the ‘afterglow’ post-trip. Secondly, the research also cited that travel experience is directly linked to happiness in our day-to-day lives through “more indirect means” including recalling holiday experiences through memories.

Positive psychology, a branch of psychology, deals with the positive thoughts and emotions of an individual and how it can impact his/her lives. It explores how one can be happier and lead a rewarding and satisfying life. It further states that how we view happiness and how willingly we take decisions to improve happiness form the core of the subject of positive psychology. With this modelled as a framework, travel can be an antidote to alleviating mental pressure by building positive character and culture through travel experiences. 

Another research conducted in the area of travel and wellness tried to link the correlation between long vacations and happiness. The research study revealed that participants were much happier, with an improved state of health and well-being, post-vacation as compared to pre-vacation experiences. More importantly, the research concluded that longer the vacation, the more positive the health and mental benefits were even after work resumption. This means a longer tour, let’s assume a 14-day tour, can prove more beneficial than a 9-day tour or less in terms of positive experience and emotional behaviour. 

Whilst there aren’t much research studies on travel and mental health, we still find through available findings that it’s pretty evident that travel has the ability to impact an individual’s emotional make-up. However, what the research does fail to do is measure an individual’s well-being over a prolonged period of time post-vacation.  More studies perhaps can conclude if travel experience has lasting impact on mental health, or if it’s merely an escape route.