Traveling Can Make You Happier Than Getting Married, According to a Study

It doesn’t matter if you travel with nothing but a backpack or make a reservation at a luxurious hotel: all travel experiences positively influence your health and give you a significant endorphin boost. For some people, the joy it brings can actually outweigh other important events in their life like getting married or having a child. And research conducted by Booking.com confirmed that people value traveling so much that it even topped the list of things that bring them the most happiness in life!

1. Traveling gives you an immediate happiness boost.

To get the proper results, Booking.com interviewed 17,000 people who came from 17 countries so they could get a more diverse attitude toward traveling. Respondents confirmed that very few things can replace going on vacation when it comes to happiness. For example, 77% of the people said that they book a holiday when they need to brighten up their mood immediately.

2. Traveling can bring more happiness than some other important life events.

The most intriguing part of this study is that people claimed that they value traveling way more than they do their significant other and even happy events in their life. 49% of respondents said that they felt a greater level of happiness when they planned and went on vacation than they did on their wedding day!

Almost half of the people interviewed stated that going on a date with their partner doesn’t lift them up emotionally as much as traveling does. 45% claimed that getting engaged didn’t give them as much of an emotional boost as traveling did. Even having a baby doesn’t provide 29% of the respondents with enough of an endorphin rush!

3. Buying things can’t provide you with that much joy.

It also turned out that people appreciate getting new experiences more than possessing lots of material things. 70% of respondents said that going on vacation provides them with satisfaction that lasts way more than the happiness they get from buying things.

It seems like people are ready to sacrifice their comfort for the sake of having new travel experiences. For example, 56% of respondents would rather go on vacation than buy new clothes or gadgets and 48% of them are ready to postpone home improvements to visit new places.

4. Even planning a vacation improves our emotional well-being.

Surprisingly, for 72% of the respondents, it’s enough just to start planning a vacation to feel happier. For example, 80% feel more excited when they just look at a map and choose places they’d like to visit.

6 out of 10 respondents feel an emotional boost when they read hotel reviews and imagine their future trips. However, nothing can replace shopping: more than half of the respondents claimed that buying clothes for a vacation was one of the greatest mood-lifters!