With the pandemic far from over, now may not be the perfect time to start leisure travelling. But does that mean planning a trip is cancelled too? According to multiple researchers, looking forward to the next adventure or trip could benefit your mental health; even if you are not sure when that trip will be.
I strongly believe that travelling enhances some of our sub-conscious actions such as empathy, energy, focus, and attention. Many studies have shown that the act of adapting to a foreign culture may facilitate empathy and creativity. However, I am quite certain that we get a mental boost from travel even before we leave home.
Let’s back it up with some analogies – Why is planning a trip good for us?
Have you all noticed that we are the happiest when we have a vacation planned? I experience this feeling before every trip I take. A lot of studies have proven that the anticipation of an experience (like a trip or adventure) considerably increases our happiness – much more than the eagerness of buying material goods.
Connecting with people forms an invincible, albeit unacknowledged baseline of a trip. If you have noticed when we connect with fellow travelers on our vacations, we end up talking to people more about our experiences than our material possessions or purchases. Hence, we can fairly conclude that, “Experiences make for better story material, compared to possessions”. In fact, connecting with people is something we are longing for the most during the COVID-19 practices of social distancing or better termed as physical distancing.
As humans we tend to spend a substantial amount of time planning for our future. Planning a trip resonates with the future-mindedness, where the anticipation of a trip gives a positive outlook when we have things to look forward to. Since we know that a trip would be temporary with a defined start and end, our minds are prone to savour it. Studies have shown that many of us have unconsciously even delayed good experiences like a trip just to prolong the period of anticipation.
The last but not the least reason. We often learn bountiful to imagine our trip; but travel carries a sweet musing wherein there is copious amount of novelty and uncertainty that keeps our minds interested.
Let’s get chalking…
Post-pandemic travel is still unmapped. Therefore, it would be safe to chalk out a vague itinerary – without getting attached to the idea of taking the trip at any specific time. For eg. A person who has a penchant for old cities with archaic monuments, can start learning about them. Taking a trip can be stress inducing whereas planning one can be a stress buster.
Technology has been a boon to us when it comes to doodling out an itinerary. Google street view would be handy for those travelling solo or the ones who like to have minute details while planning. This app provides detailed imagery on what one can expect when they land in a foreign place, thereby boosting confidence. YouTube has a plethora of video information and some of it can be really useful when picked in the right fashion.
Planning for travel – thinking about it and talking about it – may in fact be the best thing one can do to stay optimistic, and when this is all behind us, we can embark on that trip of a lifetime. This Virus can stop our travel plans, but it cannot halt our travel dreams!