As vaccinations become more widely distributed across the world, you may find that you are finally in a place where you can enjoy travel again. Especially with all the recent stresses from the pandemic, taking a vacation might just be the thing you need — and a growing body of evidence shows that travel is very good for your brain.
Travel Can Rewire Your Brain
Neuroscientists used to believe that the brain could only change during childhood, but we know that our brain is continually changing through the process of “neuroplasticity.” Actually getting out of our comfort zone and embracing new experiences is integral to the experience of travel. If you are looking to make the most of your brain’s neuroplasticity — a new environment “wakes up” your brain. When we are in new environments, we switch off our autopilot. When we are going through the same actions and routines every day — going on vacation does really fire our neurons.
The Positive Impact On Depression
As the pandemic has shown us, we all need to protect our mental health. Mental well-being is a priority. 81% of American travelers say they go on vacations to minimize stress and anxiety. Research has shown that regular vacations have resulted in less likelihood of becoming depressed or tense.
The Creative Benefits Of Vacation
You don’t necessarily have to venture to Broadway to experience some sort of creativity — the very act of going on vacation can make you more creative. While you can visit cultural landmarks and locations like Branson MO, you don’t have to venture too far to experience a heightened level of creativity. A study conducted by the Columbia Business School featured in the Academy of Management Journal assessed the connection between international travel and creativity for fashion designers. The results highlighted that individuals who lived in other countries produced more creative designs. Travel is a way for you to develop what is called “cognitive flexibility,” which is a key aspect of creativity.
The Positive Impacts Of Anticipating A Vacation
The neurotransmitter dopamine is released when we view social media we like — but for those people who are trying to take a vacation from social media — anticipating a vacation in the real world can make you happier. Even when you look forward to something fun, dopamine gets produced in your brain. We can get more benefit from experiences over material goods, as a study published in Psychological Science highlighted that people were happier when anticipating an experience instead of a material item.
The Benefits For Your Personality
As people go traveling to experience new things in life, travel can actually improve your personality. If you live in another country for a short amount of time, this can modify your ability to remain “open to experience,” which is a core personality trait. People who are more open will look for new experiences — and are more comfortable with the unknown.
In addition, those who are more open to experience are more introspective. Compare this to people who are low in this core personality trait, who are deemed to be closed-minded. People who live in other countries — or go traveling over long periods of time — are more introspective and are less affected by material goods.
People who return home from a long expedition often find themselves unable to adjust back to their “normal” life. This could be partly due to the wide variety of experiences they have undergone, but being boxed in and having to revert to type can prove limiting. This explains why people who go traveling seldom want to return home — they actually feel like a different person when they travel.
The Post-Vacation High
Conversely, travel is particularly beneficial for people who are not used to going on vacation very often. A study in South Korea focused on tourists who traveled to other countries and discovered that their life satisfaction rose 15 days prior to travel, and around one month after they returned home. The preparation for traveling can make you happier — and the emotional benefits after returning home will stay with you.
Is Your Brain Built For Travel?
The key take-away is that your brain demands new experiences. New experiences — whether it’s taking yourself out of your comfort zone by learning a new language or going traveling — means that you can stimulate your brain to grow new connections. It’s not necessarily about traveling; it’s about the new experiences.
The generation of dendrites within your brain that grow from your neurons aims to facilitate the transmission of information throughout different areas of your brain. Therefore, the more functioning dendrites you have — the better your brain performs. This means that there is a positive knock-on effect on your attention and memory, as dendrites will maintain your cognitive functions.
Going to a new location or a new experience forces your brain to make sense of different stimuli. Even if you are unable to travel, you can still make the most of the principles of experiencing something new to stimulate your brain. You can do this by changing the time you wake up, taking a different route to the office, or taking up a new hobby.
Vacations are fantastic for us to decompress. Vacations have a positive impact on our mental health, and they clearly have the ability to stimulate our brain in exciting ways. As we prepare for life to return to normal, many people will be considering booking vacations. Many people have found, during the pandemic, they’ve lost the ability to stimulate their brains.
Vacations are going to be incredibly popular very soon. It’s not just a wonderful way to get some downtime away from the life we’ve just experienced, but it can make a significant impact on your ability to improve those dendrites, strengthen your neurological connections, and give your brain a massive boost that you can feel in other areas of your life.
