Everyone knows, on some level, that holidays are beneficial. Every so often, it’s good to take time off work to empty your heads and enjoy new surroundings, whether on sandy beaches or in major cities.
As it turns out, vacations can do a lot more for your mental and physical health than you might think. Here are five ways a getaway can do you good.
1. Improved mental health
Holidays not only mitigate the onset of stress but can also actively combat conditions such as depression.
Packing your bags and heading to a faraway destination has been scientifically proven to reduce blood pressure, with holidaymakers scoring higher on stress-resilience tests after their vacation.
Holidays can also help the brain produce serotonin, providing medium-term benefits to those who suffer from mental illness.
2. Refresh and recharge
Even without the above empirical effects on the mind, getting away and experiencing something new can provide a pure and simple energy boost.
After spending days fulfilling the same routines in familiar locations, life can drag even at the best of times. Exposure to new places and experiences can reinvigorate and help you regain a sense of discovery and wonder.
3. Restored creativity
Indeed, this sense of discovery and wonder can be key to creative practice.
In your usual routine you are not often exposed to new and interesting things, apart from through your phones and devices. But seeing the majesty of the Taj Mahal in person, or taking a trek around the edifying Mont Blanc, could provide sparks of inspiration and trigger creative thinking.
4. Mindful living
When one settles into a routine, one learns less and less with each passing day. This has the unnerving effect of making time seem to pass by a little bit quicker, partly because there’s less to learn and remember, so your brain doesn’t bother tracking much of your day at all.
Introducing yourself to things you don’t know, or places you’ve never been to, re-engages the learning and memory centres of your brain, stretching your sense of time and making the days feel longer.
5. Longer life expectancy
Evidence suggests that holidays can actually improve life expectancy. Studies show that men with coronary artery disease who don’t take regular breaks are nearly a third more likely to suffer a fatal heart attack than those who do.
Meanwhile, women who didn’t holiday at least every six years were up to eight times more likely to die early, compared with those who got away every six months.
This should spur you on to go on vacation, stat!
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the founder of Psychreg. Connect with him on Twitter @dennisr_howell.