Will traveling make you happy?

You could argue that whether or not a vacation makes you happy has more to do with you than with vacation. On the whole, studies have shown a link between extroversion and happiness. So, when it comes to extracting joy from vacations and pre-vacation anticipation, it seems extroverts would have a leg up on introverts.

But other personality traits also may predict how much a person winds up enjoying a holiday. For example, one study showed that "optimism" and "hopefulness" correlated strongly with a person's perceived ability to derive pleasure through anticipating a future vacation. Not surprisingly, a person who looks forward to his or her trip with a "can't wait" mentality derives more happiness from anticipation of the vacation than a neurotic person who fears the vacation won't go well. A hopeful, optimistic attitude was also a good predictor that the person would enjoy the vacation while he or she was actually on it [source: Bryant]. So, if you think getting too excited about your trip beforehand guarantees you'll be let down while you're on it, think again.

On the other hand, the study showed that participants who had higher "reminiscing" scores -- meaning they perceived themselves to be very good at deriving joy from recalling happy memories -- were more frustrated and disappointed with their vacations while they were on them. Perhaps thinking about old times while on vacation makes present times seem less than perfect [source: Bryant].

Since eager anticipation of a trip is so much a part of what makes people happy about vacations, it pays (in happiness levels) to be able to think positively, rather than neurotically, about something that hasn't yet happened. In fact, one study showed that participants' overall well-being improved when they simply took time to imagine future events in a positive rather than negative light once each day [source: Berkeley].

What better thing to imagine in a positive light than your trip to Aruba? And speaking of Aruba, what else can you do, besides practicing positive thinking, to make sure it's a happy trip?

Even if your personality is perfectly suited to derive enjoyment from vacation, you won't enjoy one that's gone terribly awry. Jet lag from a long flight, getting sick from eating local food and even spending your vacation days waiting in lines at theme parks could knock your vacation out of the "relaxing" category deemed joy-producing [source: Nawijn].

One study showed that a person's ability to gain "life satisfaction" from traveling banked on whether he or she didn't experience certain things, like feeling tired, getting sick, gaining weight or worrying about catching a disease. Concerns about running out of money on the trip and returning from the trip broke, and spending money on frivolous things also made that list [source: Virginia Tech]. Basically, as long as the trip didn't trigger those types of negative thoughts, it was considered relaxing enough to provide satisfaction.

You might think taking a longer trip will mean more happiness for you, but research shows that length of vacation doesn't affect happiness levels at all [source: Nawijn]. And since vacation anticipation is so important, a spontaneous, last-minute trip can't be the best option for accruing happiness points.

But what about those vacations that aren't intended to be relaxing? A mission trip to a poverty-stricken area in Africa or a backpacking wilderness challenge in the Sierra Nevada surely can't be as relaxing as a week lying on the beach doing nothing. Can such trips also provide happiness?

Mission trips and wilderness challenges fall into the category of the transformative trip -- a trip that is designed to be a life-changing experience for the vacationer. On such a trip, the traveler is thrust into completely unfamiliar territory and faced with unfamiliar challenges. In this territory, away from the pressures and influences of everyday life, the traveler is likely to come up with solutions that would have seemed futile in his or her home environment. Such trips can help travelers break unhealthy patterns and experiment with new ones [source: Ross].

Therefore, there's great potential to solve problems at home by vacationing someplace else [source: Lehrer]. Some researchers even believe travel could be prescribed as treatment for the clinically depressed [source: Science Alert].

Whatever your reasons for traveling, in most cases, happiness levels drop off pretty quickly post-vacation. So, what's a traveler to do about that sad fact? Plan another trip. A few short trips a year, with plenty of eager anticipation time in between, may just increase one's happiness levels over the long haul.

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