Why Fulfilling Travel Is Harder than We Think

A few days ago, my boyfriend and I decided that, after a semester of teaching, grading, and feeling the lovely Virginia autumn give way to the cold, grey winter, a December getaway was going to be just what we needed. Choosing a destination was easy. We didn’t want a terribly long flight. We wanted someplace warm and sunny, where we could have a mixture of backcountry adventure and beachside lounging. And we wanted something all-inclusive so we wouldn’t have to spend hours researching the logistics of how to get from point A to point B or how we might scrounge up dinner in some secluded hotel. Just ten minutes of internet sleuthing uncovered several packages in Costa Rica that sounded like just the thing. A short time after, it was done! Trip booked! December is now guaranteed to deliver breathtaking views, an escape from daily hassles, deep connection with nature and with each other, and pure exhilaration as we zip-line through the rain forest. Constantly running in the background of our minds will be a sense of gratitude for our good fortune. We’ll come home rejuvenated and somehow better. Right? I mean, why else we would be making this large investment of time and money?

Actually, we shouldn’t be so quick to assume that appreciation, joy, and enlightenment are necessarily part of our all-inclusive package. Planning a trip is one thing, but planning one that fulfills the desire for escape, relaxation, cultural education, connection with loved ones, or just plain fun is quite another. There are multiple reasons why our travels may fail to live up to our expectations, and I’m not talking about lost luggage, driving rain, or bedbugs. The reasons are often internal: our psychological makeup can detract from our ability to savor and enjoy, often in surprising ways.

For one, when we travel, we don’t leave our anxieties, irritations, and bad habits behind. They come along for the ride, and can make immersion and enjoyment a real challenge. You might be staring out at a white sand beach, sun beating down and daiquiri in hand, and still your mind can’t help but wander to that work project you left unfinished, to what your friends back home might be posting on Facebook, or even to whether you packed enough underwear.

Also, the fact is that we often just don’t know what will make us happy. The large literature on affective forecasting suggests that, when predicting how we’re going to feel in the future, our limited self-knowledge often leads us to suboptimal choices. This is true even when making predictions about daily life. We think that ordinary events like the outcome of a football game, a promising first date, or a financial windfall will have much greater emotional impact than they actually do. Imagine how difficult it must be, then, to predict not only how we might feel in our everyday-life future, but in a foreign future – a new place, maybe even a new culture, without all of the predictive advantages that routine provides.

For example, I’ve never been to Costa Rica, so how do I know that I’ll enjoy exploring a cloud forest? (And what is a cloud forest, anyway?) Should we book a cheaper hotel so we can spend more money on activities? Is the eight-day trip really the right amount of time to be away? Will we start to miss the comforts of home, or will we wish to stay even longer? Should we opt for a hotel with free wifi so that we can be connected to the people back home, or will that detract from the experience? Would we like to schedule a day of snorkeling, or might we prefer to spend that time on the beach with a good book? In planning a trip, there are numerous costly decisions being made in uncharted emotional territory, and yet we often make them blithely, not realizing how much they may actually affect our enjoyment.

A good choice?

In light of these challenges, the purpose of this blog is to lay out research-backed strategies for enhancing the psychological experience of travel. In future posts, I will unpack specific travel-related errors we might make and offer concrete suggestions on how we might adjust for these errors in order to make travel better. I might also tell you what happens in a cloud forest. All the while, I will welcome your own personal experiences and suggestions!