You may think that traveling is just a way to take some time to yourself and “get away from it all,” but did you know that there are actual health benefits of traveling? From encouraging creativity to reducing heart disease, traveling can be extremely beneficial. It’s also a great time to strengthen relationships and improve your mental health.
#1: Travel reduces stress
Generally, traveling reduces stress because you are able to take a break from the mundane day-to-day tasks, work stressors, etc. Resting, enjoying pleasurable things, and spending time with other people is a natural stress-reducer. When stress is reduced, your blood sugar levels decline, which is one of the great health benefits of traveling.
#2: Travel encourages rest
Unless you jampack your itinerary, chances are you’re hoping to relax while traveling. Alarm clocks can be turned off and you can sleep and nap whenever you please. Depending on your personality and needs, you may prefer some places over others. According to a 2015 study, “People preferred the ocean over mountains when they wanted to socialize with others, but they preferred the mountains and the ocean equally when they wanted to decompress alone.” Even an active day can feel mentally restful if you explore the outdoors like visiting a national park.
#3: Travel encourages creativity
Want to boost your creativity? Travel! Writers, and other creative individuals, often go on retreats to help their creative juices flow. International travel has especially been shown to “stimulate creative responding” per a 1989 study regarding creativity and traveling abroad. While away, especially in quiet atmospheres, the brain has time to ponder and develop new and unique ideas.
#4: Travel prevents burnout
Avoiding burnout is a great health benefit of traveling. Whatever you spend most of your year doing, there’s a chance of burnout if you don’t take regular breaks. One study confirmed that “vacation alleviated perceived job stress and burnout.” Traveling allows you to get that necessary time away to refresh and renew your mind so that when you go back home, you’ll have a rested and ready mindset to tackle the next to-do.
#5: Travel strengthens relationships
Let’s face it—we’re all pretty busy every day and our busy lives make it more difficult to connect with the people we love on a regular basis. Per a recent study, a health benefit of traveling is that it can “improve communications within a relationship, reduce the possibility of divorce, strengthen lifelong family bonds, and increase a sense of well-being in adults and children.” Memories are made together as family and friends experience new places and things. As a result, relationships become stronger.
- Top 9 Health Benefits of a Clean Home
- 8 Best Tree House Rentals in the US
- 7 Most Underrated Family Vacation Spots
- 7 Best Mountain Towns in the US
#6: Travel increases mindfulness
When you have the chance to “get away from it all,” you’re able to be more mindful and introspective. A health benefit of traveling is getting the opportunity to focus on your mental health. If you are able to travel, then you can take advantage of time away from home to be mindful, without distractions, and focus on yourself as necessary.
#7: Travel improves mood
Travel typically consists of you being able to enjoy things that you are interested in whether it’s the beach, the mountains, new food, or other hobbies. Because you’re spending time doing pleasurable things with the people you enjoy being around, a health benefit of traveling is a more positive mood. Simply resting without having to think about work is a huge mood booster!
#8: Travel encourages personal growth
New experiences, environments, and cultures allow you to learn and appreciate more of the world. From an educational standpoint, traveling abroad is said to benefit “personal growth, increase in life skills, and knowledge” per a study published in 2013. Maybe you’ll decide to pick up a new language after experiencing it first-hand while traveling. There are a lot of opportunities to grow when traveling near and far.
#9: Travel may help prevent heart disease
A wonderful health benefit of traveling is reducing your risk of heart disease and heart attacks. Per a study, “men in a nine-year study who took at least one vacation per year were almost 30% less likely to die from a heart-related cause” compared to men who did not. If travel is joyful for you and results in an improved mood and reduced stress, then you may be helping your heart. Spending more time outdoors, resting, and being active are also good activities for the heart and help it to be healthy.
Overall, many studies have shown that traveling is a positive experience especially if the traveling is for pleasure and not for business. Even though euphoric and restful feelings slowly diminish after arriving back home, regular time away from home to explore new or favorite places is worth it especially when you get to reap the health benefits of traveling!
In what ways do you feel like travel benefits your health? Let us know in the comments below.
Morgan French is a wife, mom of two, writer & editor. After traveling for 3 years with her family, she now lives back in her hometown of Dayton, OH. She makes frequent stops for coffee, enjoys the outdoors, and loves board games.
I like that you mentioned that the health benefit of traveling is the opportunity to focus on your mental health. If you can travel, you can take advantage of time away from home to be conscious, without distractions, and focus on yourself as essential.
My partner and I are looking for a travel company to assist us with our travel plan for next month, and we want to make sure we make the right choice.
I will show this to my partner to see how this can help us decide What to look for in a company when choosing one.