How much holiday time do people really need? For many the answer depends on whether they’re taking a summer or winter break, or on other factors such as the number of people going, destination, cost and travelling arrangements.

Benefits of holidays

Holidays both long and short can help improve your memory and brain power in more than one way:

    • Holidays help relieve stress and give you an opportunity to let go and surrender to the moment.
    • Holidays replenish your mind and body.
    • Holidays give you countless opportunities to meet new people, explore and learn about cultural differences, languages, foods and traditions.
    • Holidays improve your cognitive skills. You don’t have to travel far, but if you use a map, you’ll be giving your visual-spatial skills and memory a work-out.
    • Holidays mean you’ll make quick decisions about many things like directions, lodging, meals and excursions. All of these variables require sharp processing of information and storing it in your memory bank.

Long or short break?

People achieve better cognitive control of their work if they break away from their routine now and then. The amount of holiday time required for restoring energy and peace of mind varies from person to person. For some people it’s enough to have just a few days off to feel refreshed. Researchers recommend that people should have more than one holiday break per year. The invigorating effects of a holiday usually last for about one month after the return to work, so it would be a good idea to divide holidays into several sessions.

The advantage of a long break is that you are able to completely disconnect from work and its related concerns. On the other hand, if your destination doesn’t match what you wanted or the weather doesn’t pan out, it means that you have to put up with it for a long period.

According to research, people who take short breaks have more happy memories when compared to people who take a two week or longer. holiday. The reason seems to be that the longer you are on your holiday the more used to your surroundings you become and the novelty and extra enjoyment wear off. Shorter breaks also have the advantage of giving you the opportunity of spreading your travels over various destinations.

It doesn’t really matter whether you take time to go far away or change your routine with a nearby getaway. The important part is that you refresh your brain by doing something different.

 

Sources

 

http://www.99traveltips.com/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
http://yle.fi/

 

Revised by M van Os