Holidays and happiness

Holidays can make you happy before you go on them but have little long-lasting effect once you get back. Researchers from Erasmus University in Rotterdam studied 1,530 people, 974 of whom went on holiday during the study period. They found that those people who were planning a holiday were happier than other people due to the anticipation of their break. For most people there was no difference in happiness after the holiday between those people who had been away and those who hadn't. People who had had a very relaxing holiday were a little happier for the first two weeks afterwards but the effect had completely worn off after eight weeks.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/19/vacation-unlikely-to-improve-overall-happiness/11593.html