Yep, that´s right.
According to a psychology study from the Universtiy of Cornell if you want to be happier it´s better to spend your money on experiences rather than material things. The reason for that being that us humans are biologically programmed to adapt ourselves to new situations. This means that when it comes to new material things the thrill of having it is only temporary and you get used to them quickly.
“One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation,” says Dr. Thomas Gilovich, the psychology professor at Cornell University who has been studying the question of money and happiness for over two decades. “We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them.”
People tend to prefer material things over experiences because it´s longer lasting. Say you spend $50 on clothing is more touchable than spending the same amount of money on for example a nice dinner at a restaurant. Yet the experience is something that stays with us, that becomes a part of us, and that ultimately makes us happier people.
I think this counts especially when it comes to travel. For me every new country and culture I get to know, I feel a richer person. Maybe this doesn´t go for everybody, but for those who love to travel this is probably nothing new. Though I feel like many times you need to justify your travel expenses because people see travel as luxury, while it would be normal to spend thousands of dollars on clothing, cars and what not.
Some time ago I wrote about how you can get lucky and travel the world, and I think it goes hand in hand with this study. People often ask you to justify your travels, thinking you have a lot of money to spend, but if you simply put your priorities differently and spend money on experiences rather than material things, travel doesn´t have to be a luxury.
So for all you people who love to travel and would like to become happier, here´s the science that justifies your travel expenses 🙂
“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping”– Bo Derek
