The Connection Between Travel, Health and Wellness

When I wrote about The Benefits of Travel Meet the US Dietary Guidelines Report last month, I promised another connection between traveling and health and wellness. While the Dietary Guidelines are important, the connection between travel and wellness is not the primary consideration for either travelers or the scientists who write the report.

Instead, the need and/or the desire for a holiday or explorations are most likely what’s top of mind when individuals, couples or families begin travel planning. And it turns out that in addition to what you see or learn, or the meals you enjoy, or the transportation you enjoy (or endure) – there are other benefits to traveling. It’s not just your imagination. There is scientific literature detailing the many ways health and wellness are improved by traveling.

For those of us who love traveling, I’m sure you do not need to be convinced to take a vacation and travel, but here’s a summary of recent research about why traveling is a good idea for overall health and wellness.

In the January 2023 issue of the Journal of Transport & Health, in an article entitled, “Constraints to travel outside the local area: Effect on social participation and self-rated health,” researchers reported:

• Evidence on association between limited travel and social participation and self-rated health.

• For those who were unable to travel outside their own communities, or were restricted in the number of times they could travel, they self-reported poorer health.

• These conclusions were more significant for those over 55 years.

• Conclusion: Individuals who traveled away from home and see more places were more likely to report better health.

Speaking on an NPR station in Baltimore, Mihaela Vincze, a public health expert for nonprofit Transamerica Institute spoke about traveling for health and happiness. Specifically, she focused on three health benefits noted in scientific journals:

1. A 2020 study published in Nature found that people who see more changes in scenery daily tend to be happier.

2. The more positive vacation experiences you have with your partner — like communication, activities, and affection — the better your daily functioning at home will be post-vacation, noted researchers in a study published in the Journal of Travel Research. Ms. Vincze suggests that this could be because vacations can help bring people together, promote relaxation, and they provide relief from daily stress.

3. Traveling does have cognitive benefits. A study published in Tourism Management in October of last year found that travel may be beneficial for mental well-being and may have several elements that can positively impact brain health, especially for those with dementia. The cognitive benefits center around five areas, says Ms. Vincze:

   • Travel stimulates thinking which may benefit people with dementia.

   • Travel allows people to explore a new environment and can increase social connection, which can promote brain function for people with dementia.

   • Travel naturally includes movement. Being active can help people with dementia.

   • Travel that has more of a musical focus could be beneficial for those with dementia because music can improve brain function and boost mood.

   • Recalling previous memories can be helpful for brain health. Tourism also may help stimulate memories in people with dementia.

Relationship health and travel can be related. In Psychologytoday.com in April 2024, Dr. Theresa E. DiDonato wrote about “Why Travel Is So Good for a Relationship's Health.” The key points from Dr. DiDonato are not surprising and make a lot of sense. Leaving one’s regular routine benefits romantic relationships, and planning self-expanding vacations (something new and interesting) together predicts higher post-vacation relationship quality. She also notes that quality of travel is more important for relationship health than focusing on quantity, such as taking lots of vacations.

Dr. Paul Simeone, Ph.D. – vice president and medical director of Behavioral Health with Lee Health, a health care system in Florida – writes that “there’s ample research to support that positive travel experiences can make a person healthier, can strengthen their relationships, and benefits their overall wellness.”

Simeone details specific health benefits of travel including reducing job burnout and sleep. That he believes travel can help sleep health is surprising to me. Here’s his reasoning: “One in three American adults don’t get enough sleep. Poor sleep hygiene has been linked to chronic conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and depression. Getting away from your routine at home, even for a weekend, can help reset your sleep pattern by disrupting any habits that negatively affect your sleep quality.”

Dr. Simeone also called out travel writer Paul Theroux who writes: “What draws me into a trip is a leap into the dark. You set out from home, and in the classic travel book, you go to an unknown place. You discover a different world, and you discover yourself.’ This is what we all need, so let’s get on the road, any road!”

As Rick Steves, another travel expert, said in a January 2025 New York Times audio, The Interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, “The most frightened people are the people who have never traveled.”

Another quote about traveling from the Rick Steves interview is a great place to close, and something to aspire to in this especially difficult time.

“You just feel so good, and you just feel like this world is such a beautiful place, and it’s filled with beautiful people, and nature is so fragile, and it’s such a delight and a blessing. It changes you. It becomes pretty clear when you travel that we’re all in this together.”

There are so many reasons to travel. We hope you get on the road soon — whether with Oldways or any other way!