Idiot Researchers Claim Vacations Aren't Really That Satisfying

Summer is the perfect time to take a trip. Sometimes, just knowing that you have booked a plane ticket can get you through a shitty work day. So why have researchers found that people who go on vacation don’t feel any better than those who stay home?

Writing for the Washington Post, Marta Zaraska mentions a “holiday happiness curve”:

Our mood tends to be lowest through the first 10 percent of a holiday and quite high during the “core phase,” which spans about 70 percent of the vacation time. Our spirits soar on the day before going home.

And that’s not all! Some people feel ill on vacations and weekends, even though they rarely feel bad at work. It’s called “leisure sickness.”

[Ad Vingerhoets, a quality-of-life expert] believes leisure sickness — the inability to relax and adapt to the pace of life outside work — to be more prevalent in people living in big cities. Those affected suffer from headaches, muscular pains, nausea and flulike symptoms just when their free time begins, whether it’s a weekend or holiday.

In other words: You need a break because you work too hard, but you can’t take a break, because you work too hard. What the hell.

Aslo, Zaraska notes that even if you get away and relax, your tension comes right back when you return to your routine:

Even if we do enjoy our holiday, the moment we return to our home sweet home, the good mood starts to evaporate. Two weeks later, almost all the benefits of a vacation are gone.