The traveller bug - symptom or superpower? (Part 2)

This is a second edition event for those who could not sign up for the first one. The topic is going on holidays to exotic places. It's a topic that can be difficult to talk about openly if you're one of the few who doesn't think it's the most awesome thing in the world.

Everyone an their grammas likes to travel these days, and there's even people who want to travel to every single country in the world before they kick the bucket (list). Besides the fact that this no longer makes anyone all that special, there's other reasons to make us reconsider it's importance.

There's already too much talk about why this is bad for the climate so we'll not talk about it here. Instead we will have a debate on the pros and cons of travelling for our mental wellbeing, and see if anyone on the opposite sides of national borders can be convinced into doing
more, or less of it.

On this topic I'd like us to discuss few important questions:

• Why do we really travel to new places for pleasure? Is it because we want to head towards something new or running from something (boredom, sadness, etc.)?
• How do we feel when we stop travelling? Does our life improve or we just want to get that traveler high again as soon as possible to run from a place that is boring by comparison?

To help guide the discussion, here are some references to consider:

1. Tips to overcome Post-Travel Blues (10 minute article) - There isn't much data out there about post-travel blues, because apparently nobody wants to be the party pooper, but this overview gives a good summary of side effects of travel. Key points:
   * In 2015, a National Alliance on Mental Illness survey found that 64% of participants had experienced post-holiday blues.
   * Despite that downside, the overall effects of travel are positive.
2. Despite inflation, no concessions are made on holidays: three in four Europeans will be traveling this (2023) summer (11 minutes study) - Travel is on the rise, despite people not being able to afford it as much, suggesting it is a compulsive rather than rational decision. Most importantly, people travelling more doesn't seem to make them all that more culturally aware, judging by the recent increase in nationalistic tendencies. Could this mean the cultural benefits of travel don't play out in long term, or are travelers pushing sedentary people against a wall?
3. Is travel healthy? Scientists know the answer! (9 minute article on benefits of travel) - It is not hard to find benefits of travel on the internet, but I found it harder to find evidence based ones. To top it off, it comes with some great recommendations to get the most health benefits out of your holiday planning.

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The meeting is free to attend, but please buy a drink or two at our patron's place to make them happy.