Vacation Health Benefits: How Going on Vacation Changes Your Body

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: most of us aren’t taking enough time off. In fact, that the average American employee with paid time off uses only half of it annually.  And those people who are on holiday aren’t kicking back and relaxing; 61 percent admit to doing some work during their time off.

While it might seem that you’re just getting ahead and proving your worth to your boss, not taking full advantage of those days off means you’re not receiving the benefits of vacation time.

For starters, just planning a vacation can actually boost happiness levels. Whether it’s from the anticipation of the unknown or the excitement of planning time away, getting ready for a holiday can increase happiness in participants of one study for about 8 weeks before going away.

But the real magic occurs when you vacation. Being in a new environment, particularly abroad, affects how our neural pathways respond to things – also known as neuroplasticity – and can make us more creative. When we’re in our normal, day-to-day lives, our brains can go on autopilot: they know how things work and where places are. But when our brains are exposed to new sounds, tastes and cultures, different synapses fire off in your brain, revitalizing our minds and encouraging us to try new things, if only because you’ll have to.

Maybe you’re not too keen on getting in touch with your creative side. Going on vacation will help you physically, too. The Framingham Heart Study, which began in 1948 and is still going strong, found that women who took vacations just once every six years were nearly 8 times as likely to have a heart attack than those who took one at least every two years.

Read more on Dr Axe's website