5 ways travel is good for your mental health

(Stacey Lastoe, Hilary Lebow/ Everyday Health) — How does travel benefit us? Here are five ways your next trip may contribute to your overall health and well-being.

People who travel regularly (defined as trips at least 75 miles away from their home) report being about 7 percent happier than those who travel rarely or not at all, according to research on a Taiwanese population published in January 2021 in the journal Tourism Analysis.

Even before the pandemic, researchers identified a link between travel and happiness. They tracked the location of 132 adults for several months. The results, which were published in May 2020 in Nature Neuroscience, indicated that people who spent time in a variety of places reported more positive emotions than those who didn’t venture out as much. (…)