How travel can improve our mental health

In the year In February 2022, Adam Sawyer lost his entire world. A wildfire near Oregon’s Mount Rainier claimed the life of his partner. Since then, Sawyer has frequently ventured out into nature, often retracing the paths he walked and the journeys he took with his dead partner.

“I purposely went to places where she and I had traveled together before. It seemed like a way to put out a flag, but it was a way to really lean into the grieving process,” said Sawyer, who writes about travel and the outdoors. “I would go somewhere on my way, and I would cry as long as I had to. When I went to these places, it was a way of acknowledging the pain and accepting what I was going through, and quickly bridging the gap to a place where those memories were hopeful and joyful.

For Sawyer, traveling to places that were meaningful to him and his late partners, in addition to other “road trips to nowhere” or trips to nature (for example, he spent a lot of time driving along the Oregon coast. “The scenery and that driving through beautiful country”), was central to his healing journey. It is a body.

“Travelling to these places and trying to process those memories—when I do that, when I have those crying sessions, when I deal with guilt in those places, it’s like throwing up. I screamed and I processed that and now I understand what that memory means to me and why I came here and I feel really good,” Sawyer says.

Sawyer is not alone in finding some sense of hope or relief when traveling after an accident or disaster. In July 2022, Hara Maderich, the “love of my life,” lost her husband after 40 years of marriage.

AFR reader Maderich, who lives in Costa Rica, said: “I was looking forward to a lonely Christmas and New Year months ago and decided to go back to my comfort zone, the ocean.” She booked herself and her best friend somewhere in the southern Caribbean. Famous Equinox Excursions on holidays.

“New Year’s Eve was wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time,” Maderich said. But, she added, “Being on a ship in the middle of the ocean, listening to live music, drinking champagne, and tearfully watching lasers and fireworks was so much better than sitting at home crying alone.”

Maderich He started 2023 with a fresh perspective, literally – a breakfast view of a rainbow over Martinique and the hope that life alone could be a new adventure yet to be explored.

For many people, including Sawyer and Maderich, travel — escaping to new or familiar places — can and does play a critical role in how they cope with grief, loss, grief, trauma, mental health challenges, or physical health setbacks.

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We’ve all been through a lot—travel can help.

During the pandemic, when many are experiencing the collective trauma and isolation of living in a deadly, global public health crisis, travel is one of the traditional coping tools made temporarily unavailable to us.

“Research has shown that social isolation and loneliness are linked to poor mental and physical health, an epidemic that is exacerbated,” said Terry Randolph, licensed professional counselor and program officer. Pix health, a female and LGBTQ+-led telehealth service to help those suffering from loneliness and isolation. “The pandemic has wiped out his ability. [people] To physically escape from their daily tasks and responsibilities, people feel trapped and isolated. This ultimately affected their mental health.

For some, they can find emotional stimulation just by thinking of ways to escape in the future. In the year An August 2020 study by a consortium of 263 travel companies in the U.S. found that 97 percent of people felt happy just planning a future trip.

And a small but growing body of research suggests that the true mental and physical health benefits of travel may finally be fully accessible again. Analyzing a group of 40 “middle managers”, a 2018 study conducted by researchers in Austria found that stress decreases and general well-being improves between 15 and 45 days after a vacation or vacation. A year later, a study was published in the journal Psychology and health He concluded that a higher frequency of rest may reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, which can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

Randolph says, “Travel contributes to a happy and fulfilling life.

Health benefits of travel

According to Randolph, “Travel has many lasting benefits for your mental state. They include:

• Reduce stress and anxiety; Travel provides a mental reset, reducing your overall stress and anxiety.
• Better relationships and relationships; If you’re solo, traveling is a great way to bond with both your travel companions and the new people you meet along the way.
• More innovation: Experiencing new cultures, cuisine, and arts broadens your horizons and opens your mind to new ideas and ways of thinking, which can be applied to your work and home life.
• Improved physical health; People often get outdoors when they travel and walk to explore new places, which can improve their overall physical well-being.

In January 2022, the Canadian National Park Service launched a program called Parks Canada that allows visitors to travel to Canada’s national parks with a free annual pass. Naturally.

In a press release about the Nature Prescription program, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Steven Guilbolt, who oversees Parks Canada, said the program is “a breakthrough in how we address mental and physical health challenges.” “Medical research now clearly demonstrates the positive health benefits of connecting with nature.”

Photo by Jacky Huang/Unsplash

Learning from new people and new environments

According to Randolph, not only do the beautiful places we visit on our travels calm and stimulate the mind and body, but the meaningful connections we make along the way contribute to our overall well-being. Michael Breen, a social psychologist who specializes in travel, has interviewed thousands of people about their travels and their impact. He observed several significant conversations in terms of the social interactions we make while traveling.

When you travel, you “remove yourself from the disease or the environment. [where] You’re in trouble,” said Breen, adding, “Let’s face it, when we’re at home in our daily lives . . . It’s not that complete or it doesn’t present us with new ideas.

According to Breen, one of the key benefits of travel is that it provides invaluable learning opportunities. When you travel, she says, “you’re more curious and more open to new experiences… you learn to socialize better because you have to meet new people. And so you have many new ways of looking at things.

A study conducted in January 2023 by Journal of Transport and Health Travel has proven the important role it plays in achieving “social engagement” and the link between social engagement and our overall health. The study found that when people miss opportunities to travel more than 15 miles from home, they are more likely to self-report poorer personal health than those who do.

For Sawyer in Oregon, while he often goes on solo missions, he admits that travel provides an important outlet to meet and interact with new people who can distract from his grief or give him a new perspective on life.

There are times when “I really need other people too.” Wherever I am, I go to some local dive bar and just chat with the locals and lose myself in them and their stories and what they’re doing. And it brings amazing direction,” says Sawyer. He added: “I’ve felt some guilt before, but it’s okay to break up a bit to go through and have a normal day where you’re laughing with people, enjoying dinner. You travel for fun. And that’s a huge relief. It’s okay if I take time out to enjoy being with other people.

Escape thinking

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Last fall, when a dear friend of mine was going through the stress and anxiety of losing her mother to dementia, we decided to escape to southern Utah for a few days. We enjoyed a hike through canyonland that gave her a small but meaningful break from the daily stress that consumed her life. But as much as we can find joy, fear, relief and laughter amidst the amazing desert landscape, we know that this retreat is only temporary and that no matter what happens, she will be waiting for her home.

While some may view travel as just an escape from problems, experts believe there is a significant difference between escapism and a healthy attitude towards any escape.

“Escape is defined as ‘a tendency or behavior to ignore or avoid reality.’ During a traumatic event, many people mentally ‘escape’ the situation to avoid further stress, explains Peaks Health’s Randolph.

Moving inward is not in itself the solution to our problems, and for many people, travel can be overwhelmed by additional anxieties, fears, and anxieties. But depending on how we use the knowledge and experience we gain on our healing journey, there is evidence to suggest that it can have more lasting results. And there are ways to integrate escapist thinking into our everyday lives—for example, we can take a mental break from our work lives by taking or seeking out stops at parks and cultural landmarks close to home. New activities and experiences similar to what we do when we travel (for example, learn how to play tennis or join a local hiking group) – to help recreate those benefits even when we can’t and don’t want to travel.

“To transform travel from a temporary fix to a more impactful one, you have to be really willing to incorporate stress and anxiety-reducing lifestyle changes,” says Randolph. “Employing activities that replicate the effects of travel escapes on a daily basis can help create lasting improvements in mental and physical health.”