6 Reasons why a holiday can boost your mental wellbeing

1: Holidays boost happiness

Planning and experiencing holidays can help to rewire our brains. Also, they enhance our mood and self-confidence. When we have a boost in our self-confidence we’re empowered to do things for ourselves like exploring a destination we’ve always wanted to visit! During these explorations, we learn unique things about a country. We may even try a new activity such as surfing or supporting a developing community.

Doing new things and stepping outside of our comfort zone is how the brain rewires itself. In response, endorphins in your brain increase, which creates increased feelings of happiness. Plus, once we’ve mastered something new, we may feel even happier.

2: Holidays reduce the symptoms of stress

There are many benefits of having a daily routine. Yet, a routine with demands and stress won’t maintain a positive mental wellbeing. What we should include daily is time to focus on things we find meaningful, and interesting in our life. In short, we should try to practice the Dane’s concept of ‘Hygge’. Hygge means to ‘take time away from the daily rush to enjoy the good things in life’.

Plus, when we remove ourselves from daily activities and environments that cause us anxiety the symptoms of stress are reduced. So, we should book holidays in restful retreats or calming environments with our loved ones. If we can do so, we can reduce the risk of a heart attack too.

When our holidays help us escape from routine, our minds can relax, recharge, rejuvenate, and reflect. In response, our cortisol levels lower and we soon feel calmer and more content. It’s in environments like these, that allow us to focus on ourselves…

3: Holidays provide time to focus and re-evaluate

You can feed your mind by immersing yourself in different cultures. These types of experiences heighten your state of mindfulness. Leaving you to reflect and focus on your own life. While away, you may re-evaluate your lifestyle and values before refreshing them.

For instance, if the majority of your diet is red meat and a few vegetables. Then you decide to travel to Norway and eat Nordic dishes, which include fish, high-quality carbohydrates, and root vegetables. On your return, you may wish to continue following this healthier diet. In the long term, you’ll enhance your lifestyle, (after re-evaluating what you did eat).

Following a healthy lifestyle and eating well is one way to look after your mental wellbeing. It will also reduce your risk of many types of illness.

4: Holidays help you to recover from illness

Travelling can give you time to recover from illness or a major transition. When you escape from trauma to travel, you leave your worries behind – as well as the mindset you had when you were ill. While travelling, we interact with new cultures and different people when putting ourselves in new environments. In response, we can find new passions and interests like dance. These new interests then become our focus instead.

5: Travel makes you mentally resilient

Have you been in a situation where you’ve felt both excited and intimidated at the same time? For example, when you face difficulties, like arriving in a foreign town, and needing to navigate to your hotel?

With time, you figure out the best route and mode of transport to get there. The more of these situations you find yourself in, the more mentally resilient you become. This is because you’ve had time to enhance your problem-solving and creative skills.

6: Travel enhances creativity

There are links between creativity and international travel. Especially if we engage with the local culture of a destination. For instance, we could attend events like a dragon boat race in China, a colourful festival, or taste a country’s traditional cuisine by going on a food tour. While enjoying these cultural experiences, our “depth and cohesiveness of thought” is enhanced. Meanwhile, we’re forced to look at things from a new perspective. Each lead to a boost in creativity. Even better: the longer we’re away engaging with different cultures the more creative we can become.

Whether visiting a country for a week or travelling for a year, travel increases our sense of creativity, by causing an uptick in our mind’s ability to create happy thoughts. In response, we’re inspired to see ourselves in a new way and distance ourselves from any challenges we’ve been experiencing. On our return, we can find solutions to resolve them.

With all these reasons and benefits you can reap from travel and holidays – what are you waiting for? At Free Spirit, we believe that everyone should have the freedom to travel. Yet, if you can find a holiday that enhances your mental health and wellbeing, each one will be invaluable. For instance, wellbeing breaks and wellness holidays are suitable for all. Here are some of our favourite wellness holidays which can enhance our mental wellbeing…

Holidays which are good for our mental wellbeing

Wellness Retreats

Wellness retreats are not difficult to reach within the UK or abroad. Each has various benefits for your health. For example, creative retreats can help reduce levels of fatigue, while you do creative activities. Opting for a meditation or mindfulness retreat can also enhance your emotional wellness when strolling through nature. Whichever one you visit, each can teach you healthier practices and techniques that you can use to relax in the long term.

Dog Walking Holidays

Dog walking holidays are great because they can be done at any time of the year. They instantly get you out and active. Then watching your dog having a good time makes you feel happy too. Plus, during any walking holiday within nature, we can practice mindfulness, pause to listen out for wildlife around us, and admire nature.

Forest Bathing breaks

Forest bathing is a way to watch the changing of the seasons in different countries around the world, such as the fall in Canada, or spring in Japan. After arriving at our chosen natural location, the aim is to slow down, be quiet, disconnect from our digital lives, and immerse ourselves in nature. We can do so by tuning into our senses and the environment around us.

For over 800 years, this act has been a stress prevention intervention in Japanese culture. Today, it’s described as nature therapy. The benefits of this therapy include a natural uplift in energy from exposure to the sun and fresh air. Any stress hormones and depression symptoms are alleviated, enhancing our well-being and mood.

Free Spirit Travel Insurance for mental wellbeing breaks