In case anyone needs an excuse to head out and see the world, consider new findings that reveal traveling improves one’s overall outlook on the world.
Research from the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) and Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) found that traveling can reduce the risk of heart troubles and depression. Interestingly, 47 percent of people say travel isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.
A significant percent of people (80 percent) say traveling improves their general mood and outlook toward life while 76 percent love taking trips whether the destination is a town away or the other side of the country. The study also found that 77 percent of Americans who travel are more satisfied with their physical health and well-being (only 61 percent who do not travel can say the same).
This may be related to the fact that 63 percent people walk more on trips and get more exercise while on the road than they do while they’re home. Or perhaps because even after being on vacation for a day or two, 89 percent of people are able to relax and leave behind the stress of work.
It’s therefore no surprise that 59 percent of Americans dream of traveling when they retire. However, while 69 percent say traveling is an important goal to save for, only 44 percent have given “considerable attention” to a retirement travel savings plan.
Even worse, only 18 percent have specifically factored travel into their financial strategy for retirement and a mere 15 percent have given saving for travel high priority status, the survey found.
“Travel is good medicine,” Dr. Paul Nussbaum, president and founder of the Brain Health Center and an adjunct professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said in a news release. “Because it challenges the brain with new and different experiences and environments, it is an important behavior that promotes brain health and builds brain resilience across the lifespan.”
GCOA and TCRS commissioned GfK Public Affairs and Corporate Communications to conduct the survey, which collected the opinions of 1,500 adults.
With that, get out and see the world. Hare six museums to worth visiting to learn something new:
- National Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas
- National Museum of Funeral History, Houston
- Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute, Waco, Texas
- Early Television Museum, Dublin, Ohio
- George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Dallas
- Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas
