Think you’re the same person when on holiday? Plenty of travellers say otherwise
From staying out later than planned to buying things they’d normally consider unnecessary, travellers are more willing to break their everyday habits when they’re away, new research suggests.
A recent study has unveiled the surprising ways in which traveling can alter our behavior and challenge our preconceived notions about ourselves. The research, conducted by Hint App, surveyed 14,673 adults across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, European Union, Australia, and Latin America. The findings indicate that 61% of respondents consciously behave differently while on vacation than they do at home, despite describing themselves as generally predictable or routine-driven in their everyday lives.
This shift in behavior is not merely a result of the holiday spirit taking over; a significant portion of travelers admitted to deliberately engaging in activities they would typically avoid at home. Specifically, 47% of participants reported knowingly engaging in activities while traveling that they would have rejected if done at home. This suggests that the standards we use to evaluate our decisions change while on vacation, allowing us to relax our usual self-censorship.
The survey also revealed that the justification for certain behaviors while traveling often comes from the novelty of the experience. For example, 38% of respondents admitted to purchasing items they would usually consider unnecessary, simply because they were connected to the memory of their trip. Similarly, a late-night outing was deemed more valuable by 42% of participants due to the limited number of evenings available during their vacation, effectively replacing one set of expectations with another to justify the time and money spent on the trip.
Interestingly, 35% of respondents said they arrived home surprised by something they had done or agreed to while away. This implies that the behavioral changes may not be immediately apparent while traveling and can only be recognized retrospectively. While the survey does not definitively answer whether our holiday behavior truly reflects our authentic selves, it does suggest that the routines we adhere to at home may be more flexible than we realize.
For the 61% of travelers who deliberately alter their behavior, a holiday provides a temporary license to rewrite the rules and explore aspects of their personality that might otherwise remain hidden.
Written by urgent.news from Euronews's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
