Study Finds That Going On Vacation Helps Us Live Longer

Bipolar

If you are looking for yet another excuse for your ceaseless wanderlust from loved ones, friends, or co-workers who don’t understand, feel free to hit them with this recent research; going on holiday helps you live longer.

The findings came from a forty-year study conducted by the University of Helsinki. Its astounding results concluded that people who take less than three weeks off work annually were 37 percent more likely to die young compared to those that gave higher priority to their vacation time.

The research began tracking 1200 businesspeople in the 1970s that were considered to be at risk from heart disease because of their weight, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. The main difference between people who did and didn't take adequate time off was described as “clear and significant.”

The results were recently presented at the European Society of Cardiology conference in Munich. Lead researcher Professor Timo Strandberg recommended that doctors must prescribe holidays to at-risk patients instead of a lifestyle overhaul.

“Don’t think having an otherwise healthy lifestyle will compensate for working too hard and not taking holidays,” he said. “Vacations can be a good way to relieve stress.” Curiously, researchers also found that the men who were given new strict guidelines by their doctor to lose weight, take medication or give up smoking, were also at more risk of dying younger than those who weren’t advised to make lifestyle changes, possibly because the change itself caused stress.

David Sacks

The research is just the latest in a string of studies that conclusively prove the benefits of travel. Among them, it’s been shown that traveling makes you happier than buying things, makes you more attractive if you’re single and even makes you more employable in the long-term. Now, what are you waiting for?

Alistair Berg