The Happy Traveler: Unpacking the Secrets of Better Vacations

by Jaime L. Kurtz

Travel is one of the most sought-after experiences in life. It has the singular ability to capture our imaginations, serving as a canvas onto which we project our deepest desires and escape, relaxation, transcendence, interpersonal connection, cultural education, and more. Few things hold such a privileged place, yet until now, there has been no instruction manual for how to make the most of travelling, be it to an exotic country or to the local beach.

In The Happy Unpacking the Secrets of Better Vacations , psychology professor Jaime Kurtz applies the large and ever-growing body of research on happiness and decision-making to enhance the experience of travel. An avid explorer, study abroad instructor, teacher, and happiness researcher, Dr. Kurtz shows how anyone who has a vacation in his or her future can create the most meaningful, fulfilling, and joyful experiences possible.

When the price of travel is daunting, getting the most "bang for your buck", both financially and emotionally, is essential to an ideal travel experience. With a sense of humor and adventure, Dr. Kurtz provides guidance on how to craft your perfect trip, boost your excitement before your trip even begins, and actively immerse yourself in a new culture while unplugging from your technological ties to home. She also explains how to best cherish and share travel moments, how to ease back into your daily life upon returning, and how to carry the secrets of happy travel into every day.

This is a must-have guide if you are looking to make the most of your precious vacation days.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Psychology, Audiobook, Adventure, Science, Self Help

291 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2017

Reviews

[Ashley Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider myself a happy traveler, but I was drawn to this book because I wanted to know if maybe there was something I was missing. As a psychologist, I understand (and had already learned) almost all of the concepts Kurtz discusses in her book. However, there were quite a few that I had not previously extended to my thinking regarding travel. I felt as if Kurtz explained psychological terms and theories in a manner that everyone could understand and apply directly to their lives. While I usually read fiction, I found this to be a welcome break and one that had me smiling and rapidly turning the pages as I continued to be interested in the information throughout the book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout most of this book I kept thinking, "Wait, did I write this book?!?!" Part psychology, part tips, part anecdotal, the author sums up many of the reasons why I started a travel advisory business.

[Brian King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been traveling all my life, and doing so full-time professionally for a decade. I also have a doctorate in Psychology and write books about happiness and positive psychology. In this respect I guess the only difference between Jaime and myself is that I don't run. Like ever. Also, I'm a guy.

While reading her book I frequently would catch myself thinking "that sounds like something I would write" which is a good thing, if you are a fan of my writing. Jaime uses contemporary research to offer advice on how to get the most from your travels, and uses funny and interesting personal anecdotes instead of dry research findings to back up her points.

If you're a fan of my work, you'll love this book.

[Dlmrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[Kazen]

I think I would be able to flip through and glean some interesting things from this book... but I have it as an audiobook and it's just not doing it for me.

[Books In Brogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a great book for those of you who love to travel but sometimes find out the trip you planned and dreamed about was a disappointment and you can't figure out why.  
I was a travel agent for 10 year so I travel a lot and learned that sometimes the planning and organizing was more fun then the actual trip.  What took me 10 years of traveling to learn this book explains and helps you figure out what kind of travel will make you happy.   This review was originally posted on Books In Brogan

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel has become the great American past time. Everyone loves to travel, visit exotic destinations, eat strange foods and check those destinations off their bucket list. So although they should be easy and enjoyable, travel can be stressful. The Happy Traveler is a book about preparing for your next vacation, but instead of dealing with all the practical matters of planning for a trip like packing or buying tickets, Kurtz deals with the psychological element of travel. What are your expectations? Who are your travel companions? How to figure out what is YOUR ideal vacation. Whether you're a globetrotter or an armchair traveler, you'll enjoy reading this book. Lots of insights on human nature -- I'll definitely be thinking about this for my next vacation.

[Thomas Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on why some people are predictable in having a bad travel experience based on happiness research. Highly recommended for its common sense approach to enjoyable travel.

[Ren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, I love happening across a title from a basic search in a library database that I'd likely never have come across otherwise. Psychology/sociology and travel... what's not to love?

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer." -Anonymous

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. The included questionnaires were fun and enlightening, including not only figuring out your personality traits, your comfort zone and your own recipe for happy travels, but also for determining if a potential travel partner will make the trip better... or more stressful.

Will a last-minute surprise trip make you happier than one you get to plan and look forward to? Will an overall pleasant trip make you happier than one with highs and lows? Will a longer vacation really make you happier? Should you squeeze out every last minute of vacation or factor in a buffer to ease back into real life? Should you plan one big blow-out vacation or several smaller ones? Yep, she addresses all of these.

Years ago, I worked a job that had me on the road about 95% of the time and regularly flew round-trip every 2-3 weeks, staying in hotels in cities I didn't choose, sometimes at the worst time of year for that area (think Arizona in the summer), but overall I look back at that time with fondness and miss constantly getting to experience new places and meet new people. While these weren't "vacations", I did get to check out local attractions on my off time. There were definite highs (seeing Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, watching the Olympic gold medal swimming relay race standing in Times Square - so surreal, no one moved the entire time except to cheer or boo depending who was ahead at each turn) and certainly some lows (the Thanksgiving morning I flew home to find the airport hadn't lost my bags, but they had lost my car - yes, really, my car*). The author explains how we tend to rewrite the bad things that happen to make ourselves feel better and often, we get a good story out of it to boot. Hearing about someone's perfect trip is much less entertaining than hearing about the goof-ups and missteps.

We don't even have to plan a trip away to put some more excitement into our lives. Why not be a tourist at home? I loved Kurtz's suggestion of pretending you'll be leaving the area where you currently live in 30 days. What would you miss not having seen? Go! We all tend to think we have more time to do things. There are no guarantees. I don't know how many times I would be chatting with hotel staff, talking about where I was heading and discovering they had never been there or didn't know about monthly activity deals in their own city (many offer free admission to museums periodically). Check out a guide book to your own city and see what you're missing and inject more adventure into your daily life!

*I laugh now, but at the time it wasn't the most entertaining way to spend several hours on a holiday after being away for 3 weeks! I flew in/out of the Indianapolis IN airport and when I flew out, I parked in long-term parking as usual. Knowing that the old airport would be closing and the newly built airport would be opening while I was gone, I asked about the parking and was assured all would be fine. You see where this is going, yes? I fly back in on Thanksgiving morning, go to take the shuttle to my car and ask the driver to be sure it would go to the old lot. Nope! So back off the shuttle (with all my luggage) and inside to the information desk where they say no, there are no cars in the old lot. They moved the cars that were still there. My car? Not on the list. They asked if it was really old because sometimes people wold steal cars and dump them in long-term parking where they wouldn't be discovered quickly. Um, older but not so old. I ended up in a van with a nice guy from the parking authority who drove me to the old lot - no car - then to the tow company that moved the cars - no car. A couple phone calls and lots of waiting later... they found my car! Where was it? In the garage directly outside the airport entrance. LOL Someone had messed up and left it off the list when they towed it there. He said, no worries, we won't charge you for parking. Gee, thanks, I didn't pay for parking myself, my company did. But honestly? Everyone has a lost bag story... how many people have a lost car story from the airport? =)

[Christopher Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In THE HAPPY TRAVELER, Dr. Jaime Kurtz explores a variety of different ways to improve your vacation. I thought at first the book would be tips like how to pack better, or things like that. It’s more of tips on how to change your outlook, and how to match your travel choices to your personality. This is explained in the section, “Why Knowing Your Travel Personality Is Essential to Happy Travel.” The author explains that what makes a great experience for YOU is not at all what makes it great for others. That is, “Your perfect travel day is totally personal.” We want an experience that “feels right to us. “

One thing I really like about this book. At the end of each chapter is a nice summary of the key points covered in the chapter. These are called “Happy Travel Tips.” (This seems obvious, but many non-fiction books fail to do this—so kudos to the author and editor for thinking of this.) I found it useful to actually read these ending travel tips FIRST, and then go back and read the chapter details.

When planning your travel, figure out where you stand on the allocentrism-psychocentrism spectrum. This is a fancy term for the style of experience you want: outdoors hiking, or sitting by a pool reading a book. Travelers who embrace “psychocentrism” want structure—they want to escape and relax.

One funny section is called, “How Vacations Are like Colonoscopies.” The author cites an actual study that showed that people tend to remember certain things from their experiences. For example, how the trip ended up, or key events in the trip. The idea is, to plan ahead to make sure you set-up those experiences. (I’ve never replayed the highlights of a colonoscopy, or considered the procedure similar to a vacation experience, but I get the idea.)

My favorite section was, “The Art of the Staycation: How to Live Every Day like a Happy Traveler.” The author gives some ideas on how to use these same travel tips to make your everyday life like a great vacation. I never thought of this concept. Great idea!

Finally, I was delighted to discover an excellent roundup of all the concepts in this book. This is called, “The Twelve Rules for Happy Travel.”

1. More time away is not always better.
2. When planning a trip, map out how a typical day might look, from beginning to end.
3. Let the anticipation build. Planning and researching are part of the fun.
4. End on a high note. Craft a special last day or evening.
5. You bring yourself—your personality, anxieties, and habits—with you on your trip.
6. Anticipate the fact that no matter how beautiful or exciting the location, you will get used to it after a couple of days. Plan to vary your experiences.
7. Go deeper: get the backstory on the people you meet and places you visit.
8. Use technology selectively and with intention.
9. Traveling with others is intense. In the best and worst ways. Consider travel compatibility before booking.
10. Coming home can be shaped into a good thing.
11. Location matters less than your attitude in that location.
12. With attention and motivation, you can be a happy traveler even while at home.

So all in all, I thought THE HAPPY TRAVELER was a useful read, with some meaty ideas on how to improve my travel. I would have preferred less discussion of the academic research, but I understand why the author discusses the studies. Dr. Kurtz clearly understands this field, and proves it with the numerous studies cited. I am looking forward to reading her prior co-authored book on happiness: Positively Happy: Routes to Sustainable Happiness (The Positive Psychology Workbook Series)

Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travel can be anything but happy. "Remember you are still you". Plan at least parts of your trip to suit your personality and it will be a lot more enjoyable. A decent reminder of some common sense facts. I have travelled a fair bit and learned some of those facts the hard way. Plan ahead but do not over schedule. Slow down. Disconnect. Don't let technology crowd out your pleasure in the here and now. Focus. Savour. Go big. Go small. All true and reasonable advice. The advice to extend your trip before and after was probably the most useful to me. What do you most enjoy? Can you have some little bit of those experiences here at home ? Built in to your every day life? Yes, of course.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one vacation can be perfect for everyone!

What was fascinating was learning how personality types figure into how we all travel.
The discussion of whether we are Allocentric (Wanderers) vs. Psychocentric (Repeaters) - but most likely somewhere in between - skews our perception of places we travel to.

I definitely lean toward the allocentric part of the spectrum whereas my husband leans more towards the psychocentric side. Therefore, I will be much more mindful of how we plan our vacations by finding something that appeals to us both and not questioning why.

[Vanessa M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very helpful in regard to mentally and psychologically preparing for and understanding how to travel well. The author's tone is conversational and amicable.

[Nanci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay! Starting off 2019 with a 5 star book! This is a great book for anyone who travels or plans to travel. It's a guide to what makes any trip enjoyable and memorable. I could relate to much in the book, and also learned a bit about myself and what makes us feel the way we do about travel. I love that it's research based and not just opinion. So much truth in the 12 Rules for Happy Travel at the end of the book. I particularly like #2 "Location matter less than your attitude in that location." and #3 "You always pack yourself-your personality, anxieties, and habits-with you on your trip." Read this book and learn more about yourself, how to choose a travel partner, and how to increase the happiness factor of traveling before, during, and after your travel.

[Claudine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found a few nugget takeaways that will be useful to me in future travels:

- Beware the souvenir emotional pressure trap
- "Peak-end rule": make the last day great
- Let excitement build, "strategic distributed anticipation"
- Downside of bucket list: just ticking off experiences (can be devoid of meaning)
- Alternatives to snapping a photo: word-painting, sketching/painting

And I liked this phrase: "For some travelers, photography has become less about the place and more about oneself in this place, doing something remarkable for the world to see."

I skipped over a few of her personal anecdotes in order to get to the main points!

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book incorporates research to provide practical and useful tips for happy travel (and living in general). In my experience, most of the tips provided are spot on. I realized I do many of these things when planning travel but also learned a few things and was reminded of others. The book is incredibly wordy though. Each chapter could have easily said the same thing with 30% fewer words. If you find your self glazing over the examples, you can always jump to the end of the chapter for the TLDR version.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author gives psychological science explanations for happy travel. But if you already are able to plan travel you enjoy, her rules for happy travel seem obvious and intuitive and not what I would consider “secrets”: e.g. put time into planning, choose your travel partner wisely, be prepared for re-entry when you come home, etc.

[Dafni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read once you actually get into it. I found the latter half more compelling than the beginning, mostly framing daily life like travel. Jump to the list at the back if you want to use the book more as a reference.

For pondering your travel traits: extroversion, openness to experience, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness. Are you an allocentric or psychocentric tourist?

[Judi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very conversational tone with slews of (over-many?) personal references and sprinkled with mini-surveys to get you thinking. Also sprinkled with odd phrases that editors should have caught (e.g. ‘trying to remembering’). Overall, quick read but felt longer than necessary.

[Patience · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was difficult to get through because it felt like a dissertation. There were some great ideas and data that I will use to make my travels more valuable but I don't think I will read this one again.

[Trijntje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for me but I feel bad about that: I've been around the block enough that there wasn't anything here I didn't already know, and most of it seemed pretty obvious. However, perhaps I'm not the target audience. For those younger or newer to travel, there's a lot of good stuff here.

[Nathan Boler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tons of pop psychology combined with random travel stories and fun facts. I enjoyed it but a bit more wordy/conversational than what I was looking for.
Did I mention pop psychology?

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. I am really intrigued by the preemptive travel diary idea and may use it to makes some upcoming life decisions.

[MizzizTee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy Travels!

[Patricia Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really great insights here. I listened on audio on the plane to a long trip abroad and it put me in a great state of mind. I could see repeating it for each of my next trips!

[Kimia Shakery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not just about travel, this book helps you find happiness in your daily life.

[Alannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful book backed by plenty of research. I appreciated the inclusion of tips on how to translate these lessons into everyday life and not just during travel.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bring mindfulness to your travel. Savor and get into a flow. But never forget that you bring yourself with you when you travel.

[Holly Huppert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked how Jaime made this book part memoir and part scientific/studied research about travel. I understand my resistance to returning home after a trip from reading this book. #Recommend

[Alex]

DNF at 47 pages. Not what I was looking for.