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International Travel and Personal Happiness Page 1

International Travel and Personal Happiness


Kayla Roberts
Glen Allen High School

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Introduction
Traveling different areas of the globe has been a constant part of mankinds nature. From
going to conquer new land or escape religious persecution permanently, to today simply going
for a week to escape the stresses of everyday work life, the reasons for traveling are endless.
Before the 1400s, the only way to leave the country was on lengthy ship rides that would take
months and werent even guaranteed to make it to the desired destination (if that destination was
truly known). Since then, the world as it was known has done a complete turnaround and has
invented cars, planes, and cruise ships to get one to their location in under a day. Things like
safety and having not only an enjoyable time at the destination, but as well during the
transportation have been improved to amounts no one ever thought possible. Not only has
traveling been made to please ones emotional and physical characteristics, but recent studies
have also found that foreign experiences can increase cognitive flexibility and the ability to
integrate thought. As claims are made by some, and refuted by others, the common traveler is left
to wonder if there is a positive correlation between international traveling and personal
happiness.
What is Happiness?
The definition of happiness has two components: a hedonic and a eudaimonic one.
Hedonic is relating to or considered to in terms of pleasant or unpleasant sensations. Eudaimonic
focuses on meaning and self-realization and well-being is the degree to which a person is
fully functioning (Crivelli, Luca). Hedonic and Eudaimonic are the result of different processes.
Emotional reactions are responses to immediate situations, reflect unconscious motives, and are
short term. Life satisfaction ratings reflect long term perspectives of conscious goals. Carol Ryff
created a eudaimonic model of psychological well-being that states the six components are self-

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acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and
positive relations with others. Positive and negative affects reflect two systems: behavioral
activation system, which directs organisms to experiences that will generate pleasure, and the
behavioral inhibition system, which steers clear of situations that might have undesirable
consequences (Della Bella, Sarah). There are seven different dimensions of well-being: positive
affects and evaluations, negative affects and orientations, somatic disorders, Vitality/apathy/flow
state, Self-efficacy/pathway thinking/agency thinking, Physical and mental health, and
evaluations of life domains. These dimensions will help to evaluate if aspects of traveling
positively affect ones well-being.
Transportation
One of the most important aspects of traveling outside of the country is actually making
sure one gets there. In 1966, Clawson and Knetsch created the recreational experience theory
that details the five phases one experiences when internationally traveling. The stages are
anticipation, traveling to the destination, on-site experience, traveling from the destination, and
recollection. Matt Long, a Landloper (a wanderer/ adventurer as he calls it), wrote that
transportation is the stage most likely to cause stress during travel. The many processes before
and after transportation include booking flights or ships, arriving early to not miss the flights,
checking luggage, receiving the right luggage, and having a ride pick one up from the airport or
dock, are all on a very timely basis. Traveling obstacles, like delayed flights or missing planes,
can make those who do not travel frequently halt traveling altogether due to the idea that when
travels go bad, they go very bad (Matt Long). International transportation is also more
expensive and the prices fluctuate more rapidly than domestic trips (G. D. Paulin). The air fare
is typically about 2 to 3 times the price (G. D. Paulin). The three gear model, which is a model

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with one large wheel titled novelty and change motivations and two other wheels, labeled
happiness and travel distance, takes money in to account and describes that people have to
determine if the value of the novelty of the destination is worth the mobility (Pearce 2005).
The happiness loop demonstrates how the tourist experience theory is integrated with the concept
of happiness. Positive emotions of happiness are linked with not only on-site experience, but
expectations and recollection (Xin, Tribe, & Chambers). The traveling parts of the image are
outside of the loop because mobility alone is not a source of happiness. Mobility is described as a
necessary evil that tourists simply ignore to preserve their happiness. Failures in transportation
that have been on the news, like plane crashes or boats sinking, can also hold tourists, or those
wanting to travel to help others, back due to fear it could happen to them. A successful
transportation to the international destination with no obstacles leads is a gateway to happiness.
Immersing Oneself
Of course traveling to an exotic country, relaxing and having a drink is going to
boost ones happiness, but not for the long term. Adam Galinsky, a professor at Columbia
Business School, said the key, critical process is multicultural engagement, immersion, and
adaptation, meaning true happiness, is going to come from actually getting involved in the
culture of the international country. For instance, Brent Crane gave the example that going to
Cancun for spring break probably wont make a person any more creative, but going to Cancun
and living with local fishermen might. In Aziz Abu Sarahs Ted Talk he paralleled this idea by
saying tourists need to actually connect with the natives instead of just taking pictures of them
in order to erode decades of hate. When people actually get to know the natives, they can expand
their knowledge of other cultures and countries and see different perspectives. The barriers can
be broken and friendships can be made. Charles B Craver, a professor at the George Washington

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University Law School wrote about how to have a positive interaction with a culture outside of
the United States. The first step is learning about the opponent's culture, and appreciating the
differences between them. This culture consists of social phenomena like beliefs, ideas,
language, and customs. These ideals combine in a culture to make a certain image of what the
societal group values and they influence the way a group communicates with each other.
Americans are prone to national stereotype, and when dealing with foreigners who do not
conform to the anticipated stereotype, the tendency to ignore their individual traits and search for
the conformity is still there. Craver goes to discuss all kinds of cultural differences between
America and different countries, like punctuality, spatial distance, and low and high context
language patterns. America and England tend to value individual independence over group
cohesiveness, while other countries may have a collective orientation. The individualists tend to
feel more comfortable with overt displays of power, while the collectivists cultures will feel
confronted and the relationship will be negatively impacted. Individuals from lower socioeconomic cultures tend to be intimidated when they interact with persons from wealthy cultures.
Americans need to take the time to learn more about the national histories and cultures of those
persons and accept generosity of other cultures, while not seeming greedy. Young adults who
have trouble finding their independence can be helped by being exposed to a new culture.
Americans have grown up not having to worry at all about day to day needs like clean water, a
roof over their head, or enough food to eat (this does not include everybody, but it is the majority
compared to third world countries). Americans are preoccupied with having the latest brand of
clothes or cell phone and tablet. Pure Life by Aspiro goes to say that exposing one to cultures
where these "needs" are meaningless can allow one to reassess their priorities. Putting young
adults in environments where they have to work hard to get everything they have is a great way

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to help their sense of entitlement. Working on basic tasks with natives can lead one to explore
and strengthen their core values, while gaining a deeper appreciation for the simple life. Helping
others allows one to help themselves by developing empathy and compassion. Immersing oneself
into a cultural and not just traveling without speaking to anybody gives one a greater sense of
meaning in their own life. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, a professor at the University of
Southern California wrote that cross cultural experiences have the potential to strengthen a
persons sense of self. When people pull themselves out of their own cultural bubbles, they can
increase their connections with people from different backgrounds.
Conclusion
As Mark Twain once wrote Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and
narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these
accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be
acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
This quote claims that the ones who may judge international traveling are
typically the ones who have never left their hometown. I am left to believe
my thesis is successful transportation and becoming completely immersed in
a culture of an international country increases happiness.
Works Cited
Crane, Brent. (March 31, 2015). For a More Creative Brain, Travel. The Atlantic.
Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/03/for-a-more-creativebrain-travel/388135/.

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Craver, Charles B. (May 2011). THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON TRANSNATIONAL
INTERACTIONS. The Negotiator Magazine, 1559-9116. Retrieved from
http://negotiatormagazine.com/articles/AR201105101.php
Crivelli, Luca, Della Bella, Sarah, & Lucchini, Mario. (2016). Multidimensional Well-being in
Contemporary Europe: An Analysis of the Use of a Self-organizing Map Applied To
Share Data. World Happiness Report 2016 | Special Rome Edition. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fworldhappiness.report%2Fwpcontent%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2016%2F03%2FHR-V2Ch5_web.pdf
Long, Matt. (February 3, 2016). Unpredictability of Travel- Broken Elevators and Hard
Days. Landlopers- Not your ordinary travel website. Retrieved from
http://landlopers.com/2016/02/03/unpredictability-travel-broken-elevators
Nawijn, Jeroen, Peeters, Paul M., & Ram, Yael. (09 Sep 2013). Happiness and limits to
sustainable tourism mobility: a new conceptual model. Journal of Sustainable Tourism,
21, 10171035. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2013.826233.
Paulin, G. D. (2015). Travel expenditures, 2005-2013: domestic and international patterns in
recession and recovery. Monthly Labor Review, 1. Retrieved from
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/travel-expenditures-2005-2013-domestic-andinternational-patterns-in-recession-and-recovery.htm
Pearce. (2005). 3 Gear Model of Unsustainable Tourist Behavior. Journal of Sustainable

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Tourism. Retrieved from
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2013.826233.Pearce, D.G. (2008). A needsfunctions model of tourism distribution. Annals of Tourism Research, 35(1), 148168
Pure Life by Aspiro Team. (March 24, 2015).Failure to Launch: Cultural Immersion in Third
World Countries Can Help Young Adults Living at Home. Pure Life by Aspiro. Retrieved
From

https://purelifeadventure.com/blog/failure-to-launch-cultural-immersion-in-third-world-

countries/
RECENT NBER RESEARCH, NEWS, AND PRESS CITATIONS. (March 17, 2016). The
Happiness of Nations. The National Bureau of Economic Research, volume number
(issue number if available). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Sarah, Aziz Abu. (2014, March). For More Tolerance We Need More. Tourism? [Video file].
Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/aziz_abu_sarah_for_more_tolerance_we_need_more_tourism
Xin, Tribe, & Chambers. (2013). The Happiness Loop. Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2013.826233.

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