People are prioritizing travel above getting married and having children when it comes to the most important thing to do in the next five years, according to a recent study by British mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse.
The study of British adults, conducted in conjunction with clinical psychologist and personal performance coach Dr. Joshua C. Klapow and clinical psychologist Dr. Perpetua Neo, found that only buying a house is considered a more important life event than traveling.
What's more, 63 percent of people indicated that travel makes them happier. Of the eight key life events that Carphone Warehouse compared, only marriage (72 percent) ranked better for happiness.
Travel ranks the best for boosting self-esteem, with 45 percent of respondents saying it makes them feel better about themselves. It even tops getting a promotion (42 percent) and moving out of a parental home (36 percent).
The study also found that travel is the least taxing major life event in terms of raising stress levels (6 percent) and loss of sleep (5 percent). Breaking up (36 percent) and having children (46 percent) were found to be the worst in terms of increased stress and losing sleep, respectively.
Interestingly, only getting a promotion (3 percent) fares better than travel (8 percent) when it comes to the financial burden, with buying a home (37 percent) leading the way in that category.
To recap, traveling makes a majority of people happier and feel better about themselves without dramatically increasing their stress, causing loss of sleep or adding significant financial burden when compared to most other major life events.
"The Internet has opened up the world to us. It has given us a glimpse into other cultures, and the desire and ability to travel, at varying levels of income, has increased," said Klapow in a statement. "We're considering opportunities for travel and exploration more so than in the past."
More than one in six Britons indicated that their motivation for traveling is to experience something new while almost one-fourth anticipate making new friends on a trip.
Despite the benefits of travel, Allianz Global Assistance's 11th annual Vacation Confidence Index turned in some head-turning findings, including that half of Americans would choose a higher paying job over vacation time and that more than one-third of Americans haven't taken a vacation in over two years even though there are key advantages to be gained.
If Carphone Warehouse's data is any indication, an extended break from work to see more of the world could do Americans some good.
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