1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,280 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and Julie Douglas. Julie, you're 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: looking forward to vacation. I am. I love a good vacation. 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: To good vacation, you know, just really really recharges you. Yeah, 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: and I've been thinking about I mean, it's only May 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: right in my My vacation is not until July, and 8 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:33,559 Speaker 1: I like every couple of days, I just sit there 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: and think, yes, one day I will be going on 10 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,480 Speaker 1: you vacation. Now, A lot of people don't know this, 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: but compulsory vacation in the United States was almost a thing. 12 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: Uh William Howard taft In he proposed giving American workers 13 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: two to three months of vacation every year. Can you imagine? 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: I really cannot imagine how that would work, but it 15 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: would get speaking from the vantage point of today's modern 16 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: vacation adverse culture, Yeah, particularly in the United States. You 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: hear that, you know, two to three months in nineteen ten, 18 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: and you sort of wonder what Americans would be like 19 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: if they had that today, how that would change the culture. Um, 20 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: of course this brings up this idea of a rather 21 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: question when did humans start vacationing in earnest And we 22 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: can't say, uh, this exact date, we can't point to it. 23 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: But we have a couple of clues because, according to 24 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: psychologist Jessica to Bloom, ancient hieroglyphic graffiti found engraved into 25 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: the walls of the Pyramid of Jos their state quote 26 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: Hand and his brother have been here to make an 27 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: excursion and enjoy Memphis. These hieroglyphics date back to two 28 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: thousand years ago. I'm picturing Uma with their Rick Steve's 29 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: travel backpacks standing in ancient Egypt. I love that they 30 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: just put a little graffiti to pyramid, like, you know, 31 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: a sort of Julie was here, Robert was here. I 32 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: was like, hey, we were here, we were visiting from Memphis. 33 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: That was a vacation blogging of the day, indeed, very 34 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: short and to the point. Uh. The etymological origin of 35 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: the word vacation also dates back to the time of 36 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: the Roman Empire and stems from the Latin word of 37 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: the kato, which means being free from being at leisure, 38 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: having time for and Yet it wasn't until the twentieth 39 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: century that some nations began to recognize and institutionalize vacations. 40 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: All right, So where are we now in terms of 41 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: vacation appreciation and the vacation deprivation. Well, there's a two 42 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: thousand thirteen survey that came out that was handled by 43 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: Expedient and they looked at different countries, different cultures to see, 44 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: all right, who's who's really maxing out on their available vacation, 45 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: who's pulling back, who has the most available, etcetera. And 46 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: they found that the average Japanese worker gets thirteen days 47 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: off each year but only takes five UM on the end. Uh. 48 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: In a similar vein South Koreans UH get an average 49 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: of nineteen days off but only takes seven. So that's 50 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: kind of like the low end of of taking advantage 51 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: of your vacation in the modern world. Uh. Here in America, 52 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: Americans tend to get twelve days off a year on average. 53 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: Uh they'll take tenidate again on average, while Mexicans get 54 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: fourteen days of vacation and only take keen. So we 55 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: haven't really hit in upon any of the real vacation 56 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: levers yet. For that, by and large, you have to 57 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: go to Europe because Europeans in general tend to score 58 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: twenty five to thirty vacation days a year um, and 59 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: among the European nations, the French and Spanish tend to 60 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: take the full thirty available to them. Germans tend to 61 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: take only twenty eight. And for another high vacation country, 62 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: you have to travel across the ocean to Brazil, where 63 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: they follow suit and generally take the full three. Wow, 64 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: that's very leisurely beautiful. Top of the spectrum Brazil, Spain, 65 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: France and Germany, bottom South Korea and Japan. Now I 66 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: know we alluded to this, but the US is the 67 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: only advanced economy with no national vacation policy, and one 68 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,799 Speaker 1: in four workers have no paid vacation at all, which 69 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: makes you wonder, are we just really addicted and obsessed 70 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: with work or is the structure just not there to 71 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: support vacationing well. Americans tend to put more hours in 72 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 1: during so called leisure hours at night and on weekends, 73 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: pointing to this idea that we might be sort of 74 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: addicted to our work. And economists Don hammer Mesh and 75 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: Elena san Connelli published their findings on American work habits 76 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: in two thousand and fourteen, and they found that in 77 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: a typical weeknight, a quarter of US employees did some 78 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: kind of work between ten at night and six in 79 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: the morning. Wow. Yeah, it seems very hardcore. And on 80 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: the weekends, one in three workers in the u US 81 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: we're on the job. Now, you can compare that to 82 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: one in five in France, Germany in the Netherlands. So 83 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: what happens when you take these hard working Americans and 84 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: you strong arm them into something called deliberate periodic rest, Well, 85 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: they don't like it. And we know this because there's 86 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: a four year study by Leslie Purlow of the Harvard 87 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: Business School and her colleagues who tracked the work habits 88 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: of employees at the Boston Consulting Group. And in one experiment, 89 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: each of five consultants on a team took a break 90 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: from work one day a week. That's kind of a 91 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: big deal, right, Um, that's that's a significant chunk of 92 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,119 Speaker 1: your work week. And then in a second experiment, every 93 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,159 Speaker 1: member of a team scheduled one weekly night of uninterrupted 94 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: personal time, even though they were accustomed to working from 95 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: home in the evening, so not even checking your email, right, 96 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: So understandably, people in this experiment they felt a little 97 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: bit annoyed by this, right, because their routines had been 98 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: disrupted and they felt like they might get behind or 99 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: they would be out of the loop. And this is 100 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: the thing though, After five months, employees experimenting with deliberate 101 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,479 Speaker 1: periodic rest were more satisfied with their jobs, more likely 102 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: to envision a long term future of the company, and 103 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 1: more content with their work, left balance and prouder of 104 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: their accomplishments. They just had to have it forced upon them, 105 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: like essentially tazed in the hallway and their their work 106 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: email removed from their phone exactly, and it's like her, 107 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: now now you must rest, mandatory rest. But this mandatory 108 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: rust really helped them to reset their minds. And in 109 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: order to do that, you have to get to something 110 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:43,159 Speaker 1: called the default mode network. Yeah, the default mode network. 111 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: And we've talked about this before in previous podcasts. I 112 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: think it came up especially during the scientists in the 113 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: Shaman episodes. We did uh dealing with the psychedelics, But 114 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: essentially it boils down to this the stream of human consciouness. Right, 115 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: that's the analogy we tend to to to use. But 116 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: if we were to use the more fluid dynamic e term, 117 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: it's not a single stream, but it's more like an 118 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: elaborate convergence of currents and bodies. Then, even when we're resting, 119 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: there's a lot of activity going on. Uh. In fact, 120 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: we've known since the early twentieth century that there's actually 121 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: a considerable amount of activity in the resting brain. Now, granted, 122 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: a lot of that is simply your brain maintaining unconscious 123 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: control of the of the body spaceship, but a lot 124 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: of stuff is going on under the hood. Um, go 125 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: back to that's when a team of neuroscientists led by 126 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: Marcus Roushell of Washington University in St. Louis discovered that 127 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: the brain constantly demands of all the energy the body produces. 128 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: And if you really need to put your thinking cap 129 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: on for something, you know, to do your taxes or 130 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 1: you know, try and figure out what the tip is 131 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: that at a restaurant, Um anything math for me? I 132 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: guess um, you're only gonna add five on top of that. 133 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: It's kind of like looking into the process the section 134 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: of the window task manager, right, you suddenly see all 135 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: these different things going on, and you're wondering, well, what's 136 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: using all of the resources of the computer. Well, um. 137 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: In this research, they also noted that a certain set 138 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: of scattered brain regions quieted down during serious contemplation. So 139 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: you're put on the thinking cap and these sections go quiet, 140 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: but then they crank back up when the patient's mind 141 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: is just idly wandering and daydreaming. Uh. And they were 142 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: engaged in coordinated communication with one another, So scientists can 143 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: to label this day dreaming chatter as the default mode network, 144 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: though we now know that it's just one of at 145 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: least five different resting state networks that are involved in vision, hearing, movement, attention, 146 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: and memory. So it's in this state that you know, 147 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,199 Speaker 1: on a good day, you're you know, you're setting there, 148 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 1: you're just thinking idly. Your thoughts are kind of doing 149 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: their own thing, and you're you know, thinking about something 150 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: you're excited about in the future. You're thinking about, you know, 151 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: some pleasant memory in the past or something you saw 152 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: on TV. Right general, you know, mundane or ales and stuff. 153 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: But then also on a bad day, this is where 154 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: the brain is gnawing on itself, right, you're worrying over work, stress, 155 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: You're it's bashing us in the face with embarrassing or 156 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: or downright traumatic memories. From the past. So it's a 157 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: place of introspection, place of depressive thoughts and uh, it's 158 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: a place of endless ego at tinkering with the story 159 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: narrative that we build around our lives. And one of 160 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: the reasons why it's so important to recharge and to 161 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: try to to get into that default mode network in 162 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: a positive way is because that's when you do that 163 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: sort of mind wandering again. And you would pointed out 164 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: your mind is going to take up twenty percent of 165 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: resources no matter what it's doing, right, so if you're 166 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: meditating or if you're taking a test, maybe test, but 167 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: so you when you get into the default mode network 168 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: and you allow the mind chatter too dim and just 169 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: kind of meander, well, that's when you get some really 170 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: good stuff going on. And this is from Fairesh Chabra 171 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: from Scientific American and his article why your brain needs 172 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:07,559 Speaker 1: more downtime. He says, while mind wandering, we replay conversations 173 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: that we had earlier that day, rewriting our verbal blenders 174 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: as a way of learning to avoid them in the future. 175 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: So it's kind of a safe space, um to revisit 176 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: some of those and not in a negative way. We 177 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,160 Speaker 1: shuffle through all those neglected mental post it notes listing 178 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 1: half finished projects, and we moll over the aspects of 179 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: our lives with which we are most dissatisfied, searching for solutions. 180 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: We sink into scenes from childhood and catapult ourselves into 181 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: different hypothetical futures, and we subject ourselves to a kind 182 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: of moral performance review, questioning how we have treated others lately. 183 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: These moments of introspection are also one way we form 184 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: a sense of self, which is essentially a story we 185 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: continually tell ourselves. So that's one of the reasons why 186 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: we have to have that time away from our work, 187 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: so that our brains can actually dwell on solutions, dwell 188 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: on how who improve ourselves, and also create a better 189 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: sense of self. And to illustrate this point that our 190 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,559 Speaker 1: brains need to take advantage of every bit of downtime 191 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: that they can get, consider this two thousand and twelve 192 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: study about blinking. I feel like I've been talking about 193 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: blinking a lot lately. It's from to Mommy Nicano of 194 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: Osaka University, who recorded electrical impulses in people's brains as 195 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: they watched clips of British comedian Missed Being and you 196 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: found that the brain can engage in the default mode 197 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: network and the blink of an eye literally when you 198 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: blink your eyes, the default mode network comes alive. And uh, 199 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 1: the idea is that the brain is trying to catch 200 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: its breath, even if it's just for that the fraction 201 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: of a second and blinking. And so when you think 202 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: about vacation, it turns out that it's just the right 203 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 1: kind of distraction for the default mode network, and it's 204 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: really kind of like an extended blink for the mind. 205 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: I can also see though, with if someone as a 206 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: particularly busy brain, they might they it might almost be 207 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:07,080 Speaker 1: a little apprehensive about going on the vacation because it 208 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: brings to mind just setting on the beach, like next 209 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: to your brain in a beach chair, and your brain 210 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: is just like, hey, what's up, let's talk about about stuff. 211 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: You know, it's like a fight right now. I'm trying 212 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: to relax here. I don't want to talk about stuff 213 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: all right. So what are some of the general benefits 214 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: of vacation. Some of these are no brainers, no pun intended, 215 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: but but just to roll through them. Uh, vacations revitalize 216 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: our mind and body by distancing us from our job 217 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: related stress. Um. I with a few times that I've 218 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: traveled essentially to the other side of the planet. I 219 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,200 Speaker 1: like to think of it in terms of I'm actually 220 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,199 Speaker 1: placing the center of the Earth between me and anything 221 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: that could conceivably stress me out, you know, So it's 222 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: like a nice earth barrier there. Um. Also, vacations allow 223 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 1: us to drop into a new place, a new culture, 224 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: surrounded by new people, new set of experiences, and a 225 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: new environment for our mind to chew over. So suddenly 226 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: you have all of this brand new stuff, be it 227 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: you know, pleasant brand new stuff like the wonderful tourist 228 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: attraction you're at, or the more negative stuff like the 229 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,719 Speaker 1: tourists that are with you at the tourist attraction that 230 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: you've been looking forward to. Uh. And of course all 231 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: the newness can generate new ideas and thoughts. And we 232 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: also tend to kick forced concentration to the curb side, 233 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: so by and larger going on vacation, there's not gonna 234 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: be any crunch time. We're like, all right, I really 235 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: got to figure this out, unless it's you know, getting 236 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: around town in a far in metropolis. And finally, when 237 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: you go on vacation, hopefully, hopefully you can get a 238 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: decent night's sleep and maybe grab a nap or two. 239 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 1: That's what I was thinking, the allusive sleep that we 240 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: all are pursuing. You finally get a taste of that, 241 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: and that makes such a big difference. Let's take a 242 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,720 Speaker 1: quick break and when we get back, we'll talk about 243 00:13:55,760 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: something called time poverty. All right, we're back. Yes, we're 244 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 1: talking about vacation and now time poverty, which actually doesn't 245 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: have anything to do with doctor who Nope. Ever since 246 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:18,559 Speaker 1: the clock was first used to synchronize labor in the 247 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, time has been understood in relation to money. 248 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: So we started to put time into three different buckets. 249 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: Here we have the wasting, the saving, and the using. 250 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: And as the industrial revolution gave way to the technological revolution, 251 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 1: we've seen a decrease in the amount of time it 252 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: takes to do things. So just even the most wrote 253 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: things like doing your laundry or getting from you know, 254 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: place A to B, none of this stuff is quite 255 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: as involved as it used to be. And so as 256 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: a result, paradoxically, we have more time on our hands, 257 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: and yet we feel as though we don't have enough time. 258 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: And part of that is because we keep cramming it 259 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: with stuff to do, because there's this idea of at, uh, 260 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: the more time you have, the more you should jam 261 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: in some work because time is money. Yeah, I mean 262 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,520 Speaker 1: is interesting to think about, how you know often you'll 263 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: find yourself in a situation where you did an hour's 264 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: worth of work and you washed all the clothes in 265 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,280 Speaker 1: the house. And these two things were for the longest 266 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: stretch of human history, um could not be done at 267 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: the same time. Right. You ate food that you didn't 268 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: have to grow right and harvest um. So this idea 269 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: this time is money, we don't have enough of it 270 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: is a concept known as time poverty. And in the 271 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: article by Jenny Dearborn Why is Everyone so Busy? In 272 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: The Economist, she says, quote, this makes time, that frustratingly finite, 273 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:45,840 Speaker 1: unrenewable resource, feel more precious. And as a result of time, 274 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: or rather a lack of it, it becomes this kind 275 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: of status symbol. And she says that Daniel Hemmermash, who 276 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, calls this a yuppie cavetch. This ethos 277 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,080 Speaker 1: that busier is better. And if you look at an 278 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: analysis of international time stress data, Hammermish found that complaints 279 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: about insufficient time come disproportionately from well off families, even 280 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: after he controlled for holding constant hours spent working at 281 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: jobs at at the home. So the bigger the paycheck, 282 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: the more anxiety there was about time in this kind 283 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: of time poverty communication about it moreover. A two thousand 284 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: and eleven pull from Gallop concluded quote, the more cash 285 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: rich working Americans are, the more time poor they feel. 286 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: And it's this kind of it almost kind of builds 287 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: into this work macho is m And the Harvard Business 288 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: Review had an interesting article about this, and it's called 289 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: extreme Jobs Societea that really high performing people in very 290 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: lucrative jobs are these warriors and they're putting, you know, 291 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: seventy plus hours of work per week in and in 292 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: the article they say it's like they're trying to prove 293 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: their worth. It's akin to going up against the elements. Yeah, 294 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: I mean it sounds in more extreme cases, less like 295 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: work macho is um and more like work masochism. You know, 296 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: as if you're trying to tell your employer, look at me, 297 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: I hate myself. This is the kind of employer you 298 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 1: want on your team, because I would just bleed all 299 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: over the place for you. Yeah, I will cancel my vacations. 300 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: I'll only take half of my vacation days. And we 301 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: mentioned all this because we want to try to set 302 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: up the conditions that are here, the corporate culture that's 303 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: at play, that doesn't say, hey, please take a boatload 304 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: of vacation days. And then this kind of warrior perception 305 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:51,120 Speaker 1: of people who are um over compensating, maybe overworking their hours. 306 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 1: So then the question becomes, well, what happens when we 307 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: finally get to take a vacation, well leading up to it, 308 00:17:57,960 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: and that's that's a big thing too, is there's the 309 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: lead up to the vacation, the launch towards the vacation 310 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,439 Speaker 1: and uh, and it affects the way that we perceive time. 311 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: The easy analogy here is do you think back to 312 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: you when you were a kid, right, and you're in 313 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: the lead up to Christmas and it just seems to 314 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: take forever and ever because it's the thing you want 315 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: most in the world, right, Um, But when you of course, 316 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: when you're grown up, it's just another two months between uh, 317 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: you know, between Halloween and in Christmas. But vacation is 318 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: kind of the adult version of this. Uh you know, 319 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: you have this this destination in time that you're looking 320 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: forward to. But it's not just the temporal distance here, 321 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: but also the geographic distance that plays into all of this. Uh. 322 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: There's a two thousand and twelve study that was publishing 323 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: the Journal of Consumer Research, and they actually found that 324 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: consumer decision making is affected by the relationship between time 325 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,880 Speaker 1: and spatial distance. So in the study, the authors asked 326 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: test savors to imagine visiting a post office today and 327 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,959 Speaker 1: a bookstore three months from now. Okay now. Sometimes, depending 328 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: on on the test study, sometimes the distance between these 329 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,640 Speaker 1: two places is short, Okay, the bookstorce is right around 330 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 1: the corner. Other times it's a longer distance. Maybe the 331 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: bookstore is across town or in another city, another state. 332 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,440 Speaker 1: So the greater the distance between you and your vacation destination, uh, 333 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 1: then the longer it seems to take, the slower time 334 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: seems to pass between now and then. And in the 335 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 1: same study, they also found that test subjects who imagined 336 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 1: retiring far away, uh, you know, retiring down in Florida 337 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,879 Speaker 1: when you're living up in Minnesota. Uh, they felt like 338 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: the retirement was also further away in time. So the 339 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: key here for the purposes of the study. Of course 340 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,719 Speaker 1: we're business related and that spatial distances can change your 341 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: perception of future time and make you impatient. Uh. But 342 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: the breakdown for vacation is pretty clear. The more of 343 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: a destination vacation you have planned, the more it's going 344 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: to cause the time leading up to it to track. 345 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: So that that's a bit of a bummer, right, because 346 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: you're really side of let's say that you're going to 347 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: China and we we're here in Atlanta, so you're that's 348 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: that's quite a distance. So you're sitting there kind of 349 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 1: nailbodding for you know, a couple of months waiting for 350 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: that moment. But then again, um, you get to experience 351 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: life longer, like maybe you actually live a little longer 352 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: by stretching it out. I don't know, that's nice. No. Um, 353 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 1: the same sort of mind time happens while you're taking 354 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,719 Speaker 1: vacation and then when you reflect on that vacation afterward. 355 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,959 Speaker 1: So again, when we talk about time, we usually think 356 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: about it in more linear terms and and highly strettured, right, 357 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: But in on side of our minds, it becomes a 358 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 1: bit of a jumble. Um. And this is something that's 359 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: psychologist and BBC broadcaster Claudia Hammond examined. She calls this 360 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: the holiday paradox. In her book Time Work, she writes, 361 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,199 Speaker 1: quote that the paradox is the contradictory feeling that a 362 00:20:55,320 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: good holiday or vacation for US Americans whizzes by. Yeah, 363 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: it feels long when you look back. And she says 364 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: the reason for this is that, say, in any given 365 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:10,119 Speaker 1: time period, maybe two weeks um, the average person would 366 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: accumulate something like six to nine new memories because so 367 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,360 Speaker 1: much of what we do is routine. Is routine, right, 368 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,680 Speaker 1: is the wrote stuff that we do day after day. Um, 369 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: there's not much out of the ordinary. But she said 370 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: that on vacation we can build up that number of 371 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: memories in a single day because everything we experience is new, 372 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: meaning that when we look back it will seem to 373 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: have lasted much longer than it really did. And so 374 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: that's where you get this fast, slow paradox. While you're 375 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: experiencing the vacation in a new place, it all feels 376 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: like it's whizzing by. But then afterwards you get to 377 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: linger on all those new memories that are made. And 378 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: if you think of yourself and your brain is this uh, 379 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: is it just a collection of memories. Not taking vacation 380 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 1: or not being able to take vacation. Uh, you're really 381 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: short changing yourself. You're short changing this flood of memories 382 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: that makes up who you are. Well, that is exactly 383 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: what Farish Chabre was touching on in that Scientific American 384 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: article when he said that that mind wandering, those moments 385 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: of introspection are one way that we form a sense 386 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:26,160 Speaker 1: of self. So you're right, you're you're shortcutting yourself out 387 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: of these moments that really add to, uh, this sort 388 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:36,120 Speaker 1: of dictionary of self, this reference book of self. Now 389 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: to return to that that lead up to vacation, right, 390 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: the months and months that that occur before you actually 391 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,159 Speaker 1: get to take the trip. Uh, there's some interesting a 392 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,400 Speaker 1: science surrounding the idea that fantasizing about vacation can lead 393 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,560 Speaker 1: to poor decisions. And of course we all fantasize about vacations. Uh. 394 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: And then they're kind of two levels. Right, there's like 395 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: the early stage where you think, hey, maybe I should 396 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: go to Hawaii. What would that be would be? What 397 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,880 Speaker 1: would that be like? Without thinking about how much it's 398 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: gonna cost or how I'm gonna get there, or when 399 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: it's gonna work best for my work schedule, that sort 400 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: of thing. And then there's when you actually boil down 401 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 1: to it and start start weighing the pros and the 402 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:13,919 Speaker 1: cons right and saying, all right, you know, how much 403 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: is it gonna cost? How long can I stay? What 404 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: am I going to do when I get there? Well? 405 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 1: A two thousand twelve study by New York University's Heather Cappies, 406 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, looked into this, uh, 407 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: looking at how positive fantasies such as a vacation influence 408 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 1: the decision making process. Because these fantasies are powerful, right, 409 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: they keep us going in those months leading up to 410 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: the vacation, but they also can influence our behavior in 411 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: the present. So in the study, she asked people to 412 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: imagine a particular future about one of three topics, wearing glamorous, 413 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: high heeled shoes, making making money in the stock market, 414 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: and taking a vacation, okay and so, and then she 415 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 1: prompted people to think about how great they would be, 416 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: just to make sure they're putting a positive spin about 417 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: it in their minds. Okay, you know, just imagine how 418 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:05,640 Speaker 1: wonderful those shoes are. Gonna look, or how much money 419 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: you're gonna win the stock market, or how great this 420 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,600 Speaker 1: vacation is going to be. But then there's a control 421 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: group as well that she said, but would it really 422 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,880 Speaker 1: be that great? Would the vacation only be that great 423 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: with the shoes be a little uncomfortable, etcetera. So they're 424 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,640 Speaker 1: inserting some doubt there, yea, to make sure that there's 425 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: a control group that's thinking about these things in a 426 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 1: in a less than positive way. Then after all this, 427 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 1: everyone was presented with material on the pros and cons 428 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,400 Speaker 1: of these future events. So, you know, like a pamphlet 429 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:34,679 Speaker 1: about the wonders of high heeled shoes, and a pamphlet 430 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: about the the the pain of high hilled shoes, that 431 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,360 Speaker 1: sort of thing. Pamplet about how great this vacation destination 432 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: is and one about how it sucks. So for each topic, 433 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: imagining the idealized positive version made people prefer to learn 434 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: about the pros rather than the cons of the future event, 435 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,680 Speaker 1: especially if they were not seriously considering doing it. So 436 00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: the idea here is that when we actually boil down 437 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,199 Speaker 1: and decide yes, I'm going, that's when we tend to 438 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: actually weigh the pros and cons more evenly. But in 439 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: that fantasy zone, Uh, that's leading up to the serious zone. Uh, 440 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: We're we're going to be more inclined to just focus 441 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: on the positives. But the risk here is that in 442 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 1: that fantasy period, you end up a skewing your results 443 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: towards towards the positives, and then that's going to affect 444 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 1: your supposedly unbiased exploration of the pros and cons when 445 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 1: you're planning the vacation. So this is the reason why 446 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 1: I made the decision early on when my husband and 447 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:39,719 Speaker 1: I went to Belize to engage in this, uh, this 448 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: escapade of climbing a Mayan ruin. But I don't know 449 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: how many hundreds of feet tall it was, but it 450 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: was incredibly steep. And while I was doing it in 451 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,800 Speaker 1: the degree heat and looking down because I have a 452 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: fear of heights. Uh, I was wondering why I have 453 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: made this choice? Yeah, right, pssibly, because I hadn't really 454 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,680 Speaker 1: pondered it long enough and it seems like a really romantic, 455 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: wonderful thing to do while I was planning the trip. Yeah, 456 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:09,959 Speaker 1: you end up just focusing on the pros and then 457 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: when you actually start start weighing the pros and cons, 458 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 1: you're still waiting towards those pros, so that kind of 459 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: gets us towards this category of travel called adventure vacations. 460 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 1: Adventure can be anything from I don't know, like writing 461 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: atop a dolphin, which I don't recommend, um, you know, 462 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: to some of the more risky stuff like helicopter skiing. 463 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 1: Do you know if us where you're on a helicopter 464 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 1: and it takes you to the top of the mountain 465 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,680 Speaker 1: and then you jump off the helicopter and ski down 466 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: the mountain. It sounds like a great idea before and 467 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: this may be because some of those people are neophiliacs. 468 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: We've talked about these people before. They possess a migration 469 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: gene a d N, a mutation that occurred about fifty 470 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: thousand years ago as humans were dispersing from Africa around 471 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:00,880 Speaker 1: the world. And just according to row Robert Moyses, who 472 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: was a biochemist at the University of California at Irvine, 473 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,919 Speaker 1: and he says that these genetic variations affect the brain's 474 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: regulation of dopamine. So this is that neurotransmitter that helps 475 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 1: to process rewards and new stimuli, and variations have been 476 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: linked to faster reaction times a d h D and 477 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: a higher pension for novelty seeking and risk taking, which 478 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: is why some people may instead of seeking out a beach, 479 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:33,440 Speaker 1: seek out, say tornado chasing um actually taking vacation time 480 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: and chasing a tornado down. And that's because you do 481 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:42,160 Speaker 1: have these these different reactions to dopamine into new stimuli. 482 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: But it's also because fear provoking situations can put us 483 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: in a state of mental clarity. And that's also really 484 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,320 Speaker 1: interesting for our memories because that sort of mental clarity 485 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:56,400 Speaker 1: means that we can commit those memories in a way 486 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: that feel really fresh and interesting. So you take that 487 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,200 Speaker 1: risky vacation and you chase after that tornado, and later 488 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:06,520 Speaker 1: on you revisit that material as if it's fresh and new. 489 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: And that's because a type of protein within the cell 490 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,919 Speaker 1: walls of neurons called alpha two receptors respond to the 491 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 1: release of nora adrenaline and they act to increase neural efficiency, 492 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: and so then you have a boost of activity in 493 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: your prefrontal cortex. Your prefrontal cortex, as we know, is 494 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: kind of like the referee of your emotions and your memories, 495 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,399 Speaker 1: and so the net net effect is that is that 496 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: you're you're kept on target, You're kind of have this 497 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 1: zen mental clarity, and you've got the reward system amped up. Yeah. 498 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: I feel like we probably all have acquaintances like that 499 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: who tend to go for the adventure vacations. Um, there's 500 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: one guy I know, and I'll see him posting on 501 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: Facebook and he'll post stuff like I partied in the 502 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: most dangerous city in South America last night, and which 503 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: is great for him, but inside I'm also thinking, why 504 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: would you do that? Why would why would that be 505 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,640 Speaker 1: your vacation? But he's got the gene. What can you say? 506 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: Can't help it. So we've mentioned already people tend to 507 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: return from vacations relax and renewed, right, And according to 508 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: Terry Hearted, an environmental psychologist at Solo University in Sweden, 509 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: we tend to spread those viral vibes to everyone we 510 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: come into contact with when we get back. Um, this 511 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: is his take on it, called a collective restoration. So 512 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: you kind of Greg comes back from his vacation. Normally 513 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: Greg's a bit uh get bit anxious at work, you know, 514 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: but he comes back, he's refreshed, he's renewed. And then 515 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: all the people Greg interacts with, he kind of spreads 516 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: a little bit of vacation vibe to them, and so 517 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: it spirals out into a more pleasant workplace environment for everybody. Right, 518 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: So that's his theory. He decided to put it to 519 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: a test. A Heartig did so. He studied monthly antidepressant 520 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: prescriptions in Sweden between and two thousand five, and he 521 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: found that the more people that were taking vacations at 522 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: a given time, the more prescriptions dropped exponentially. So overall 523 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: some was the happiest time. Uh So, low prescript prescription 524 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: rate and in high vacation rate, and do in part 525 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 1: perhaps because Swedish law has mandated that every worker have 526 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: five weeks of paid vacation every year since nineteen seventy seven. 527 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 1: And on top of that, workers can take four consecutive 528 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: weeks off during the summer, so that tends to be 529 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: when people take advantage of the of the policy. Now 530 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: you think about that, the fact that depression costs the U. 531 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: S economy and estimated twenty three billion dollars a year 532 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: in lost productivity alone, and you can see where a 533 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 1: little more mandatory vacation might be helpful for the populace. Yeah, 534 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: and we should also say to that, you know, don't 535 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: go away your prescriptions here quite yet, because um, there 536 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: are fleeting effects of vacation. In the paper how do 537 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: vacations effect workers health and well being? Jessica to Bloom 538 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: looks at a meta analysis of the benefits of vacation 539 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:03,440 Speaker 1: and concludes that the restorative effects generally fade within two 540 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: to four weeks. And then one of her studies of 541 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: nineties six Dutch workers, they all reported feeling more energetic, happy, 542 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 1: less tense, and more satisfied with their lives uh than 543 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 1: usual during one of their vacations. In this vacation was 544 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,760 Speaker 1: between seven and nine days long, but within just one 545 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: week of returning to work, uh, this began to dissipate. 546 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 1: In a second experiment on four and five days of 547 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: respect came to essentially the same conclusion. Now, there are 548 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,000 Speaker 1: a raftive studies on this, and they all kind of 549 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: point to this, you know, one to three week um 550 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:46,360 Speaker 1: attenuation of effects here, and a lot of it depends 551 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: on how long someone was on vacation. So maybe that 552 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: juicy or meteor you know, four or five week vacation, 553 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: maybe you had two weeks of these effects. Uh, but 554 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 1: they all point to the fleetingness and that that seems 555 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: a little depressing. But for me, it just makes the 556 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 1: case that we need to take more vacations more often. Yeah. 557 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: And plus I mean everything's fleeting, so life. Yeah, that's 558 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 1: just life. So as we've discussed, we we Americans, we're 559 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: a little hesitant to take those vacations. And you might 560 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: wonder if some of that has to do with fear 561 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: of missing out, because I know that when I take 562 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,680 Speaker 1: a vacation, it takes a good two days for me 563 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:35,360 Speaker 1: to settle into it and shed my work skin. Yeah, 564 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 1: I find it find the same situation in my life, 565 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:39,680 Speaker 1: and I even think about it in terms of launching 566 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: something into orbit. Right, you have to you have to 567 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 1: deal with, you know, getting everything squared away at the house, 568 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: you have to get somebody to feed the cats. You've 569 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: got to make sure your work life is in order. 570 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: Then you've got to actually travel there, so you having 571 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: to fuel the rocket, launch the rocket. And then once 572 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: you get up there, once you get into space, once 573 00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: you get on your vacation, you still got to decompress 574 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: a little that you've got to deal with your with 575 00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: where the expectations of say, a vacation, beach house, meet 576 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: the reality of it. Um, you have to deal with 577 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: all that and then letting slowly come down from it. 578 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: So yeah, I tend to find it's like the second 579 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 1: day before, I suddenly find myself just like thinking idly 580 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: about things that are not work and actually enjoying the experience. Yeah, 581 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: because for me, those first two days really boiled down 582 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: to routine. And I was thinking about Charles du High, 583 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 1: who has a book called The Power of Habit, and 584 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,680 Speaker 1: he says that something of our decisions are just habit. 585 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: And I thought, well, it's it's about right, because you know, 586 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: you have the habit of checking your email at a 587 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 1: certain time or doing these certain things day after day, 588 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,800 Speaker 1: and so it would make sense that you have your 589 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 1: mind kind of circling and saying, but wait, you can't relax. 590 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: We usually do this at this time, all right. So 591 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: there you have it, vacation and the brain. What happens before, during, 592 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: and after you finally take that trip to the beach 593 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 1: or the mountains or what have you. Hey, if you 594 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: want to check out more of what we do here, 595 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:09,640 Speaker 1: you can check out more episodes of the podcast. You 596 00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 1: can check out blog post videos you name it, it's 597 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. And if you 598 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: have thoughts about vacations and re entry after a vacation, 599 00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:21,719 Speaker 1: you can send those thoughts our way by emailing us 600 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: at blow the Mind at how stuff works dot com. 601 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,360 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, is 602 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: it how stuff works dot com