That Luxury Travel Experience Will Actually Make You Happier

A recent research study from Cornell University in New York has found that the source of happiness is through experiences, rather than things. These results were the conclusion of a research study that continued over two decades and was led by Dr Thomas Gilovich. He explains that there is an underlying difference in the way that we come to value our possessions compared to our experiences. That difference is adaptation, how we come to regard it in the time long after the experience or the possession was bought.

Gilovitch expands this concept further, “We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them.” Eventually we get used to the things that we own and overtime the happiness that is derived from those things dwindles. Yet contrary to this, the happiness that we derive from experiences actually increases with time, as we incorporate the memory of the experience into our identity, it gradually comes to be seen as part of who we are.

That’s why purchasing a luxury car, may not make as much financial sense as renting one. While in both circumstances the purchase will be very exciting to begin with, in the years that come after initial ownership any one luxury car loses its excitement. While the experience of being behind the wheel of a super fast luxury car is available to you in both circumstances, the experience will be looked back fondly equally as much, regardless of whether you (and the bank) owned the car or just rented it.

Gilovitch recommends that instead of saving up for that plasma screen TV, more satisfaction may be gained by investing in new skills, travel experiences or trying something new. Gilovitch says “we are the sum total of our experiences” and more than anything, we enjoy making new experiences part of who we are.