The psychology of travelling

Dec 5, 2022 | Uncategorized

Cartoonated Human skull (Psychology of travel)

ChargeHolidays had the chance to meet Dr. L. He is the author of the book “Psychology of Travel – A concise compilation of Travel Psychology Topic” and hosts the travel blog “psychology of travel” . Here, he uses his academic expertise to make traveling more pleasurable, safe, and memorable. In our interview he betrayed how to take most our of your sustainable trip and answers questions about the interaction of psychological and physiological journey. Interested to learn more? Go on reading!

What does sustainable travel mean to you? 

Sustainable travel is a method, approach, and mindset to help engage in travel behaviors that help maintain natural and cultural environments. It’s something we can all do to help create a pattern of long-term travel that preserves important ecological and cultural systems.

 

What hinders people from travelling sustainably friendly? 
Truthfully, it’s probably a mixture of greed and ignorance.  Many people aren’t making efforts to travel sustainably because they’re primarily concerned about their own enjoyment and they simply don’t know the potential consequences.

Mindful awareness of surroundings and immersion in different culture contributes to:

greater mental satisfcation

better emotional regulation

&

improved stress management

How can sustainability in travelling be made comfortably for the average person?  
Sustainability in travelling can be accomplished by the average person first through education.  People need to be informed about the need for sustainability before they will take actions to help support this effort. Once an understanding of the problems with over-travelling have been discovered, people now have an opportunitiy to make different and more environmentally healthy choices in their own traveling. 
How can people understand sustainable aspects of travelling? How do we need to shape the education about this topic?  
Any time you are trying to educate people about a cause they are unfamiliar with, you need to find ways to get “buy in”.  Buy in means that you help them see the reasons that it should be important for them personally.  If we can find ways to tailor the education about sustainable travel to different groups based on their personality and travel-related goals, it would greatly increase the chances of successful education.
What happens when people are critiziced for their travel behaviour? 
When people are criticized for their travel behavior, or in fact whenever people are criticized for any behavior, there is a tendency to become defensive.  The first thoughts following criticism about travel behaviors will likely be ways to argue why they should not be criticized or why the criticism is unfair.  
What incentives are helpful for motivating people to travel more sustainably friendly? 
With that in mind, it is much more helpful to motivate people to engage in adaptive travel behaviors rather than to criticize their past behaviors.  This really works best when we can form the travel community’s culture around the notion that sustainable travel is viewed positively and non-sustainable travel behaviors become extinguished. This can be as simple as reinforcing comments whenever sustainable travel behaviors are observed, or as complex as dedicated counseling to help support adaptive health and travel behaviors.

 “When people are criticized for their travel behavior,  there is a tendency to become defensive” 

What new results in research have been discovered finding out more about why people behave how in travel times? 
There’s plenty of exciting research coming out these days about the relationships between mental health and travel.  Some of my favorite research is in the area of mindfulness and travel, including how mindful awareness of surroundings and immersion in different culture contribute to greater mental satisfcation, emotional regulation, stress management, and development of interpersonal skill sets.
Is it more easy to change ones’ habits when being on holidays than on normal work days? 
To oversimple a bit, research suggests that it’s easier to be mindful in novel situations (like travel) than in your daily routine. Every sight, sound, taste, and discussion is eagerly absorbed during travel, in part because we are out of the monotony of our routines.  There is a limit to this, of course, as our brains also enjoys consistency and predictability. However, traveling sustainably is a great way to give your brain a burst of engaging experiences that can be really healthy from a psychological perspective and can last longer than your actual stay. 

 

“Traveling sustainably is a great way to give your brain a burst of engaging experiences that can be really healthy from a psychological perspective”

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I think it’s only a matter of time before there is a cultural shift in favor of sustainable travel

Talking about the future: what do you think will change in the travel behavior?
I think it’s only a matter of time before there is a cultural shift in favor of sustainable travel.  As I mentioned earlier, the travel community at large will have a significant say in how quickly this cultural shift can occur.  Sites like this one and my blog can make information readily accessible to help facilitate conversations with new and fellow travelers.  So, help gently educate others from a position of positivity about the benefits to the earth, customs, and cultures rather than constant criticism about the damaging effects of non-sustainable travel. There is certainly a place for constructive criticism and identification of problematic behaviors, but I think travel behaviors will continue to follow the lead of the community of travelers when they come together in unison. 
— So let us together emphasize on the positive aspects of sustainable travel and convince others! Thank you for the interview. —

Lilith Diringer

This interview was conducted by Lilith. Our CEO is eager to learn everything about sustainable travel and share deep insights with you. Her vision is to make people as well as nature profit from travelling. She wishes you a great trip wherever the next booking takes you and is happy to share details and insights on request: [email protected]