The Happy Traveler: Unpacking the Secrets of Better Vacations

by Jaime Kurtz

Overview

Travel is one of the most sought-after experiences in life. It has the singular ability to capture our imaginations, serving as a canvas onto which we project our deepest desires and needs: escape, relaxation, transcendence, interpersonal connection, cultural education, and more. Few things hold such a privileged place, yet until now, there has been no instruction manual for how to make the most of travelling, be it to an exotic country or to the local beach.

In The Happy Traveler: Unpacking the Secrets of Better Vacations, psychology professor Jaime Kurtz applies the large and ever-growing body of research on happiness and decision-making to enhance the experience of travel. An avid explorer, study abroad instructor, teacher, and happiness researcher,
Dr. Kurtz shows how anyone who has a vacation in his or her future can create the most meaningful, fulfilling, and joyful experiences possible.

When the price of travel is daunting, getting the most "bang for your buck", both financially and emotionally, is essential to an ideal travel experience. With a sense of humor and adventure, Dr. Kurtz provides guidance on how to craft your perfect trip, boost your excitement before your trip even begins, and actively immerse yourself in a new culture while unplugging from your technological ties to home. She also explains how to best cherish and share travel moments, how to ease back into your daily life upon returning, and how to carry the secrets of happy travel into every day.

This is a must-have guide if you are looking to make the most of your precious vacation days.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190638986
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/29/2017
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	575,805
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jaime Kurtz is Associate Professor of Psychology at James Madison University. Her research on happiness and savoring has been published widely in scientific journals, receiving national attention from NPR and The Today Show, as well as in print and online magazines. With bestselling author Sonja
Lyubomirsky, she is co-author of Positively Happy: Routes to Sustainable Happiness, a workbook for putting happiness strategies into practice in everyday life. Dr. Kurtz is a collaborator on the "Many Labs" study, a groundbreaking project designed to test whether psychological research replicates across time and place. This ongoing work has received national acclaim from National Geographic, Science, and Nature. Dr. Kurtz's mindful travel photography has been featured in The New York Times. Dr. Kurtz has visited 29 countries and 45 of the 50 United States.

Table of Contents

Prologue: I Had One Job

Chapter 1. Flying Blind: Why You Don't Know What Will Make You Happy Six Months from Now
Chapter 2. Where in the World? Why Knowing Your Travel Personality is Essential to Happy Travel
Chapter 3. Buying Fun: What's Worth Your Travel Buck?
Chapter 4. The Countdown is On: An Unexpected Way to Boost Your Enjoyment of a Trip Before You Even Leave Home
Chapter 5. Step Off the Tour Bus: How to Peel Back the Layers and Really See the World
Chapter 6. Pictures or It Didn't Happen!: The Challenges of Savoring in a Hyper-Connected World
Chapter 7. The Ultimate Relationship Test: What You Need to Know Before Traveling With Someone
Chapter 8. All Good Things Must End: How to Wind Down From a Trip Without Dreading the Return to Daily Life
Chapter 9. The Art of the Staycation: How to Live Every Day Like a Happy Traveler

Epilogue: The Twelve Rules for Happy Travel

Editorial Reviews

"As a happiness researcher, I frequently get calls from major media outlets trying to cobble together stories about making travel more emotionally satisfying. Until now, I haven't been able to point them to a source that pulls together the diverse strands of research that are relevant to this topic.
Jaime Kurtz is poised to provide just what everyone's been looking for. And with her research expertise, easygoing style, and natural sense of humor, Jaime will be the perfect tour guide!" —Elizabeth Dunn, Ph.D., co-author of Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending (Simon & Schuster, 2013) and
Associate Professor of Psychology at the
University of British Columbia

"The Happy Traveler is a terrific book and Jaime Kurtz is the perfect person to write it. She is a highly respected researcher who made important discoveries about savoring, affective forecasting, and many other topics relevant to the book. Even better, she is a talented writer and story teller who will regale her readers with tales of traveling nightmares and traveling triumphs." —Timothy Wilson, Ph.D., author of Redirect (Back Bay Books, 2015) and Strangers to Ourselves and Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia

From the Publisher