home away from home
The desire to see the world often lures travellers to explore new territory, but there are meaningful rewards to be reaped by visiting familiar destinations too.
When you’re in a relatively safe place then all of a sudden ... you are more experimental and more willing to go above and beyond your normal self. It allows for escape and expansion.
Dr michael brein has ‘visited’ more than 100 countries. He’s a box ticker, to be sure. He popped into Belize for just 45 minutes so he could add to his list, and once took an all day train journey from Italy and back again simply to stop in Liechtenstein. He also won a competition in the 1980s after travelling to 50 American states in 50 days.
Brein has coined a term for this kind of traveller The Collector. In fact, this US based gatherer has created 14 separate travel archetypes all in a day’s work for the world’s first travel psychologist.
Given Brein harnessed his passion for travel to pioneer a new field of psychology, you won’t be surprised to learn he’s not exclusively a numbers man. He would go back to Africa in a heartbeat, despite having already visited six times. And he has been to Eureka Springs in Arkansas about 20 times in the past 25 years.
Throughout his career, Brein has collected thousands of travel stories and says the vast majority of travellers “unquestionably” prefer to return to a favourite destination.
“The more you morph from being a tourist in the beginning to a traveller, the more in depth you get, the more perceived value and benefits there are of going to a place repeatedly that you have connected with,” he says.
“It’s reconnecting with the good and positive from the past, and we want more of that,” Brein continues. “We want to relive, re experience, reconnect.”
Travellers are lured to repeat destinations for a host of reasons: we develop emotional attachment through past experiences or family history a much treasured annual family pilgrimage to the coast, for example we forge personal connections with local people or communities say, a warm welcome from the barista you’ve come to know (and rely on!); we find comfort in familiarity while still enjoying time away from day to day life.
These themes tap into one of psychology’s most famous theories Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, people are motivated to fulfil specific innate needs before moving on to their more complex desires. In the five tiered system, originally published in 1943, physiological essentials food, water, sleep, sex take top honours before we strive to meet our need for safety and security, followed by desirables such as friendship, love, self esteem and purpose.
Brein says a repeat destination a location we know and love provides a deeply fulfilling environment, whether we realise it or not.
“ A familiar destination becomes more comfortable and cosy and safe,” he explains. “When you’re in a relatively safe place that allows you to expand yourself a little bit more then all of a sudden, these higher order needs open up more than when you’re at home.
“You are more experimental and more willing to go above and beyond your normal self … It allows for escape and expansion.”
Of course, Maslow and his needs don’t tend to be on our minds while we’re considering our next holiday. Not literally, at least. But they’re working hard in the background as we consider the appeal of a potential destination. So, too, is the ‘mere exposure effect a scientific principal that suggests people tend to develop a preference for things or, in this case, places simply because they are familiar with them. But enough about psychology.
Destinations evolve over time, and so do we. The London you visited as a 22 year old backpacker, for example, is an entirely different city to the one you might return to as a 40 something. Landscapes and landmarks change, social and political climates are fluid, and the lens with which you view such things develops over time.
And then there’s the precious holiday home that represents quite the opposite: the quiet backwater that, mercifully, looks and feels the very same with every return trip.
Regardless of motivation, there’s no place like a home away from home.
When you’re in a relatively safe place then all of a sudden ... you are more experimental and more willing to go above and beyond your normal self. It allows for escape and expansion.
Dr michael brein has ‘visited’ more than 100 countries. He’s a box ticker, to be sure. He popped into Belize for just 45 minutes so he could add to his list, and once took an all day train journey from Italy and back again simply to stop in Liechtenstein. He also won a competition in the 1980s after travelling to 50 American states in 50 days.
Brein has coined a term for this kind of traveller The Collector. In fact, this US based gatherer has created 14 separate travel archetypes all in a day’s work for the world’s first travel psychologist.
Given Brein harnessed his passion for travel to pioneer a new field of psychology, you won’t be surprised to learn he’s not exclusively a numbers man. He would go back to Africa in a heartbeat, despite having already visited six times. And he has been to Eureka Springs in Arkansas about 20 times in the past 25 years.
Throughout his career, Brein has collected thousands of travel stories and says the vast majority of travellers “unquestionably” prefer to return to a favourite destination.
“The more you morph from being a tourist in the beginning to a traveller, the more in depth you get, the more perceived value and benefits there are of going to a place repeatedly that you have connected with,” he says.
“It’s reconnecting with the good and positive from the past, and we want more of that,” Brein continues. “We want to relive, re experience, reconnect.”
Travellers are lured to repeat destinations for a host of reasons: we develop emotional attachment through past experiences or family history a much treasured annual family pilgrimage to the coast, for example we forge personal connections with local people or communities say, a warm welcome from the barista you’ve come to know (and rely on!); we find comfort in familiarity while still enjoying time away from day to day life.
These themes tap into one of psychology’s most famous theories Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, people are motivated to fulfil specific innate needs before moving on to their more complex desires. In the five tiered system, originally published in 1943, physiological essentials food, water, sleep, sex take top honours before we strive to meet our need for safety and security, followed by desirables such as friendship, love, self esteem and purpose.
Brein says a repeat destination a location we know and love provides a deeply fulfilling environment, whether we realise it or not.
“ A familiar destination becomes more comfortable and cosy and safe,” he explains. “When you’re in a relatively safe place that allows you to expand yourself a little bit more then all of a sudden, these higher order needs open up more than when you’re at home.
“You are more experimental and more willing to go above and beyond your normal self … It allows for escape and expansion.”
Of course, Maslow and his needs don’t tend to be on our minds while we’re considering our next holiday. Not literally, at least. But they’re working hard in the background as we consider the appeal of a potential destination. So, too, is the ‘mere exposure effect a scientific principal that suggests people tend to develop a preference for things or, in this case, places simply because they are familiar with them. But enough about psychology.
Destinations evolve over time, and so do we. The London you visited as a 22 year old backpacker, for example, is an entirely different city to the one you might return to as a 40 something. Landscapes and landmarks change, social and political climates are fluid, and the lens with which you view such things develops over time.
And then there’s the precious holiday home that represents quite the opposite: the quiet backwater that, mercifully, looks and feels the very same with every return trip.
Regardless of motivation, there’s no place like a home away from home.