Why Vacations Matter: Experiences over Possessions

Let’s get philosophical for a moment, shall we? Everyone knows how nice it is to go on a long vacation to a distant locale. You get to enjoy the surroundings of a new place, spend time bonding with the people you journeyed with and take a break from your responsibilities back home. But there’s more to it than that: you make memories.

Why Vacations Matter

Generational Shift

In recent years, it’s becoming increasingly more common for younger people to save their money for nice trips, concerts, festivals and other experiences, instead of buying consumer goods. Where there was once a higher likelihood of someone buying a new car with their bonus, younger people now tend to focus their windfalls and savings towards a nice vacation. For what it’s worth, there’s also less young people with jobs good enough to offer them bonuses now than ever before.

Experience over Possessions

Possessions can be nice, don’t get us wrong. A nice car, a new pair of shoes, a big-screen TV: these are all nice by most measures. However, they don’t last. Your car breaks down, your shoes wear out, your TV becomes obsolete. But memories will last you a lifetime. It’s hard to put a price on visiting the Grand Canyon with your family, or snorkeling with dolphins, or seeing Mt. Fuji while planning a sushi dinner. It can often feel as though these experiences are better investments than material goods that will break down in time.

A Catalogue of Experiences

The world is interconnected and global now, thanks in no small part to the internet. We’re closer as a species now than we have ever been before. However, many people feel disconnected and isolated from everyone around them in spite of their high technology. Travel is an antidote for loneliness in a way that few other things are.

When you’re curating a catalogue of experiences, you’re gaining something intangible. Wisdom, patience and tolerance all come with the understanding that your part of the world is just a small part of a huge system. Further wisdom is gained when you realize how your entire world is a small part of another system, larger still than the first.