Vacations are Good for your Love Life

If you ask the average American what happiness is, it turns out that nearly nine out of ten responses will include this concept: A Vacation. In fact, The Expedia® Pleasure Index, an online survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Expedia, sought to examine whether there is a link between vacations and happiness. They found that 86 percent of American consumers think vacations equal happiness.

The survey found, through some well-chosen words, that Americans believe a vacation will make them happy – happier than their marriage might make them at that moment, happier than their religion might manage for them, happier than going to a wedding or celebrating a birthday, and even happier than spending time with their cat.

Do Vacations equal Better Sex?

Nearly 40% of Americans who take any vacation in a typical year and have a spouse/partner report being “somewhat to much more likely” to be intimate while on vacation. Only 12% report being “somewhat or much less likely.”
Among vacationers who take a vacation in a typical year with their spouse or partner, “pleasure” is the word: 88% of those surveyed report being at least somewhat likely to be intimate. And those who have taken a vacation within the past year, or even within the past four years, say they are more likely to be satisfied with their love life than those who have not gone on a vacation in five years or more.

Is Once Enough?

The study revealed that those who vacation three or more times per year are more likely to be satisfied with their love life than those who take vacation two or fewer times.

Can Vacations Last Forever?

Those who traveled with their spouse, and only their spouse, on their last vacation are “much more likely” to indicate that they are satisfied with their love life than those who took their last vacation alone, or traveled with family or friends only. Also, married individuals who traveled with their spouse only on their past vacation are “much more likely” to associate vacation with their overall happiness than those who spent the past vacation alone.

Do Men Get More Pleasure than Woman?

According to the Expedia Pleasure Index, men do get more pleasure in taking vacations than do women. Overall, the average number of vacations per year is three, although men who vacation take four vacations per year on average, while women take three. Men also take longer vacations. On average, they take two vacations per year that are five nights or longer, while women take only one such break per year.

What are the Best Places for Pleasure?

More than a third (34%) of Americans who have taken a vacation visited an urban/city destination during their most recent vacation, while 27% visited the beach and 13% visited the countryside. Top spots for vacation happiness:

1.            Atlantic City

2.            Florida Keys

3.            Oregon Coast

4.            Cape Cod, MA

5.            Sedona, AZ

6.            Santa Barbara

7.            Palm Springs

8.            Barcelona (SPA)

9.            Charleston, SC

10.          Rome (IT)