How should the holidays according to science to make us really well? There are tricks to keep longer the positive effect of the summer break? Better to split the holidays and do them all together? Let's see if and how science and statistics can give us a hand

1. Happiness and holidays
Dutch researchers have tried to measure the impact that holidays have on the general happiness and how long it lasts. The study, published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life in 2010, showed that happiness levels are greatly influenced and already grow as we plan the vacation. The anticipation effect would make us happy already eight weeks before the trip.

After the holiday, happiness quickly drops back to baseline levels for most people. But not evenly. Who has had a bad holiday (stressful), normal or relaxed, not recording a big post-holiday happiness. "I'm happier than people who have not been on vacation," says the study's lead author, Jeroen Nawijn. The only vacationers who experience an increase in happiness after the trip, are those who have felt "very relaxed." For them the effect "holiday happiness" lasts up to two weeks after the journey and then returns to baseline.

2. The post-holiday depression does not exist
All psychology tourism experts agree: the post holiday depression or "post-vacation blues" does not exist, it is an exaggeration and not appear in any manual of certificates disorders. The problem, rather, is in the expectations: most are high and there is a risk - if the holidays have not gone as we expected - effect disappointment.

3. Short Breaks? Not that it's bad
The Dutch study found no relationship between the length of the holiday and the general happiness. Since most of the happiness boost comes from planning a vacation, the study suggests that we can achieve more in a series of small trips, which for a long break.

This is also confirmed Pierre Delbarre Park Royal Hospital in Paris (France), investigating the effects on health holidays, came to the conclusion that we suffer less if we do short breaks and frequent: at least two or three holiday periods of between eight and ten days a year. Thesis also confirmed by a similar study conducted in the United States: the weekend is better than a long vacation.

4. Peak end
The positive effect of rest can be extended with certain tricks. For example, Donald Redelmeier studies and Daniel Kahneman of the University of Toronto (Canada) to the conclusion that doing something intense just before the end of the holidays increases the relaxation time after your return from holiday. It is the rule of "peak end".

5. Best holiday? Those studies!
Charlotte Fritz, a researcher at the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany), has conducted several studies on the effects of health on holiday and concluded that the best are the "learning experiences", and those that allow you to gain new skills. Take a language course or mountain climbing, for example, it appears to reduce levels of fatigue and work-related stress when returning from holiday.

6. Few holidays? There are worse
For us Italians, the holidays are a right guaranteed by the Constitution (art. 36), and now we can enjoy an average of 31 days of paid vacation (counting the holidays like Christmas, Assumption, April 25 etc). But some people are much worse. In Japan they are still 10 days, while in the US the holidays are not a right, and often do not get paid.

7. FERIE AUGUST
According to Eurostat, we Italians have the European record for most holidays spent in the summer, particularly in August. 74% of tourist nights of Italian concentrates it in the summer time, unlike those of the inhabitants of other European countries, which are better distributed throughout the year.

8. ITALIAN HOLIDAYS
We are also those who prefer to play "at home", with a strong tendency to spend their holidays inside the country: 70.7% of tourist nights are spent in Italy.

In 2016 Sicily is the favorite destination, followed by Puglia and Trentino. Abroad, however, we favor the Southern Europe and Mediterranean (Spain, Greece, Portugal, Croatia).

From Focus