If all went well, you usually come back from a trip enchanted. But have you ever wondered if you came back from somewhere happier?
Last week I was in Fortaleza, where, curiously, I went more than Rio de Janeiro this year: a total of six times! Which made me, of course, very happy.
Even more so for discovering a survey there, commissioned by the Tourism Department of Fortaleza, which wanted to know exactly how happy tourists left after passing through the capital of Ceará.
The results of this satisfaction survey seem conventional: Fortaleza earned a score of 9.14 from its visitors in 2022; and over 97% would not only return to their destination, but recommend it to others.
But what caught my attention was the poll approach. Looking at a trip from the perspective of the happiness it brought seemed innovative to me. Furthermore, there was a question that caught my attention precisely because it was linked to the feeling of happiness: “Have you had any new experiences in Fortaleza?”
Yes, not every new experience is a sign of happiness. Maybe you’ve never changed a tire on a 4×4 on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Then you are in the interior of Mali, as I was, and you go through this. I wasn’t very happy.
But in general, trying things you’ve never done will really bring you happiness.
And having this concern for tourists, wanting them to come back because they felt happy in Fortaleza, sounded like something so obvious to me that it should be the main objective of every tourist spot. As we well know, this does not always happen.
The obstacles for you to come back happy from vacation are countless, and, with summer approaching again, the first in which we will travel without fear of Covid (barring an intensification of the recent wave of contamination), they can even make us give up on an adventure.
Exorbitant prices on services. Crowded beaches. Rainy days or an intermittent heat wave. In the case of trips abroad, difficulties with the language, orientation and even the exchange rate. All this, however, can be overcome if you return happy from wherever you choose to visit. Or not?
I felt provoked by the survey’s point of view: how many trips in my life have I returned genuinely happy? Discounting some honeymoons, other trips where I received an award or something like that, what places did I come back from overflowing with happiness?
The first experience that came to mind was in Bhutan. You’ve certainly heard that the king there is proud to work so that his subjects, oops, inhabitants have the highest index of “Gross National Happiness” in the world.
Aside from the fact that this was a concept wholly invented by him, in good faith I imagine, it must be remembered that visitors to Bhutan take advantage of this only laterally. With a visa costing US$200 a day and accommodation options never less than five stars, this bliss doesn’t come cheap.
The day I woke up after a drive from one Aman hotel to the next, in front of a bridge over a crystal clear river, those colorful streamers decorating my way to a 19th century farmhouse, where I slept for two nights, was a happy one. I just don’t think that’s quite what I’m looking for.
Maybe something simpler. Like when I was awakened, after an intense night watching a fire dance, under a tree in a village in the middle of Papua New Guinea, by my guide’s four-year-old daughter playing with a chicken on my head.
Maybe when I bought a teddy bear at FAO Schwarz, the iconic toy store in New York, for a great love, on a trip in which I discovered, in the middle of it, that a fatality had left me with no money left. It was the only purchase back then, and just looking at the teddy bear makes me happy to this day.
But that would be a very particular happiness… I think I’ll choose another one, from a unique and unlikely moment: the day when, to celebrate my 55th birthday, I packed 40 friends into tuktuks and we went around Bangkok like children for the first time. time at an amusement park.
That’s it: coming back happy from a trip is not only having experienced great happiness, but also having shared it with those you love.
Was it a new experience? Yup. Did you leave a record of pure happiness? Yup. And did everyone feel the same? Yup. Would any research be able to identify this? Then we open for debate…
I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years, and my work has been featured on many different news websites. I am also an author, and my work has been published in several books. I specialize in opinion writing, and I often write about current events and controversial topics. I am a very well-rounded writer, and I have a lot of experience in different areas of journalism. I am a very hard worker, and I am always willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
