This Is What Travel Really Does to Your Brain

In Canada, doctors are now able to prescribe something unconventional to their patients—a visit to the zoo. This initiative, part of the country’s nature prescription program, taps into a growing body of research that underscores the therapeutic power of nature and travel to new environments.

A 2020 study in Nature found that people who experience frequent changes in scenery are generally happier. Another reported significant drops in stress for travelers just after a day or two of embarking on their journey. One of the most recent studies from Australia’s Edith Cowan University even makes the case that travel has the power to defy premature aging.

So why does travel have such a profound impact on our minds? Is it simply being away from the slog of menial work tasks, the absence from mindless scrolling—or is it something more?

“Travel can naturally generate these really amazing brain states that are real peak experiences,” explains neuroscientist Irene Salter, who explores the science behind our wanderlust in her upcoming book tentatively titled Have Brain Will Travel. Salter often returns to the idea of awe as one of the most potent effects of travel. “The awe state is [when] your sense of self gets really, really small while we encounter this thing that is so much bigger than anything we’ve ever made sense of before.”

While most of the evidence we have on travel and mental health is based on longitudinal surveys and self-reporting, I recently participated in an experiment with Contiki, a social tour company, and Myndplay, a tech company that specializes in electroencephalography (EEG)—essentially a biometric technology that reads the electrical waves in your brain. To get a deeper look into how our brains are actually responding to the act of travel, I wore portable EEG technology and body cameras with one of Contiki’s tour groups for a 10-day safari through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana.

These EEG devices measured my brain’s electrical peaks as I went about the day’s activities, while the body camera was programmed to go off synchronously. I wouldn’t know the results until after the experiment ended, so the photos taken by my body camera would be used to infer what I was doing at the moment of each “peak.”

Though EEG devices can measure a wide range of mental states, this experiment specifically measured moments of engagement, creativity, pleasure, learning, relaxation, and, finally, the elusive “flow state.” Described by some people as “getting in the zone,” the “flow state” is a mental state of such deep focus and concentration in an activity that it actually reduces levels of stress and self-referential thinking, such as worry, and self-reflection. Studies show that simply experiencing this mental state regularly can increase creativity and enhance overall emotional health.

While this experiment was part of a marketing campaign for Contiki—as opposed to a scientific study by an independent research group—I saw my participation as one of personal curiosity: How, exactly, did travel impact my brain? Were the aspects of travel that I tend to prioritize, like adventure and cultural experiences, the same things that made my brain light up? And how would this experience compare to my normal days working and living in New York?

To provide baseline results of my “not-on-travel” brain, I wore the EEG device and body camera for eight hours during a regular work day and weekend day at home before jetting off for the first leg of my journey.

I went into this experiment assuming that regardless of my overall experience on the tour, my levels of engagement and learning would likely be higher than an average day at home. I’m an animal enthusiast, so I was sure a safari would do something good for my brain. I was a bit skeptical of how affected my levels of relaxation or pleasure would be, however. A safari sounded amazing, but certainly more taxing than a typical beach vacation, or even an average day at home.

Plus, Contiki specializes in social travel for 18-to-35-year-olds, which means their tours include a packaged itinerary that emphasizes fostering connections with fellow travelers. It also means setting off on an adventure with a hoard of strangers—something I didn’t think would positively impact my mental or emotional wellbeing, to say the least.

But after the first couple days of mild awkwardness in getting to know a large group of new people, I did feel myself start to relax. And the beauty of the surroundings, combined with the camaraderie of fellow travelers, began to shift my initial apprehensions into a sense of excitement and connection.

One night, while lying in a tent in Botswana’s Chobe National Park, I listened to the sounds of an elephant herd; they were so close I could hear the branches break under their hooves as they moved through the brush. It was an exhilarating experience.

At this point, I knew that the results from my data would likely be fairly positive compared to my baseline results, but I wasn’t expecting how significant the difference would be. Despite my doubts, my moments of relaxation during the trip increased by 166%. For reference, this “peak” is similar to the state reached after practicing meditation, according to Tre Azam, founder and CEO of Myndplay.

The most notable increase was in the category of learning, which was up 234% during my travel days. This “peak” is reached when the brain is having a moment of understanding, or comfort with a task or interaction. This was followed by a 168% increase in pleasure, a 106% increase in creativity, and a 58% increase in engagement.

While everyone’s brain has a unique response to an experience and environment, I did seem to have some fairly predictable responses. For instance, I seemed to really like sunsets, animals, and our very attractive tour guide.

Interestingly, the data showed that social interactions were among the most stimulating aspects of the trip. Anecdotally, this was the most unexpected part of my travel experience: as it turned out, I really liked my fellow travelers. And even if I wanted to deny it, my brain waves would betray me: it was clear from my EEG results that I really loved hanging out with them. The social aspect of travel, far from being a distraction, proved to be an integral part of the mental benefits I experienced.

After 10 days of elephants, lions, and a little device attached to my head, I now have the personal data on just how significantly travel experiences impact my brain—and the elevated states my brain goes into that are brought on by experiences in nature, with wildlife, and when making new connections. So what does this all mean? Should I attempt to travel as much of my life as possible to continue achieving these mental states? Salter believes that the benefits of travel can long outlive the experience itself. “I feel like travel connects you to the aliveness that’s possible,” she says. “And that our job is to bring that aliveness back into our everyday lives so that it’s not only when we travel that we feel alive.”

Salter believes that travel can be a useful tool to explore our own minds. “Use travel as a playground, to experiment with your own brain to figure out what it is about this travel that’s making your brain come alive… And then look for those states in your every day when you get home.”

While traveling to distant lands or embarking on a safari may not be feasible for everyone, the mental health benefits of changing environments and experiencing awe are within reach for most.

Even small shifts, like visiting a local wildlife refuge or just taking an alternate route home, can have profound effects on our well-being. Ultimately, a change of scenery isn’t just refreshing—it can open up the mind to greater possibilities.

Want more Thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.