A short trip.

But that doesn't mean we missed the fun. A shorter trip, in fact, can be even happier than we would have thought.

I learned this from a psychology professor Jeroen Nawijn, who published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life , after his tracking the happiness of over 1500 Dutch participants. As expected, those with upcoming holidays are happier than non-vacationers. What most of us do not know is that the days before the start of the trip registered the peak level of happiness - higher than when the participants were actually on holiday.

Perhaps nowhere is the joy greater than that of anticipation, which is even more powerful than the experience itself.

A deeper look at this study might lead us to think twice before striving for a long holiday. That means we should have more short trips and more frequent breaks. The more trips planned, the more there is to look forward to.