Scientists Just Discovered Travel Can Actually Slow Aging

When it comes to covering the latest scientific insights on the benefits of travel, I confess I am not a neutral observer. These days, I have a school-age daughter and live a more rooted life, but in my younger years I was a travel fanatic, living in four different countries and visiting dozens more. 

I have always loved travel because it expands my mind and makes me feel alive. To me, it just always seemed an unconscionable waste to be born on such an unfathomably beautiful planet and not make an attempt to see as much of it as you could. But maybe I am just a weirdo (this has been suggested to me before). 

Is travel just a hobby chosen by personal preference, like pickleball or knitting, or does it have special benefits that you won’t get from other uses of your time? I’ve collected a bunch of studies on the topic over the years (more about that later), but new Australian research particularly intrigued me. 

The study, by an interdisciplinary team out of Edith Cowan University, built on previous research into healthy aging. Many of the activities that experts recommend to keep us feeling younger in body and mind — things like social connection, spending time in nature, and lifelong learning — are an intrinsic part of travel, the team noted. 

“Environments, especially beautiful landscapes like forests or beaches, can help us reduce stress and boost our mental well-being and promote physical activity,” Fangli Hu, the study’s principal researcher, explained to The Washington Post. “Exposure to other tourists, locals or even animals can improve our mood and enhance cognitive function.”

For instance, recent psychological research showed learning something new can cause your brain to work like it’s 30 years younger. Findings from a group of Canadian neuroscientists revealed modest amounts of light exercise improved cognitive function in older adults as if they were five years younger. Other work out of Yale discovered simply having a positive attitude toward aging and staying active can help people live up to 7.5 years longer on average. 

Looking at all this research together, it seems promising that positive travel experiences (the researchers caution travelers to avoid health hazards like infectious diseases and dangerous animal encounters while on the road) really will be shown to slow aging. 

If it does hold up, it won’t be the first time scientists have discovered travel has significant benefits beyond just fun and wider horizons. Career experts have long noted that extensive travel cultivates certain mindsets and skills that can be a huge boost to your professional success. 

As Linda Brimm, a professor at the European business school Insead, has explained, seasoned travelers tend to be agile and comfortable with change, more creative, and open to growing and reinventing themselves. These are all skills that are both in hot demand by employers and useful to entrepreneurs. 

On a more personal note, fascinating new research also suggests that roaming widely and visiting new places also tends to make people happier. Recent research out of NYU showed the more novel experiences you have on a given day, the happier you are likely to be the next. Another 2020 study found a correlation between how widely people wandered and how happy they felt. 

The takeaway for entrepreneurs is obvious here. In addition to its many other benefits, more travel is likely to help you slow down the aging process a little, and will be a happiness and career booster in the shorter term. 

And those who lack the resources or time for international jet-setting should take heart. Travel writers and other professional explorers insist it is possible to get all the life-affirming, possibility-expanding benefits of travel with relatively modest adventures and getaways closer to home. The impact of a trip, they claim, is all about how you approach the experience, not where you go. (You can click the links if you want specific advice.)