Choosing a vacation, for example a location, experiences and activities, is what I like to refer to as vacation design. You may be tempted to choose vacations out of Instagram feeds, TikTok trends or google searches but if you first understand your own personality you can best design a vacation that is optimized for your own needs. In fact, research shows that when we design vacations suited to our needs and preferences they are more beneficial and restorative.
Our personality is composed of stable feelings, thoughts and behaviours and is to a large extent determined by our genes. According to experts we have five personality traits, known as the Big Five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The definitions of each of these traits can be found in the table below and using the definitions you can determine if you associate highly or lowly with a certain trait. For example, you can score yourself on the most well-known trait extraversion, as either high (meaning that you are social, talkative, full of energy, seeking stimulation and comfortable being the center of attention) or low (meaning that you are less social, need less stimulation and prefer more time alone). You will probably know just by looking at the definitions of the Big Five personality traits if you score high or low on each one, but if you don’t, there are free Big Five Personality tests available online for you to take on a number of websites. Once you have determined your personality trait scores (high or low) then you can use these traits to choose appropriate vacation environments and activities.
For example, those high in openness could consider planning a vacation in unfamiliar or new places, whereas those low in openness should consider planning a vacation in a familiar place. Those high in neuroticism should consider planning a home vacation if they find travel stressful, whereas those low in neuroticism could plan a vacation in any location since they aren't as susceptible to travel stress. Refer to Table 1. for some suggestions of things you should consider when planning a vacation if you score high or low on a particular trait.
Table 1. Vacation suggestions for high and low scores on each of the Big Five Personality Traits
Vacation Values
Like personality traits, values are a dimension on which people differ. Values refer to stable life goals, representing what is most important to you, and they are shaped throughout your life as you accumulate life experiences. It has been shown that living in line with our values makes us happier and more satisfied with our lives. Daily diary studies, where subjects reported on life satisfaction found that those who value achievement felt happier on days when they experienced academic achievements and those who value relationships felt happier on days when they had more positive social interactions. So, we can deduce that if we can better align our values with our vacations we will be more satisfied with our vacations.
I believe that we have a small subset of values, which I refer to as vacation values. These are the same as regular values – stable life goals – but they are goals directed more specifically at vacations. I refer to these values as a subset of regular values because I believe that we have specific preferences for recovery that may or may not differ from non-recovery life. For example, your top five regular values may not include nature, but you might list nature as your #1 vacation value because being in nature is how you prefer to recover.
Sign-up for my newsletter and I will send you my FREE VACATION VALUES EXERCISE so you can discover your vacation values. Once you discover your vacation values you can use these to guide your vacation design. For example, if your values are independence, nature, self-care, peace and harmony, you might want to spend a vacation doing yoga alone on a local mountain. If your values are community, culture, remoteness, travel and cuisine you might want to spend a vacation doing a food tour in a small town in Mexico.
To sum up: if you can design your vacations based on your personality and values you will be more likely to experience positive vacation outcomes and maximal vacation benefits. Analyze your personality and values and design vacations with these in mind.
Happy Vacationing 🏝