Looking forward to the holidays? I remember that feeling!
22.7.2026
Translation: machine translated
What, already holiday time? Amidst all the things that still need to be done quickly, the anticipation often falls short. Yet, it's almost as important as the trip itself.
The chewing gum time of childhood is no more. It stretched out, was sometimes tough, and dragged on before beautiful events for so long that the weeks before the holidays automatically filled with anticipation.
A different life, one in holiday rhythm, cast its shadows, oh no, its sunny sides ahead: The beach would be finer, the sky bluer, the ice cream better than anywhere else; paradise awaited. In five days I'll be there, in four, no, in three. If only the clock would do its job, the hands would move forward, the holidays would begin. Salty summer days on the beach, two or three weeks long.
I could anticipate, like every child. It is instilled in us from birth. But it changes when life tightens the screws a bit. At some point, it is no longer an end in itself. We use anticipation strategically, as a saving shore on the horizon, when we struggle through all the trials and tasks that life later brings.
This feeling of a gently rolling wave of happiness that carries one until the start of the holidays has somehow disappeared for me. I still look forward to things. But events no longer slowly approach as in childhood or student days, but rather crash down on me. Just Easter? Bam, summer holidays are already here. This is the new feeling of life – and I would like some of the old back.
Anticipation is more sustainable than recovery
Because anticipation is important and valuable: This "pre-trip happiness", as researchers from the Netherlands have found, gives us more positive feelings than the recovery after the trip can provide. Hardly back from vacation, most are immediately back to reality.
It doesn't matter whether it's a long weekend or a multi-week break: For the majority, the body has filed away the holiday feeling as soon as they open their professional mailbox for the first time.
Anticipation, on the other hand, can be stretched like chewing gum, it can last for weeks and can also be consciously generated. Those who do this skillfully can surf through everyday life on a small wave of happiness. Even the elite Harvard University offers a happiness course – which, no surprise, is in high demand. Finding something that triggers anticipation is among the first tips in this lecturer's book.
Anticipation causes the brain to release dopamine. People even voluntarily decide to postpone a pleasant event a little into the future to enjoy the anticipation of it. Experiences can be painted in the most beautiful colors. What they will really be like is uncertain until it finally happens. Only one thing is certain: They will be part of our life story. From this, more happiness can be drawn than through fulfilled material desires.
Experiences age brilliantly
Holiday anticipation can work for up to three months if we plan, dream, and actively engage with the trip. If the period becomes too long, hedonic adaptation sets in – we take good things for granted and the felt happiness returns to its starting point. Only when the event becomes more concrete can we mentally prepare for it again.
The same effect ensures that we don't just float on cloud nine during the holiday itself. After the initial euphoria, the new environment quickly becomes the new standard. But memory is merciful and primarily stores the highlights.
Unlike many material things we treat ourselves to, experiences still shine years later and never lose their value. The only danger is to anticipate them.
Too much curiosity kills the joy on site
Thanks to Street View, reviews, and videos, anticipation can be wonderfully stimulated, and an entire industry works to lure us with the most beautiful images. Experiencing the holiday online in advance and clicking through the menu in every restaurant is a bit like discovering the Christmas present in your parents' closet weeks beforehand as a child. You pay for certainty with the absence of surprise.
That's why I don't like to delve too deeply into the details before a trip. Perhaps I could build up stronger anticipation then, but life no longer gives it back to me as pure and overflowing as in my embellished memory. That's okay. Those who are very young naturally always look forward. With a little more life behind me, I look forward more to reflecting, to sorting my thoughts and extracting the good memories. That too is a form of anticipation; it just has nothing to do with sun, beach, and ice cream anymore.
Header image: Shutterstock/eskystudio
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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