“A change is as good as a rest” the old saying goes, but researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) have found that a change of environment and specifically travel might even be better for us than just relaxing at home.
Exploring the “intersection between tourism and health” the new ECU study, published in the Journal of Travel Research, took the theory of “entropy increase” as “a basis for assessing how tourism influences human health”. Entropy is a law that says the universe moves towards death and disorder, but scientists suggest travel experiences could help our bodies maintain a low-entropy state by influencing our four major systems – in other words, stopping us from aging so quickly.
Anti-aging properties
Ageing, as a process, is irreversible. While it can’t be stopped, it can be slowed down.
Fangli Hu, ECU PhD candidate
By exposing us to new environments, and inducing physical movement and social interactions, positive travel experiences can promote well-being by stimulating stress responses, raising metabolic rates, and even triggering an adaptive immune system response.
“Leisurely travel activities might help alleviate chronic stress, dampen overactivation of the immune system, and encourage normal functioning of the self-defence system. Engaging in recreation potentially releases tension and fatigue in the muscles and joints. This relief helps maintain the body’s metabolic balance and increases the anti–wear-and-tear system’s effectiveness. Organs and tissues can then remain in a low-entropy state,” ECU PhD candidate Fangli Hu explained.
Self-healing and regeneration
Current trends for wellness and yoga retreats and other types of health tourism “also contribute to people’s physical and mental health,” Hu added, with moderate exercise credited with improving blood circulation, nutrient absorption and waste elimination as well as being beneficial to the bones, muscles, and joints and supporting “the body’s anti–wear-and-tear system.”
But while the focus was on positive travel experiences, Hu acknowledged that “Conversely, negative travel experiences could increase entropy and lead to health issues.” Examples given in the study include exposure to infectious diseases, accidents, injuries, violence, water and food safety issues, and inappropriate engagement in tourism activities.
But not all challenges are necessarily bad for us, Hu points out: “Put simply, the self-defence system becomes more resilient. Hormones conducive to tissue repair and regeneration may be released and promote the self-healing system’s functioning.”
