There’s nothing more relaxing than a refreshing trip every now and then. A change of scenery allows us to contemplate about our daily life, to get a new perspective on things and to learn about other cultures. In short, it’s one of our favourite activities of all times. Yet who to travel with is a question we’ve all asked ourselves at least once in the past. Alone? With a partner? With friends? Our maybe with your family? A study has now revealed that travelling with your mother in particular could be very beneficial.
And no, we’re not inventing that. Researchers from the Harvard Medical School have done some thorough work to come to that conclusion. First of all, they’ve been looking at social relationships in general. According to them, and to many other studies, social relationships tend to have a positive impact on our health, as they keep our stress levels under control. By doing so, many aspects of our general health improve: our digestive system is in better shape, our insulin levels are under control and our immune system gets a boost.
“One study, which examined data from more than 309,000 people, found that lack of strong relationships increased the risk of premature death from all causes by 50% — an effect on mortality risk roughly comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and greater than obesity and physical inactivity”, as the study explains.
Conversely, a relative lack of social ties is associated with depression and later-life cognitive decline, as well as with increased mortality.
Research from the Harvard Medical School
Quality time
Then, they looked at different social relationships, to come to the conclusion that one of the strongest bonds is that between a mother and her daughter. And as stronger social relationships make for better health, spending some time with your mother could give your life a serious boost. And what better way to do so than by going on a holiday together? Generally speaking, we’re already more relaxed than usual on a trip and by spending some time with your mother, you could get the most out of your time off. Moreover, the time spent together will probably only strengthen your relationship, making your time together even more meaningful. Of course, it’s up to you to decide how much time you’d like to go on holiday for – we also get it if two weeks away would be a bit too much for the both of you.
