I’ve heard it casually mentioned twice recently that scientific research proves experiences, not things, give us the most happiness.

These couple of incidents paired with a related article that just landed in my Twitter feed? And, I think the universe is trying to tell me something.

I just got back from a girls’ reunion / 40th birthday trip that was two years in the making, yet it still managed to bust most of our budgets. Most of us are mommies that felt at least slightly guilty about all of the groceries or other more “practical” items we should have purchased instead.

This post is not to assuage guilt for those that may similarly overspend on travel, swimming lessons or other non-material goods this summer. This is interesting, scientifically proven data to explain why, just two weeks after the trip, I am still replaying funny moments in my head, sharing inside jokes and photos, and dreaming of the next trip I can take with my family, rather than beating myself up about the bill.

As Daniel Gilbert wrote in his book, Stumbling on Happiness, humans spend an inordinate amount of time “trying to behave in ways that will make their future selves happy,” to include buying things we think will make us happy but miss the mark.

If the data tells us otherwise, why do we keep getting it wrong then? Why are we as a culture so consumed with buying “stuff” as opposed to spending money on experiences? (Sidenote: if you haven’t watched The Story Of Stuff, I highly recommend it!)

While there is no quick or easy answer to these questions, this article shares seven reasons why experiences can be more rewarding than stuff (you can read more about the science in the full Fast Company article), my favorite couple of which are:

  1. In “keeping up with the Joneses,” it’s easy to compare who has the newest, most expensive cars for example, but if you both vacationed at the same locale, those experiences are too subjective for a direct comparison. No one can take your particular memories from you, and an experience is what you make of it  not what the Joneses say.
  2. When we remember events, we do so with rose-colored glasses. We tend to forget that a vacation was more like the latest National Lampoon’s installment in reality than it was a Norman Rockwell painting. Otherwise, why would parents ever take their kids to an amusement park more than once?

New strategy when your vacay has you exiting through the gift shop: maybe ditch the tchotchke and spend that money on an extra excursion instead. You can thank me later.

Pictured: driving an especially windy section of Pacific Coast Highway during aforementioned girls’ trip which we will likely never recover from or forget.

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