Welcome to the first installment of our Philosophy of Travel series. This series will dive into what makes travel enjoyable for people and things we can do to approach our adventures with a mindset that will maximize our experiences. I should note that the thoughts and principles discussed here are largely contributed by me, Rob, unless otherwise noted. Shani and “S” will certainly weigh in with their own thoughts occasionally, but I will be the main voice. Our intent is to spark deliberate thought on the subject of travel and maybe…just maybe, start a dialogue on the different topics.
Have you ever visited a forum, blog or otherwise read a published review and asked yourself, “Were they on the same trip as me?” or “They really let THAT ruin their trip?” I certainly have, all too often. Why would one person come away from a shared experience thinking about how wonderful a time they had, while another came away so miserable, that they felt their experience was ruined? While individual personalities certainly play a factor in the ever ranging variety of responses from a shared experience, it cannot explain everything. There are learned behaviors that contribute to how we perceive events.
The field of positive psychology is rapidly growing. There is quite a bit of literature now available that provides a synthesis of the recent study associated with this evolving field of study. I will not bore anyone with a comprehensive literature review related to this intriguing topic. After all, this isn’t a psychology blog, it’s a travel blog. I will offer one suggestion of a book that provides a user friendly introduction to many of the principles though. The Happiness Advantage, by Shawn Achor, is a great place to start if you’re interested in learning more about positive psychology. If you read Mr. Achor’s work, you will soon become familiar with one subset of positive psychology, which we’ll be discussing today…The Tetris Effect.
Tetris is an addictive video game developed by Russian game designer, Alexey Pajitnov, and released to a worldwide audience in 1988. The game involves the manipulating of tetrominos (a joining of four square blocks) into a solid line of ten blocks, without any gaps. Once the ten blocks are aligned, it collapses all blocks found underneath the aligned set of ten. To be successful, it requires a player to use precise spatial visualization, to read the specific shape of a tetromino, and manipulate it to fall in an exact, beneficial location. The more you train your mind to analyze each tetromino, in relation to where it should be placed, the easier it is for a player to make that determination quick enough to perform well in the game.
Of course, the Tetris Effect isn’t limited to playing the game of Tetris. It is believed that any type of repetitive analysis can produce similar effects. In essence, you train your mind for what you want to see. If you train your mind to look for patterns in mathematics, it’s going to enable you to become more proficient in activities that require such analyzing. If you look for the rotation of a baseball, over and over again, you can train your mind to recognize a pitch traveling towards you as either a fastball or a breaking ball in a split second (obligatory baseball reference). It leads us to this… If you train your mind to look for the positive aspects of your travels, you will recognize more of those positive things. If you focus on the positive, you will see the positive. By contrast, if you focus on the negative, you’re going to find more things to complain about.
Now that we understand what the Tetris Effect is, how does it apply to the way we perceive our travels? It would certainly follow the hypothesis that if we start out the experience of planning, preparing and executing an adventure, by focusing on the positive aspects, we are much more likely to recognize the positive elements of that adventure. If you leave for a trip and look for things that you dislike, well…I’m pretty sure you’ll find plenty of examples. It sounds so simple, right?
Anyone who studies the human mind can tell you that nothing is that simple. However, it doesn’t downplay the significance of incorporating a change of thought into how we live our lives. It takes a lot of repetitive analyzing to make the mind behave the way we want it to behave. This is the whole premise behind cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s the whole premise behind developing any habit. You would probably be disappointed if you only try applying this principle when you travel. It will likely require that you employ this approach in multiple aspects of your life. It does take deliberate work and time to change the way a human being does anything. But from my perspective, it is totally worth it.
As with any complex equation, choosing to look for the good in a situation can produce varying results. For instance, if you were sailing on the Titanic in April of 1912, applying these principles would produce much different results than if you simply had an unpleasant interaction with one staff member on an otherwise successful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
Do you want to enjoy your travels more than you have in the past? I have no doubt that there are negative things that I’ll “see” during the course of a trip that never register in my mind. I strongly recommend exploring and incorporating this thought process into how you approach your trips. More importantly, I recommend incorporating this principle into your daily life. It will only hasten the results you experience. In fact, I challenge you to put this information to practical use. Share with us your experiences and how it has impacted your life and your travels!
Have Wife, Will Travel 