The blog

Notes from the edges of travel.

Essays on travel psychology, destination fit, and the quieter mechanics of planning a trip that actually suits who you are.

Comparison & Social Media

Does taking photos ruin the moment? What the research actually says

June 26, 2026

"Put the camera down" is too simple. Photographing can hurt memory or boost enjoyment — attention is the deciding factor. The honest, two-sided verdict.

Comparison & Social Media

How fear of missing out wrecks your itinerary (and exhausts you)

June 22, 2026

You plan to see everything and come home needing a holiday from your holiday. How FOMO drives over-scheduling and half-present attention.

Comparison & Social Media

The pressure to "capture" a trip vs actually being on it

June 18, 2026

Documenting a trip isn't free. Shooting to share dents enjoyment, and recording weakens memory. The quiet trade behind the reflex.

Comparison & Social Media

Why your trip can feel like it “wasn't as good as theirs”

June 18, 2026

You came home happy — then scrolled, and your good trip felt like a letdown. The Olympic-medal effect explains why.

Comparison & Social Media

Status, identity, and the quiet pressure to overspend on travel

June 17, 2026

The pressure to overspend on travel isn't about the trip's cost — it's about what the trip is expected to signal.

Post-Trip Psychology

The gap-year paradox: why long-term travelers struggle most coming home

June 16, 2026

The trips that change you most are the hardest to come home from. Why the best journeys can produce the flattest returns.

Comparison & Social Media

Why filtered travel content quietly raises your baseline expectations

June 14, 2026

A steady diet of edited perfection resets what counts as "good." How social media slowly inflates your baseline for travel.

Post-Trip Psychology

Solo travel and loneliness: during the trip, and the quieter return

June 14, 2026

Loneliness is a normal, two-part feature of solo travel — managed on the road, then a specific gap on returning home.

Comparison & Social Media

How comparing yourself to others can spoil a trip you're on

June 13, 2026

Scrolling other people's feeds while you travel can spoil the trip you're on. The mechanism, and how to stop it in the moment.

Post-Trip Psychology

Post-vacation blues or burnout? How to tell the difference

June 11, 2026

They look alike for a few days but are fundamentally different — and a holiday fixes only one of them.

Comparison & Social Media

How influencer content distorts your sense of how good a place is

June 10, 2026

An influencer's beach post and a friend's don't land the same way. Why influencer travel content carries outsized weight on how good a place seems.

Post-Trip Psychology

The happiness fade: why vacation benefits disappear so fast

June 10, 2026

The vacation tank empties faster than you think. Why the benefit fades — and the evidence-based way to make travel last.

Post-Trip Psychology

Why home feels boring after a trip: the contrast effect

June 7, 2026

Coming home makes your perfectly fine life feel grey. Nothing got worse — your reference point moved.

Post-Trip Psychology

Why coming back from studying abroad is so hard

June 7, 2026

The semester abroad ends and the weeks back home feel worse than the foreign country ever did. What the research actually measured.

Comparison & Social Media

Why crowded "Instagram spots" disappoint in person

June 6, 2026

The empty staircase in the photo has 200 people queuing in real life. Why famous photo spots let you down — and how the platform manufactures the crowd.

Post-Trip Psychology

How long post-vacation blues actually last

June 4, 2026

For most people, post-vacation blues last days, not weeks. The timeline from the research, and when it's more than the blues.

Comparison & Social Media

Instagram vs reality: how social media warps destination expectations

June 2, 2026

Your feed shows a destination at its best, hundreds of times, before you book. How curated content quietly warps what you expect.

Post-Trip Psychology

Reverse culture shock: why coming home feels strange

June 1, 2026

You braced for culture shock going out — not for the version that hits coming home. The W-curve, explained.

Post-Trip Psychology

Why anticipating a trip feels better than the trip itself

May 29, 2026

A large share of a holiday's happiness arrives before you leave. The research on anticipation, and how to get more of it.

Post-Trip Psychology

Why you feel sad after a great vacation

May 26, 2026

The post-vacation dip is real and measurable. Why coming home feels flat — and why it isn't a sign the trip was wasted.

Post-Trip Psychology

Do longer trips cause worse post-vacation blues? What the research actually says

May 23, 2026

It feels obvious that a longer trip means a harder crash. The controlled research says otherwise — with one real exception.

Post-Trip Psychology

Post-honeymoon letdown: why you can feel flat after the wedding and the trip

May 20, 2026

Feeling low after the wedding and honeymoon? Nearly half of newlyweds report it. Here's why — and the one mental shift that helps.

Expectation vs Reality

When "authenticity" expectations collide with tourist reality

May 18, 2026

The "real" local experience always seems one door further in. Why the authentic backstage is often staged — and which authenticity you can reach.

Expectation vs Reality

Why going back to a place you loved often disappoints

May 15, 2026

You went back and it wasn't the same. Spent novelty and an idealised memory work against the return trip. How to give a second visit its own life.

Expectation vs Reality

Why you imagine being a different person on the trip (and aren't)

May 12, 2026

In the daydream, the trip-you is relaxed and free. Then you land and the familiar you catches up. The focusing illusion, explained.

Expectation vs Reality

Why over-researching a trip can quietly kill the joy

May 8, 2026

Watch every viewpoint in advance and the real thing feels like a rerun. Uncertainty is a hidden ingredient of enjoyment. The research on why.

Expectation vs Reality

When you feel guilty for not enjoying your trip

May 4, 2026

On the trip you dreamed of, you feel flat — then guilty for feeling flat. Why dream trips make that trap worse, and the way out.

Expectation vs Reality

Why amazing scenery stops feeling amazing so fast

April 29, 2026

The first sight of the Grand Canyon takes your breath away. Twenty minutes later you're checking your phone. The counterintuitive fix.

Expectation vs Reality

Why you misjudge whether a trip was actually "good"

April 24, 2026

Your verdict on a whole trip is built from just two moments — the peak and the ending. The peak-end rule, applied to travel.

Expectation vs Reality

Why famous landmarks feel underwhelming in person

April 19, 2026

The most photographed places on Earth are often the most anticlimactic in person. The idealized-icon gap — and the extreme called Paris Syndrome.

Expectation vs Reality

Why expensive trips can disappoint more, not less

April 14, 2026

Paying more quietly raises your expectations — and higher expectations are easier to fall short of. Why a splurge can sting more than a bargain.

Expectation vs Reality

Why "bucket-list" trips so often let you down

April 10, 2026

Calling a trip "once-in-a-lifetime" may be the surest way to guarantee it underwhelms. The rosy view and the impact bias, explained.

Expectation vs Reality

How travel marketing sets you up to be disappointed

April 6, 2026

The gap between the brochure and the reality has a name in tourism research. Why the polished image wins the booking but seeds the letdown.

Expectation vs Reality

Why destinations disappoint: it's the expectation gap, not the place

April 2, 2026

A place rarely disappoints because it's bad — it disappoints because it fell short of what you expected. The most useful lens in travel letdown.