Return trip is shorter
Are we there yet?! When you go on a holiday the outbound journey seems an everlasting hell and the return trip a piece of cake. Tilburg University researcher Niels van de Ven found that if the outbound trip takes longer than expected, the way back seems to go much faster.
It is a phenomenon that everyone who travels recognizes: the return trip seems shorter in time than the outward journey. There is now scientific proof for this psychological phenomenon. According to social psychologist Niels of Ven the way back can even feel 22 percent faster than it actually is in reality.
The reason for the difference in perception is purely in the mind. According to Van de Ven it has to do with how people estimate the outward journey. Because people underestimate this it often feels as a long way. The traveler expects the same long experience on the way back, as a result the return trip often turns out not to be that bad at all.
The travel route and means of transport are totally irrelevant. People who took a different route back experienced the same.
Niels van de Ven is conducting further research on time experience. He will look into what happens when people watch the same movie or perform the same task.
