A new study claims that people anticipating to take a break to go on a vacation are happier than those who have no travelling plans.

The new research, published online in Springer’s journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, also suggests that taking greater numbers of shorter holidays can also boost happiness levels, rather than the traditional two-week summer break.

Jeroen Nawijn, from Erasmus University in Rotterdam and NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, and his team, point out that vacations are linked to a number of positive feelings.

In the research, 1,530 Dutch adults were questioned, 974 of whom took a holiday during the study. The findings show that “very relaxed” trips uplift the spirits for as many as eight weeks after the holiday.

Observing differences in happiness levels, the experts noted that “those planning a vacation were happier than those not going away. However, following the trip there was no difference between vacationers’ and non-vacationers’ happiness”.

In some cases increased happiness was noticeable in the first two weeks of returning back.

Nawijn explained, “The effect wears off completely after eight weeks, as people have to return to work or other daily tasks”.