Like you, I am now stuck in my home waiting for the corona virus storm to pass by. It sucks, but it is what it is. I wish I could take a trip on the bike – can’t even really go camping by myself because of the situation. What I can do is plan. Plan trips and think about places to go. Plan trips that I may not even take.
I remember reading a couple articles that talked about steps for happiness. They all seemed to roll through the socials around the same time. One of the 10 or 12 steps that was listed perennially was planning a trip and not taking it.
The main science behind this was that we derive more joy from the anticipation of an event rather than the actual event itself. For up to eight weeks (apparently) people can increase their endorphin levels by thinking and talking about it with others.
One study found that people who just thought about watching their favorite movie actually raised their endorphin levels by 27 percent.
Shawn Achor
I may be stuck at home, but my google maps fingers are still working fine. I will be planning some motorcycle trips – some motocamping, some not – and posting them up. I find the process pretty fun – looking for random weird things to see. Following roads on google maps until they are probably not passable anymore. It might be a little while before I can get back out on the road, but it never hurts to look, right?
