AUSTRALIANTRAVELLER.COM 37
SHORTCUTS | Travel trend
“When you’re in a relatively safe place then all of
a sudden ... you are more experimental and more
willing to go above and beyond your normal self.
It allows for escape and expansion.”
DR MICHAEL BREIN HAS ‘visited’ more
than 100 countries. He’s a box ticker, to be
sure. He popped into Belize for just 45 minutes
so he could add to his list, and once took an
all-day train journey from Italy and back
again simply to stop in Liechtenstein. He
also won a competition in the 1980s after
travelling to 50 American states in 50 days.
Brein has coined a term for this kind of
traveller: The Collector. In fact, this
US-based gatherer has created 14 separate
travel archetypes; all in a day’s work for the
world’s first travel psychologist.
Given Brein harnessed his passion for
travel to pioneer a new field of psychology,
you won’t be surprised to learn he’s not
exclusively a numbers man. He would go
back to Africa in a heartbeat, despite having
already visited six times. And he has been to
Eureka Springs in Arkansas about 20 times
in the past 25 years.
Throughout his career, Brein has collected
thousands of travel stories and says the vast
majority of travellers “unquestionably”
prefer to return to a favourite destination.
“The more you morph from being a
tourist in the beginning to a traveller, the
more in depth you get, the more perceived
value and benefits [there are] of going to a
place repeatedly that you have connected
with,” he says.
“[It’s] reconnecting with the good and
positive from the past, and we want more of
that,” Brein continues. “We want to relive,
re-experience, reconnect.”
Travellers are lured to repeat destinations
for a host of reasons: we develop emotional
attachment through past experiences or
family history – a much-treasured annual
family pilgrimage to the coast, for example;
we forge personal connections with local
people or communities – say, a warm welcome
from the barista you’ve come to know (and
rely on!); we find comfort in familiarity while
still enjoying time away from day-to-day life.
These themes tap into one of psychology’s
most famous theories: Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs. According to psychologist Abraham
Maslow, people are motivated to fulfil specific
innate needs before moving on to their more
complex desires. In the five-tiered system,
originally published in 1943, physiological
essentials – food, water, sleep, sex – take top
honours before we strive to meet our need for
safety and security, followed by desirables such
as friendship, love, self-esteem and purpose.
Brein says a repeat destination – a location
we know and love – provides a deeply fulfilling
environment, whether we realise it or not.
“[A familiar destination] becomes more
comfortable and cosy and safe,” he explains.
“When you’re in a relatively safe place thatallows you to expand yourself a little bit more
then all of a sudden, these higher-order needs
open up more than when you’re at home.
“You are more experimental and more
willing to go above and beyond your normal
self ... It allows for escape and expansion.”
Of course, Maslow and his needs don’t
tend to be on our minds while we’re
considering our next holiday. Not literally,
at least. But they’re working hard in the
background as we consider the appeal of
a potential destination. So, too, is the
‘mere-exposure effect’, a scientific principal
that suggests people tend to develop a
preference for things – or, in this case, places- simply because they are familiar with them.
But enough about psychology.
Destinations evolve over time, and so do
we. The London you visited as a 22-year-old
backpacker, for example, is an entirely
different city to the one you might return
to as a 40-something. Landscapes and
landmarks change, social and political
climates are fluid, and the lens with which
you view such things develops over time.
And then there’s the precious holiday
home that represents quite the opposite: the
quiet backwater that, mercifully, looks and
feels the very same with everyreturn trip.
Regardless of motivation, there’sno place
like a home away from home.