
Lifestyle

We’re wholly different on holiday. Here’s why
What started off as an Old English word referring to special religious “holy days” has now become the holy grail of what people eagerly work towards. Holidays are what we yearn for, and they bring out the best – and sometimes the worst – in us.
More than six decades ago, the lyrics of Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard became an anthem which flips a switch that changes the mindset and attitudes of all people when embarking on a summer holiday. “We’re all goin’ on a summer holiday, No more workin’ for a week or two …”
Almost instantly, we become different people, and the holiday version of ourselves emerges like a butterfly from its cocoon.
What is it about going on holiday that makes us act so differently? We become friendlier, we greet and make conversation with our holiday neighbours, our children make new friends with ease, we leave our accommodation without setting an alarm, and we happily let a person we don’t know from housekeeping service and clean our rooms. We have the energy to braai every night, and going for a walk or doing exercise happens with little to no fuss. When flying, we queue in an orderly way to board and we’re courteous – most of the time – to fellow passengers.
Research shows that when we step away from our mundane environments and responsibilities, we enter a space where freedom, leisure, and novelty can significantly influence how we interact with others and the world around us. If going on holiday brings out the best in us, then perhaps we should look for ways to make some of our holiday traits and characteristics more permanent.
My grandmother used to tell my sister and I stories about how our grandfather would morph into a totally different person once he had closed his grocery shop in Johannesburg’s central business district and headed down to Muizenberg on holiday.
Like a dangling carrot, a booked and well-planned holiday is a great incentive to push through our daily worries and tasks knowing that we have something in the not-too-distant future to look forward to. It’s the energy and enthusiasm that we put into planning and organising our holidays that we need to replicate in other aspects of our daily lives.
Though New Year’s resolutions last as long as ice-cream in the boot of a hot car, what we can all try to do is be the holiday versions of ourselves more often throughout the year.
- Dylan Berger is editorial co-ordinator at the SA Jewish Report.
