Why The Journey Back Home Always Feels Shorter

Often when we visit a new place or travel from one place to another, we may feel as if the road back to where we began, or at least the journey, is a lot shorter. The reason for this is what is known as the ‘return trip effect’, a phenomenon studied by many researchers, especially in psychology. 

Primarily, according to the National Library of Medicine, there are three main studies that demonstrate this ‘return trip effect’ phenomenon. To summarize, the first study shows how a pretest (a trip on a bicycle) indicates that people do experience the return trip effect regularly, even though the distance traveled and actual time spent are identical. The second study showed similar results with the experiment replicated on a bus, and the final study shows a resemblance to the same experience even when participants were watching someone else travel. The return trip effect also occurred when participants took a different route home, showing how familiarity is not a key factor in this phenomenon, but instead, the violation of expectations. 

The violation of expectations can be defined as when someone intends to take a longer time but spends a shorter time completing the task, hence, “violating” the expected itinerary. However, there are many reasons why a person may experience this effect, including: Familiarity; although, as said before, this factor may not be a main driver of the return trip effect, however, when traveling on familiar roads, lower levels of conscious engagement may contribute to the perceived shorter duration. Attentional Focus: Our attention is often more focused on the destination during the initial trip, while the return trip may involve more distractions and less focus on the time it takes. Cognitive bias: The return trip effect could also be a cognitive bias, where we simply expect the return trip to be shorter and adjust our perception accordingly. Another reason is due to our autonomic nervous system: Some studies suggest that changes in heart rate variability and other physiological measures may be correlated with the return trip effect. 

This concept of how time and our perception of it can imply many things. For once, understanding this theory has helped researchers explore how expectations influence our experiences and our brains’ perception of time or an event. Additionally, this theory is useful for travel agencies and individuals when planning trips. For example, keeping expectations in check when moving from one place to another can support the adjustment of schedules based on the anticipated duration of travel. 

In essence, the ‘return trip effect’ highlights how our subjective experiences of time is not always a perfect reflection of objective reality and are often influenced by a range of psychological and cognitive factors.