University research finds certain travel experiences can ward off premature ageing

Could there be a better reason to travel? New university research has found evidence positive tourism experiences can slow the ageing process.

Forget about expensive night creams and light masks – a new Australian study has found the best way to avoid premature ageing is to travel.

Fangli Hu, a PhD candidate at Edith Cowan University, applied the theory of entropy to tourism, finding that tourism could have positive health benefits, including slowing down the signs of ageing.

Entropy was defined as the degradation of matter and energy in the universe, with Ms Hu’s study finding tourism could trigger entropy changes — both positive and negative.

“Ageing as a process is irreversible (but) while it can’t be stopped it can be slowed down,” Ms Hu said.

Examples of travel that might reduce entropy and increase and enhance health, included tourism that exposed people to new environments, or involved physical activity and positive social interactions.

Ms Hu said often travel encompassed things such as hiking, climbing, walking and cycling, which were beneficial to health, and potentially even more so in new places with new people, due to the added mental stimulation.

“Such experiences can stimulate stress responses, elevate metabolic rates and boost the immune system. Put simply the self-defence system becomes more resilient,” she said.

“Hormones conducive to tissue repair and regeneration may be released, and promote the self-healing system’s functioning.”

Active travel has been found to help slow the ageing process, but even ‘flop and drop holidays’ could be beneficial, new university research has found.

Even more leisurely travel activities such as lying by a pool or on a beach could help alleviate chronic stress, releasing tension and fatigue in the muscles and joints.

“This relief helps maintain the body’s metabolic balance and increases the anti-wear-and-tear system’s effectiveness,” Ms Hu said.

“Organs and tissues can then remain in a low-entropy state.”

Not all travel experiences were beneficial to a participant’s defiance of the ageing process, with adventures resulting in accidents, injuries, infectious diseases and other sickness all increasing entropy and compromising health.

“A prominent example is the public health crisis of Covid-19,” Ms Hu said.

Further research is being undertaken to examine the benefits of tourism for people with mild dementia, with early indications that travel could improve their quality of life and slow their deterioration.

“Tourism isn’t just about leisure and recreation. It could also contribute to people’s physical and mental health,” Ms Hu added.

Avid solo traveller and author Monique van Tulder in Austria.

Avid traveller and author Monique van Tulder said she was not at all surprised by the research and hoped it would encourage more people to get out and about.

She said the novelty and freshness of exploring a new town or country, definitely gave a “sense of youthfulness”.

“In older age, novelty and freshness can be wanting, but when you travel you are experiencing a new culture and if you go it alone you’ve got an even better chance of making new friends,” said Ms van Tulder, the author of A Grown Ups Gap Year.

“If aged care facilities shoved us on a plane and sent us somewhere exciting we might live better lives.”

The study came as International Air Transport Association data showed the number of people travelling was only increasing, with airlines carrying 8 per cent more passengers in July compared to a year ago.

Throughout the world planes were on average 86 per cent full, with the growth in demand for international flights outstripping that for domestic travel.