Vacations lose their emotional value after only three days
Psychology
Short-distance travelers are hacking their brain chemistry by cramming a week's worth of relaxation into a single night in cities like Shanghai.
The human brain experiences a sharp decline in pleasure once the novelty of a new environment wears off, usually around the 72-hour mark. In South Korea, this has sparked the 'night goblin' phenomenon, where workers take four-hour flights to nearby hubs like Shanghai for a single, intense night of immersion. These micro-vacations exploit a psychological quirk: the first three days of a trip provide nearly three times the mental refreshment of a ten-day trek across Europe.