Those of us who have been spending time and money into using retinol creams to help defy premature aging may have spent the efforts better looking into travel, at least according to interdisciplinary research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) published in the Journal of Travel Research.
Entropy and tourism
The study applied the theory of entropy to tourism, finding that travel could have positive health benefits, including slowing down the signs of aging. Entropy refers to the general trend of the universe towards death and disorder, and the entropy perspective suggests that tourism could trigger entropy changes, wherein positive experiences might mitigate entropy to increase and enhance health, while negative experiences may contribute to entropy increase and compromise health.
“Ageing, as a process, is irreversible. While it can’t be stopped, it can be slowed down,” ECU PhD candidate Ms Fangli Hu said.
The researchers noted that positive travel experiences might enhance physical and mental wellness via exposure to novel environments, engagement in physical activities, and social interaction, especially when combined with the fostering of positive emotions. All of these potential benefits have been acknowledged through practices such as wellness tourism, health tourism, and yoga tourism.
Slowing the clock with travel therapy
“Tourism isn’t just about leisure and recreation. It could also contribute to people’s physical and mental health,” Ms Hu added.
Could travel therapy be a groundbreaking anti-aging health intervention? Positive travel experiences engaging in the environment may help the body sustain a low-entropy state by modulating its four major systems.
It does stand to reason because tourism typically exposes people to new surroundings, relaxing activities, and novel settings that can stimulate stress responses and elevate metabolic rates, positively influencing metabolic activities and the body’s self-organizing capabilities. Additionally, these contexts may also trigger an adaptive immune system response, and this reaction improves the body’s ability to perceive and defend itself against external threats.
“Put simply, the self-defence system becomes more resilient. Hormones conducive to tissue repair and regeneration may be released and promote the self-healing system’s functioning,” said Hu.
Leisure travel activity
“Leisurely travel activities might help alleviate chronic stress, dampen overactivation of the immune system, and encourage normal functioning of the self-defence system. Engaging in recreation potentially releases 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. Organs and tissues can then remain in a low-entropy state,” explains Hu.
Travel often involves activities such as hiking, climbing, walking, and cycling. This physical exertion can boost metabolism, energy expenditure, and material transformation, all of which help coordinate our self-organizing systems.
“Participating in these activities could enhance the body’s immune function and self-defence capabilities, bolstering its hardiness to external risks. Physical exercise may also improve blood circulation, expedite nutrient transport, and aid waste elimination to collectively maintain an active self-healing system. Moderate exercise is beneficial to the bones, muscles, and joints in addition to supporting the body’s anti-wear-and-tear system,” said Hu.
However, sometimes travel isn’t all positive, the research has pointed out that there could be challenges like infectious diseases, accidents, injuries, violence, water and food safety issues, and concerns related to inappropriate tourism engagement.
“Conversely, tourism can involve negative experiences that potentially lead to health problems, paralleling the process of promoting entropy increase. A prominent example is the public health crisis of COVID-19.”
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References/Sources/Materials provided by:
https://www.ecu.edu.au/newsroom/articles/research/travel-could-be-the-best-defence-against-ageing
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00472875241269892
https://worldhealth.net/news/exposure-nature-yields-benefits/
