Make the most of your vacation
To reap the most benefit from your time off, steer clear of these common mistakes.
(Money Magazine) -- You're probably starting to think about what you and your family will do over the winter holidays. Spend a week at Mom's in Tucson? Jet to Paris? Stay home and clean the basement?
Your budget will have a lot to do with your decision, of course. But if your goal is to use your money to increase your happiness, you'll take care to avoid these traps.
Valuing things over experiences. A 2003 study by psychologists Leaf van Boven and Thomas Gilovich shows that in the long term, people appreciate memorable experiences more than they do physical possessions.
As time passes, it's the pleasure of beholding the Grand Canyon, say, that will stick with you -- not the pleasure of owning those expensive cuff links. So take more and longer vacations, cutting back on purchases if necessary.
Keeping to the familiar. Research shows that people tend to stick to the status quo -- even though broadening their horizons might make them much happier.
Never been to Rome? Maybe it's time. If you can't afford to visit an exotic locale, incorporate novelty. Give snowboarding a try, for example, or order the shrimp diablo instead of the burger.
Expecting every vacation to be nonstop fun. The dirty little secret of holidays is that they're often more stressful than daily life. They involve more chances to make big mistakes, such as dropping your credit card in the Everglades or ordering a meal that makes your spouse break out in hives.
To maximize your happiness, lower your expectations. And remember: If disaster strikes, you'll get a great story out of it later.
Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University. 
