Do You Sleep Easy Before a Holiday Abroad?

Posted by Sue Anderson, 25th Mar 2014

Holidays can cause sleepless nights for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you're worried that your alarm will fail you and you will miss your flight. Maybe you are concerned that you forgot to pack your new swimsuit. You might even just be really, ridiculously excited about your holiday and that's what is keeping you awake.

We spoke to 1,853 people aged 18 and over from around the UK and asked them how they felt in the run up to a holiday abroad. Everyone we spoke to had been overseas for a holiday in the last year.



1 in 3 adults lose sleep before a holiday due to excitement



When asked, 'Did you lose sleep the night before your last holiday abroad due to the excitement about going away?' 33% of the holidaymakers we spoke to said 'yes'. When asked to estimate how much sleep they'd lost due to excitement before their trip, the average answer given was '3 hours'.

We also asked, 'Did you lose sleep the night before your last holiday abroad due to anxiety or stress related to going away?' to which 27% said 'yes'. When asked to estimate how much sleep they'd lost for this reason, the average answer stated was '2 hours'. According to our poll, the majority of those who lost sleep due to stress or anxiety were worried about oversleeping (41%), closely followed by concerns they'd accidentally forgotten something (27%).

29 million hour's worth of sleep collectively lost each year due to holiday excitement



With approximately 29.4 million visits abroad for holidays by UK adults last year, according to the Office for National Statistics, and 33% admitting to losing an average of 3 hours sleep due to excitement before each holiday, that means that, collectively, adult British holidaymakers are losing more than 29 million hour's worth of sleep due to excitement each year. That's 1 million days!

When looking at sleep lost due to holiday stress or anxiety ahead of a trip, adult British holidaymakers collectively lose more than 15 million hours worth of sleep in this way; or 661,500 day's worth.

Even as adults, we still clearly get gripped by the excitement that a forthcoming holiday brings. It seems we lose more sleep to excitement than anxiety relating to holidays, such as worrying that we've forgotten to pack something or that we'll sleep through our alarm.

At the end of the day, as long as you can try and get some of that sleep back once you're relaxing on a sun lounger by the pool, it won't do too much harm!
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