The World Happiness Report just made their announcement recently and for the second year in a row, Finland stayed at the top as the happiest country in the world. Data came from the Gallup World Poll survey.

The explanation was that this country has a strong social safety net, including a progressive, successful approach to ending homelessness. It also has a high-quality education system and the only country in the developed world where fathers spend more time with school-aged children than mothers.

One Finish native, Anu Partanen remarked that “most people would like a life where they can get health care if they get sick, where their children get a good education, where they can work and hopefully feel fulfilled in that work, while still being able to spend time with loved ones. It's not that Finns are necessarily looking to become immensely rich. I think Finland just does a pretty good job of helping people achieve this lovely, ordinary life.” 

In contrast, the United States is in 19th place for overall happiness. Last year they were 18th. Some researchers point to community and social connections as a central theme of the 2019 report, which details how face-to-face activities such as sports and volunteering contribute to positive well-being while online connectivity can undermine it.

This is particularly the case when it comes to younger people. Over the last decade, the amount of time adolescents (ages 13-18) spent on screen activities, such as gaming, social media and texting, has steadily increased. By 2018, 95 percent of adolescents in the U.S. had access to a smartphone and 45% said they were online almost constantly. Several studies have found a correlation between the time young adults spend online and a reduction in well-being. For example, girls who spent five or more hours a day on social media were found to be three times more likely to be depressed than non-users.

At least we are not among the top 7 least-happiest countries in the world. Those listed were South Sudan, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Rwanda, Yemen, and Malawi.....truly under-developed countries and in economically helpless situations.

Of the top 7 happiest countries in the world, the Scandinavian countries garnered 5 of those spots. …..and we are going there in May!! The Travel Factory Gang will be leaving on May 8 flying to Stockholm, Sweden, then traveling to Norway, Finland, Denmark, as well as Russia, Berlin, Estonia, and Poland. We will be on one of Viking Cruise Lines ocean-going ships, and no, it is not the one that got in trouble up on the North Sea trying to see the Northern Lights. We'll see if some of that “happiness” rubs off!!

You could make the experienced travel advisors at The Travel Factory real happy by giving us a call today and allowing us the chance to help you manufacture the vacation of your dreams.....we have a combined experience factor of over 125 years in doing this, so call today and you'll walk out of our office real happy. We are located at 4150 Southwest Drive, or call us at 698-1421, or visit our website: www.thetravelfactoryabilene.com.