Looking for Happiness? Plan a Vacation!

In the New York Times' Well blog, Tara Parker-Pope writes that vacation planning increases happiness for an average of eight weeks.
The surprise is the vacation itself doesn't increase happiness as much as the planning. The post-vacation glow? Almost non-existent.
Parker-Pope's article cites a study of Dutch adults. I'm not certain any study analyzing the Dutch personality correlates automatically to the American personality, but I am not disputing the results.

Why Travel, Then?

Travel is not for everyone. Some people are so passionate about what they do in their daily lives that a vacation is an unwelcome interruption. Some people can't leave their comfort zones without developing high anxiety.
For me, both planning a vacation and taking a vacation is fun. Organizing my photos and posting my journal post-trip is fun too. Who is with me here?
Planning a trip, I will log hours of Internet research, read travel journals and "Best Of" lists. I will poll my friends who have been to the spot I am researching. (Italy is high on my list now, but so is another trip to London . . . but South Africa would be so cool.)
But the vacation-planning-happiness theory is more than just anticipating a trip. Anticipation itself boost serotonin and whatever other happiness-hormones are floating around our brains. (Ask Carly Simon.)
I can feel the same happiness-boost when apartment hunting. But apartment-hunting, like vacations, is about the new and discoverable.