Maybe It Wasn’t an Expense After All

September 23, 2026

By Mike Whalen | Mike’s Journal | TravelPosters.com

I’ve been thinking lately about the word "expense".

We use it constantly.

The airfare was an expense. The hotel was an expense. Dinner was an expense. The concert tickets were an expense. That weekend away cost us money.

And technically, all of that is true. Money left our bank account. We worked hard to earn it. Maybe we saved for months to take the trip. Maybe we decided not to buy something else because this experience was more important.

There is nothing imaginary about the cost.

But I’m beginning to think that calling these moments "expenses" tells only half the story. Maybe some of them are actually investments.

Stay with me.

I’m not talking about an investment in the traditional financial sense. Your weekend in Charleston isn’t going to appreciate 8% a year. Nobody is paying you interest on the afternoon you spent hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park with your kids. There isn’t going to be a dividend check from that dinner you had overlooking the Adriatic in Croatia.

But there is a return. And it may be one of the most valuable returns we ever receive.

Maybe We’re Using the Wrong Ledger

We are conditioned to measure value financially.

Put $10,000 into an index fund, and years later you can calculate exactly what happened to it. Buy a piece of real estate, and you can track its appreciation. Put money into a CD, and somebody can tell you precisely what you’ll have when it matures.

But spend money taking your family somewhere together? Our financial statements call that consumption. Money spent. Gone.

Except it isn’t.

Because part of what you purchased stays with you 10, 20, or 40 years later. You just can’t find it on a balance sheet. It’s stored somewhere else.

Your Own Personal Fort Knox

I’ve started thinking about our memories almost like our own personal Fort Knox. Throughout our lives, we’re depositing little pieces of gold into it.

Some deposits are obvious:

The big family vacation you planned for a year.
A graduation trip across the country.
The first time your kids stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon or look up at Half Dome in Yosemite.
Taking your parents somewhere they’ve dreamed of visiting their entire lives.

But a lot of the gold doesn't announce itself when it happens.

Sometimes it’s sitting at a quiet bar and striking up a conversation with a local stranger—a chat that points you toward a cove you never planned to visit.

Maybe while traveling you discover the work of an artist you’ve never heard of. You meet her, hear her story, and suddenly understand her work in a completely new light.

Maybe you’re standing on a rocky shoreline at precisely the right moment when a dolphin surfaces nearby. Or maybe you turn down a side street simply because it looks interesting and discover the small trattoria or view that becomes the defining story of the whole trip.

I’ve experienced enough of those unscripted moments while traveling to know that the best parts of a trip are rarely the ones on the printed itinerary.

Try calculating the financial return on any of that. You can’t—and that’s exactly the point. The return is measured in a entirely different currency.

What Psychology Says About Spending on Experiences

Psychologists have spent decades studying the difference between spending money on having things versus spending money on doing things.

In research led by Thomas Gilovich at Cornell University on experiential versus material consumption, studies consistently show that experiential purchases—travel, meals, concerts, and recreation—produce greater long-term satisfaction and happiness than material goods.

Blackberry Cocktail, Sam Adams Beer Can at Concert, and a Bacon Breakfast Sandwich

Researchers point to three primary reasons for this:

Social Connection: Experiences are almost always shared with others, strengthening relationships.
Identity Integration: What we do shapes who we are far more than what we own.
Low Relational Comparison: You rarely compare your personal vacation memories to someone else's the way you might compare cars or television sizes.

An experience doesn’t simply become something you did; it becomes part of who you are. That is a remarkable return.

The Dividend Begins Before You Even Leave

Here’s another aspect I love: the value of an experience doesn’t begin when the plane takes off. It often begins months earlier.

Where should we go?
What should we see?
Where are we staying?
Who’s coming with us?

In a study published in Science Directs Journal of Consumer Psychology, researchers found that people derive significantly more happiness from looking forward to experiential purchases than from waiting to receive material goods.

Think about that. The trip hasn’t even happened yet, and it’s already paying a dividend.

My family and I have experienced this countless times. The conversations beforehand become part of the trip itself. Looking at maps, talking about regional food, discovering hidden spots, debating routes—for weeks or months, there is a bright spot on the horizon.

We’re going. That anticipation matters.

Living the Unscripted Moments

And then comes the experience itself. Travel has a distinct way of interrupting normal life.

At home, we are constantly pulled in a dozen directions at once—work, emails, school drop-offs, notifications, household chores. Even when we’re physically in the same room, we’re often mentally somewhere else.

Then you go somewhere new, and suddenly you’re figuring things out together:

Where are we eating tonight?
Which trail should we take?
What’s down that narrow alley?
Does anyone remember where we parked?

Those don’t sound like monumental events, but that’s precisely why they matter. For a little while, you are experiencing the exact same world at the exact same time.

According to research on family vacation dynamics published in leisure studies literature, shared travel experiences strongly correlate with increased family cohesion, better communication, and lasting adaptability among couples and children.

It’s not simply where you went. It’s that you went there together.

Lessons from the Dalmatian Coast and Fenway Park

I thought about this a lot during our trip through Croatia.

Of course, there were the famous sites we planned to see: Dubrovnik’s Old Town, Diocletian’s Palace in Split, and the lavender fields of Hvar. And they were spectacular. But when I recall Croatia today, my mind doesn’t organize the journey like an itinerary.

CROATIA: BEYOND THE ITINERARY

Sitting above the Adriatic at Buža Bar
Cycling from Hvar Town toward Stari Grad
Heading out on the water toward the Blue Cave
Spontaneous dinners, quiet squares, and late pizza

Eventually, the schedule fades. The moments remain.

I’ve seen the exact same pattern closer to home. When I visited Boston to spend time around Fenway Park while developing our Great Ballparks of America project at M&W Design Co., I went to study architecture, take reference photographs, and walk Lansdowne Street.

But being there reminded me why historic places matter in the first place: they are containers for human memory.

Someone remembers the first game their father took them to. Someone else remembers sitting in the bleachers with their grandfather. Another remembers taking their daughter. The green steel and brick walls matter—not just as physical structures, but because of what transpired between the people sitting in those seats.

That is the difference between a geographic location and a genuine sense of place.

Connection, Longevity, and Storytelling

The implications go far beyond vacation planning. Human connection is fundamental to our well-being.

In a landmark meta-analysis published in PLOS Medicine by Julianne Holt-Lunstad and colleagues, researchers reviewed 148 studies covering over 308,000 participants and found that individuals with strong social relationships had a 50% greater likelihood of survival over study periods compared to those with weak social ties.

While this research measures overall social integration rather than vacations, it underscores a fundamental truth: time spent building relationships is a primary driver of human health and longevity.

The Power of "Remember When..."

Vacations aren't a magical cure-all, nor do they guarantee permanent post-trip happiness. Studies on vacationers show that while pre-trip anticipation brings a major mood boost, day-to-day happiness levels typically return to baseline a few weeks after returning home.

I actually think that makes the broader point even more compelling. If we evaluate travel solely by whether we feel "happier" three weeks later, we are using the wrong metric.

What travel does give us is a story—and stories have extraordinary longevity.

Think about your own family. What stories get retold year after year? They are rarely about the items you bought. They are about the things that happened:

"Remember when Dad took the wrong turn in the storm?"
"Remember that tiny seaside restaurant with no menu?"
"Remember when we got completely lost in the city?"

Research shows that people enjoy discussing experiential purchases far more than material ones. The narrative yields returns three separate times:

Before: The joy of anticipation.
During: The presence of living it.
After: The lifelong warmth of saying, "Remember when...?"

The Window of Opportunity Closes

This doesn't mean driving into debt for luxury trips. Meaningful experiences aren't exclusive to expensive travel.

The real currency isn't money—it's time and focused attention. Money simply serves as a tool to create the opportunity.

Driving two hours to explore a state park you’ve never seen.
Taking your kids fishing on a Saturday morning.
Walking through an historic district nearby.
Camping under the stars.
Meeting old friends for dinner and staying for that extra conversation.

Financial investments often give us a second chance. If you miss a contribution this year, you can increase it next year.

Time does not offer returns.

Your children are only eight once. They are only eighteen once. Your parents are only the age they are today once. Schedules become complicated, bodies age, and eventually, the experiences we assumed we’d get around to are no longer available.

Money can be replenished. Time cannot.

Why Sense of Place Matters

This realization is why I’m deeply passionate about travel, storytelling, and artwork at M&W Design Co and TravelPosters™

A place isn't just coordinates on a map. It’s a container for what happened to you while you were there.

Yosemite means something entirely different to a child who saw Half Dome while holding their grandmother’s hand than it does to someone scrolling past a photograph on a screen. Key West isn't just turquoise water if it’s where your family spent the week everyone still talks about.

Photographs, travel art, and keepsakes act as little keys that unlock that personal Fort Knox. You look at a piece on your wall, and instantly you’re back there:

You remember who you were with.
You remember how young the kids were.
You remember the laughter and the meal.
You remember the feeling

When we design our travel posters, our ultimate goal is to create something that makes someone pause and say, "I've been there." But underneath those words is the true return: "And I remember who I was with."

Mike's family in Croatia

The Second Ledger

I’ve spent much of my life building businesses and analyzing investments. I respect numbers. Return on investment matters. Saving matters. Financial responsibility matters.

But we need more than one ledger to measure a life well lived.

There is the financial ledger. And then there is the second ledger.

It records the dinners, the wrong turns, the sunsets, the inside jokes, the family traditions, and the thousands of quiet moments that become deeply meaningful over time. There is no annual balance statement mailed to your home, but the wealth is real.

So take care of your finances. Save, invest, and be prudent. But remember that the money that leaves your account for shared experiences hasn't disappeared at all.

It was converted—into time, into connection, into stories, and into memories.

In the end, that may turn out to be the best investment you ever make.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are experiences really better for happiness than buying physical items?

Yes. Psychological research consistently demonstrates an "experiential advantage." Experiential purchases yield longer-lasting satisfaction because they foster social connection, form a core part of personal identity, and are less prone to social comparison than material possessions.

Does planning a trip increase happiness before you travel?

Research confirms that anticipation provides a significant psychological dividend. People experience higher levels of happiness and excitement while anticipating an upcoming experience compared to waiting to receive a material good.

How do family vacations improve relationships?

Studies in family dynamics indicate that shared vacation activities enhance family cohesion, adaptability, and communication. Navigating new environments together creates shared bonding experiences outside the stresses of daily routines.

Do vacations provide long-term happiness?

While immediate post-vacation happiness metrics usually revert to baseline within a few weeks, travel offers long-term psychological value through memory creation, shared identity, and story retelling that enriches relationships over a lifetime.

Does meaningful travel have to be expensive?

Not at all. The psychological benefits of experiences stem from shared focus, presence, and novelty—not luxury. A day hike, a local road trip, or a weekend camping trip provides the same relational and psychological returns as expensive long-distance travel.

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