There’s an old, grey three-seater couch in my living room that needs replacing. My cat has lovingly tortured it for eight years, and it’s long since sagged under the weight of sleeping friends and winter evenings spent binging on adventure flicks.
Every couple months my partner and I talk about replacing it. Many friends our age have moved onto leather La-Z-Boys and chic sectionals. The three-seater is a bit of an eyesore and far too cramped for movie nights, requiring a game of Tetris for us both to lie down. Yet $1,500 seems like a lot for a couch—where’s the return on investment?
SPENDING MONEY ON EXPERIENCES, NOT THINGS
Fortunately, science is backing up my frugality. A recent study from Cornell University found that people are happier when they spend money on experiences, not things.
According to lead researcher Dr. Thomas Gilovich, experiences, rather than material goods, make us happier in the long run. This is contrary to what some people feel is true, since material goods last longer than individual experiences. Yet, the happy memories associated with a concert or ski trip last longer, creating more of a positive impact than the short-term happiness from a single purchase.
What’s really interesting is researchers found that even relatively bad experiences create happy memories—not a characteristic unique to canoeists. A camping trip of nothing but rain becomes a great opportunity for bonding, and an excellent story to tell. Stressful, uncomfortable and scary experiences can be turned into funny stories and later be seen as valuable learning experiences.
Not only does remembering past trips make us happy, so too does anticipating future experiences. Conversely, waiting for material possessions is fraught with impatience and frustration, according to Dr. Gilovich. Boxing Day sale riots at Wal-Mart anyone?
Maybe none of this is a surprise to paddlers, and perhaps the study only proves what we each intrinsically already know.
Maybe, like me, your favorite vehicle for experiencing the world isn’t upholstered, it’s buoyant, about 17 feet long, and available in a wide variety of materials and colors. Whether day-tripper or expedition boat, plastic banana or svelte racer, a canoe promises the same: Adventure. Exploration. Experience. Even relaxation.
My family and I still tell stories about camping vacations we spent together two decades ago. Ten years from now we’ll be telling some of the same stories, and many new ones. There’s not a single material possession that will withstand that test of time. No new couch, no matter how comfortable, will ever be talked about around the campfire.
You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy a boat—and isn’t that the same thing?
This article originally appeared in the 2016 Paddling Buyer’s Guide issue.
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