Why do so many of us love to travel? What does travel at its best offer? What causes us to be disappointed sometimes in our trips, and how can people in the travel industry work with us to prevent such disappointment and promote optimal travel experiences? As a clinical psychologist and an avid traveller, the author wanted to write a book that offers fresh perspectives on these questions. The reader will learn to think about the nature of travel and about solutions to common travel problems in a new way. Strategies informed by psychological theory and research that travel providers can use to enhance our travel encounters will be given. Questions explored include: - What does our personality have to do with our travel satisfaction? - Why can seeking perfection in travel be so detrimental to our trip happiness? - What can be done to overcome travel fatigue and boredom? - How does trying to keep up with the often unrealistic depictions of travel on social media undermine our travel joy? - How do we prepare for trips in ways that spark excitement and receptivity for what is to come? - What can enhance the enjoyment trips give us long after they are over? This book will be of great interest to those in the hospitality and travel industry (both students and professionals) and general readers who want to better understand the complexities of the psychology of travel. It will serve as an invaluable guide to all who would like to learn what it means to travel well.

"Cross-Cultural Difference in Perspectives on the Self" features the latest research in a dynamic area of inquiry and practice. Considered in these pages are cross-cultural differences in the idea of the person and in models of balancing obligations to the self, family, and community.
Revisiting and questioning the concepts of self and self-worth, the authors investigate the extent to which factors traditionally associated with psychological effectiveness (intrinsic motivation; assuming personal responsibility for one's actions; and feeling in control, unique, hopeful, and optimistic) are culturally bound. Hazel Markus and Shinobu Kitayama consider cultural differences in models of psychological agency; Joan Miller critiques the meaning of the term agency, analyzing the extent to which many popular theories in psychology rest on rather narrow Western models of behavior and effective functioning; Steven Heine calls into question the presumed universality of some forms of cognitive processing; Sheena Iyengar and Sanford DeVoe apply a cross-cultural perspective to better understand intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the value of choice; Kuo-shu Yang questions the universality of the pervasive and popular "theory of self-actualization" formulated by Abraham Maslow; and finally, Ype Poortinga reexamines not only the cultural boundaries of theory but also the very meaning of the concept of culture itself.