Why does the return journey always seem much shorter than the outward leg on a day trip?
Sue Roffey
London, UK
Advertisement
There are two related parts to the answer. The first is that, if the outbound journey is relatively new to you, then it probably will actually take a little longer, as you drive a little slower, looking out for landmarks and turns, and so on – maybe less so these days if you have GPS and trust it!
The second is a related piece of psychology: your appreciation of the passing of time is substantially affected by the amount of attention you are giving to it. So, you pay more attention on the outbound journey, for the reasons above, and you inevitably give less attention to the return, particularly when back in the home area that you know well – indeed, it sometimes feels like you don’t remember making all those much-practised turns and stops!
Armin Nikkhah Shirazi
Ann Arbor, Michigan, US
Psychological research provides evidence that we don’t perceive the passage of time per se, but the change of events in time.
We experience fewer novel events that seem worthy of remembrance as we age, and so time seems to increasingly fly by
This has been used to provide a potential explanation for why time seems to pass faster as we get older: we experience fewer novel events that seem worthy of remembrance as we age, and so time seems to increasingly fly by.
Applied to a day trip, this suggests that since the return trip only recapitulates things already experienced on the outward leg (like passing a noteworthy sight, for example), it isn’t as novel or memorable, and therefore it seems to pass more quickly.
Like any good science-minded person, you shouldn’t just accept what somebody tells you, but try to test a hypothesis.
On your next day trip, plan a return route that is different from the outward leg, subject to the following conditions. First, it should objectively take as long as the first leg. And second, it should contain some interesting sights along the way – the more of these the better.
See if your perception of the length of the return trip is different. If it seems as long, you probably found your explanation. If it still seems shorter, you would need to consider a new hypothesis. If it seems longer, you might need to refine the hypothesis.
Kieran Evans
Horley, Surrey, UK
I very much experience this phenomenon, specifically in the case of shorter out-and-back trips. When exploring a new place by car or on foot, I like to drive or walk down dead ends to see what is at the end, sometimes with the promise of an attraction of some sort, like a canyon, a hike or a view. On these occasions, the return leg always feels like it passes in half the time or less.
One of the most extreme examples of this was driving 20 kilometres down a dirt track in Iceland, up a hill with no access points, frequent snow on the road and in a car that wasn’t really suitable for the job.
On the outward trip, the kilometres ticked by painfully slowly as I anxiously drove deeper into the wilds. I eventually arrived there safely and the canyon I saw and walked through was worth the trip. The return down the same road passed in the blink of an eye and I came up with the following reasons for why this was the case.
First, the return trip is a return to safety, and hence far less likely to cause anxiety – time will pass more quickly when one isn’t anxious. Second, the return trip was over familiar territory. Knowing what was coming next and hence being able to tick the landmarks off made the journey easier to quantify in my head and pass more quickly.
Third, when the entire journey was considered as a whole, I was now past the halfway point, hence the remaining distance to cover felt more manageable and passed more quickly.
Hillary Shaw
Newport, Shropshire, UK
Because we know more landmarks nearer home than further away. Imagine hearing a beep each time we pass one. Going out, the beeps slow down as they become further apart, and are more frequent as we return. This gives an impression of faster speed coming home.
Olwen Williams
Cambridge, UK
If you are starting on a bike in Cambridge, the return journey is inevitably downhill.
To answer this question – or ask a new one – email lastword@newscientist.com.
Questions should be scientific enquiries about everyday phenomena, and both questions and answers should be concise. We reserve the right to edit items for clarity and style. Please include a postal address, daytime telephone number and email address.
¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ retains total editorial control over the published content and reserves all rights to reuse question and answer material that has been submitted by readers in any medium or in any format.
Ìý