It begins when the reservation is made and the dates are circled on the calendar. When a group text starts buzzing. When someone begins checking the weather. When the kids ask where they’ll sleep.
The trip is still months away, but part of you has already arrived at the island.
Anticipation stretches a getaway beyond the nights you actually spend there. You picture the first cup of coffee, every chair at the dining room table filled, an evening stroll, a bonfire. You begin gathering books, snacks and the vintage sweater that gives perfect cabin vibes.
Anne Shirley, one of my literary heroes, understood this. She knew that anticipation gives the imagination room to wander before reality fills in the details.
“Oh, Marilla, looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them.” — L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Research backs up Anne’s observation. Studies have found that people with a trip to look forward to often report more happiness and life satisfaction before they leave. One 2026 analysis even identified a possible sweet spot: trips planned roughly four months in advance seemed to generate the greatest anticipatory benefit—close enough to feel real but far enough away to provide a long runway of anticipation.
Maybe that’s why a cabin trip can feel generous even before it begins. It offers more than a change of scenery. It gives us something to hope toward together.
Sources and reading notes
- Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, Project Gutenberg.
- “Pre-travel anticipation as a catalyst of happiness—do demographics matter?”, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
- “The Holiday Happiness Sweet Spot”, Original Travel’s summary of 2026 research conducted by Paul Dolan and Alina Velias of the London School of Economics.