For many people, summer vacation can’t come soon enough—especially for the half of Americans who canceled their summer plans last year due to the pandemic. But when a vacation approaches, do you ever get the feeling that it’s almost over before it starts? If so, you’re not alone. In some recent studies Gabriela Tonietto, Sam Maglio, Eric VanEpps, and I conducted, we found that about half of the people we surveyed indicated that their upcoming weekend trip felt like it would end as soon as it started. This feeling can have a ripple effect. It can change the way trips are planned—you might, for example, be less likely to schedule extra activities. At the same time, you might be more likely to splurge on an expensive dinner because you want to make the best of the little time you think you have. Where does this tendency come from? And can …