It’s not just holidays that fly by. The journey home often seems extra-quick. Even although it is exactly the same distance as the outward¹ leg, it seems to pass faster. And now, scientists have confirmed the phenomenon².

不只是假期才时光飞逝，回家的旅程似乎也常常格外地快。尽管外出和返程距离一样远，时光似乎流逝的更快。科学家现已经证实了这一现象。

To study the 'return trip effect', as it is called, they asked 20 men to take off their watches and view two films, ten minutes apart.The films were the same length and had been recorded by the Japanese researchers as they walked set routes. Half of the men watched two outward journeys. The others saw a round trip.To measure how quickly the men perceived³ time to be passing during their ‘journey’, they were asked to speak up every time they thought three minutes of the film had passed.

为了研究这一名为“回程效应”的现象，科学家让20人摘下手表，观看两部影片，影片间隔十分钟。电影时长相同，影片记录了日本研究人员走固定的路线。一半人观看两组外出旅程的影片，另一半人观看往返旅程的影片。为衡量出他们对影片“旅途”时间快慢的感觉，让他们根据其感觉每三分钟就发一次言。

And after watching both films, they were asked which seemed longer.Those who had watched the round trip thought the second film was shorter. Curiously⁴, they didn’t feel time pass more quickly while watching the films.

观看了两部电影之后，问他们感觉哪一部电影的时间显得时间长。观察往返旅程的人认为第二部电影的时长较短。有意思的是，看片时他们并没有感觉时间过得更快。

It was only when asked to compare the two films at the end of the experiment that the ‘return trip effect’ kicked in.The University of Kyoto researchers said that simply knowing we are on the homeward leg of a trip may make it seem shorter, when looking back.

只有在实验的最后阶段要求比较两部电影的时长时，“回程效应”才起效。京都大学的研究人员称，回首旅程，只要知道我们踏上归程了，旅途似乎就会变短。

Previous studies have attributed⁵ to phenomenon to the effects of concentration⁶ and anticipation⁷.It is thought that when we are going somewhere, we are focusing on getting there on time and every second counts.In contrast, when we are heading home, the pressure is off, we think of other things, and the journey passes more quickly.

以前的研究把这一现象归因于专注和期待效应。一般认为，我们外出去一个地方的时候，我们的注意力集中在准时到达，每一秒钟都至关重要。相反，归途中，我们没有了压力，会想些其他事情，旅途就过得快一些。

Another explanation is that we are too optimistic when we start to travel, leading to us under-estimating how long the trip will take.As a result, we are unnecessarily negative about how long the return journey will be and so are pleasantly surprised when it goes well.Interestingly, the effect isn’t due to a route being more familiar on the homeward leg.

另一种解释是：才开始踏上旅途时过于乐观，导致我们低估旅行时长。结果，我们不免对回程不报乐观态度，因此，归程顺利便喜出望外。有意思的是，产生这种效应并不是由于对回程更熟悉。

Research shows that people experience the feeling of time flying even when they return home by a different route. Scientists say that whatever the reason behind the effect, it is something to enjoy.After all, it leaves us feeling good after a long commute⁸ and when a holiday ends.

研究表明，人们即便归程改变路线也会感受到时光飞逝。科学家们说，不管这一效应其后的原因是什么，这都是享受。毕竟，假期结束，长时间的往返旅途终了时，我们都会感觉很好。