Simply put, research[^1] suggests that how you feel about the end of your trip has an oversized impact on how you view the entire trip. The implication is that you should end your trip on a memorable and fun experience as a way of gaining "free value" towards the trip experience overall[^2]. In addition to giving your trip enjoyment an added small boost, saving a special experience for the end (instead of earlier in your trip) helps protect you against [[Hedonic adaptation]], where our enjoyment levels quickly revert to the mean—even during otherwise interesting experiences. By saving the "best for last," there is no time left for hedonic adaption to occur. This strategy may allow you to save money, too. Instead of paying more for a more expensive experience that extends throughout the trip, perhaps you just save that for the end instead. As an example, instead of paying for that expensive beach view hotel room for your entire week-long vacation, maybe you can get the same overall amount of enjoyment from the view by simply booking a night or two at the end instead. [^1]: Do, Amy & Rupert, Alexander & Wolford, George. (2008). Evaluations of Pleasurable Experiences: The Peak-End Rule. Psychonomic bulletin & review. 15. 96-8. 10.3758/PBR.15.1.96. [^2]: I grew up using this strategy at restaurants. I'd save the most tasty part of the meal for last. However, I first learned about this strategy through [[Book Notes - The Happy Traveler|The Happy Traveler]].