Actually, happiness isn't within

Some cultures are simply better at producing happy citizens than others.

from the January 7, 2008 edition

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The way people relate to one another varies tremendously from one nation to another and, to a lesser extent, from one city to another. These differences persist despite the advent of cellphones, the Internet, and other technologies that have supposedly conquered distance.

We can be anywhere, the apostles of a placeless future tell us, a message that dovetails nicely with the self-help movement's we-can-be-happy-anywhere mantra. Rumors of geography's demise, though, have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, technology has, in some cases, compressed distance, but not nearly as much as we've been led to believe. The vast majority of phone calls and e-mails never cross an international border. Even the Internet is largely a local technology, with most people checking local weather and sports and not the price of a grande latte in China.

Place matters even to those who forecast its demise. The purveyors of the placeless world, it turns out, tend to congregate in one place: a 50-mile corridor between San Francisco and San Jose, where they happily bike and hike and generally behave as though geography does matter.

Which it does. Its role in our happiness and our psyche is a fact that the forces of globalization and technology have failed to erode. That's why each year about 40 million Americans pick up stakes. Sure, we move for career opportunities or for family (a desire for either greater proximity or distance). But for many Americans, moving is about happiness: the U-haul version of Horace's legendary search for the Happy Isles.

The forces of technology aren't slaking our thirst for our own Happy Isles but stoking it. The number of people traveling – for work and pleasure – is on the rise, as packed airplane flights make painfully clear.

So, at the dawn of another new year, I say: Stop looking for the new you and, instead, book a flight. Or better yet, call a friend.

• Eric Weiner is the author of "The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World." ©2007 Los Angeles Times.

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