Photo credit: alfonsator via Flickr
Many of those in the Public Insight Network say they plan to spend less, stay closer to home, and economize by trading that hotel room for a camping spot, or getting a season pass at the water park rather than a week at the river.
What’s your summer travel plan? And how is it different from your usual vacation?
Are you afraid to leave town while a job application is pending? Maybe you’ve got a job but don’t want to be away from work while layoff talk is afoot.
Jane Lawrence of Allenspark, Colo. and her husband love to SCUBA dive, but despite skipping vacation last year due to the economy, they still don’t feel confident enough to take their dream dive trip to Bonaire, an island in the Netherlands Antilles.
I think we are going to compromise and take a trip to Mexico, which is much cheaper and closer. We will use credit card points for the airfare, and buy an all-inclusive package so that we know exactly how much it will cost. We are still debating whether to “invite” our college-aged son to joint us, which will increase the cost of the trip by 50%.
Stephen Howe of Jersey City, N.J. and his wife have already canceled one of the two trips they were planning to take this year. They will spend their Spring vacation week at home working in the garden and doing inexpensive projects around the house. And the fall trip could be sacrificed as well:
We both still have our jobs for the moment, but the idea of spending money on airfare, no matter how cheap, hotel, food, car rental, etc., just does not seem prudent.
Addison Wilhite, a teacher from Reno, Nev., has found an inexpensive vacation option. He will ride from the state capitol to Great Basin National Park on Highway 50, which he says is the lonliest road in America. Here he is on Windy Hill in Reno in a photo from Mike Henderson.
I’m a consistent bicycle commuter and will put in close to 3,000 miles this school year on my commute.
Jon von Neumann of Roswell, Ga., says he is starting up a new business and will spend very little on travel this year.
The economy is not good and I am not optimistic about a recovery. What has happened on Wall Street has sent economic tidal waves over the globe. The solution is not printing more money, but rather creating real value with real products. And is not that upon what this country was originally based?
My husband and I will not be taking a family vacation this summer. In February I was laid off by my employer of eight years, the largest healthcare system in Omaha and the state of Nebraska. Fortunately, I was able to secure another job at a hospital here in Omaha, but will not even be eligible to take vacation time for one year. We had planned to do a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park, not an expensive trip, but would require at least one week off. In addition, we were planning to combine the trip with moving our daughter to Great Falls, Montana, where she was planning to attend college in the fall. Instead, my husband will probably help her move to Montana without me and skip the camping trip to Yellowstone. In fact, we will be suggesting that our daughter forgo attending college as a full time student next year, and ask her to work on establishing residency to attain in-state tuition rates. We have learned the hard way to expect the unexpected. That means canceling vacations!