Where to Go on Your Summer Vacation
May 20th, 2008 Posted in Travel bargains, Vacation deals
With gas prices at a record high, flying a demeaning exercise in bad service and extra fee avoidance, and soaring commodity prices driving up the costs of food and transport, what’s a summer vacationer to do? That seems to be the topic of the moment, judging by all the media calls I’m getting along these lines.
Here’s one that came out the Sunday before last in the Washington Post: This Year, the Heat’s Really On. (It got syndicated in other papers a week later.)
This Newsweek one wins the prize though for having the most creative title: The Summer of Our Discontent.
Depending on which survey you read, somewhere between 35 and 60 percent of Americans have decided they’re not going to leave town for a summer vacation. Real problems aside, that seems like overkill assuming you’re still gainfully employed and can still pay the mortgage on time. After all, even if gas prices have doubled, that means going somewhere 100 miles away is going to cost you a grand total of $40 more than last year round-trip, even if you drive a gas-guzzling SUV from hell that only gets 10 miles per gallon.
Let’s say your hotel/cabin/camping space is 20 percent more too and you’re spending 20 percent more on food. The difference from last year is probably less than you spend each month on digital cable and your 1000-minute mobile phone charges, not to mention the regular splurges at Starbucks and Whole Foods. Perhaps there are less painful places to cut the budget…?
If you read this blog regularly, you know my main advice: go to Latin America. Central America is especially a bargain right now. Just check out these prices in Honduras. You’ll spend half what you do just hanging out at home paying bills.
Or check out all the ideas in this Travel on a Shoestring Supercarnival of blogs.
Or forget airplanes and go somewhere nearby. Use Hotwire and Priceline to score a hotel deal. Find a package deal on SkyAuction. Let the deals come to you via SmarterTravel or Sherman’s Travel. Rent a cabin. Go camping away from the crowds. Whatever. If you want to stay healthy, creative, and mentally sharp, you need a break from the norm.
Get out of town!
3 Responses to “Where to Go on Your Summer Vacation”
By Mike on May 20, 2008
People don’t believe me when I tell them we actually SAVE money when we travel – it’s almost impossible to live more expensively in Thailand than in Seattle. Sounds like certain parts of Latin America are like that too.
By Jamie on May 20, 2008
Your Latin America advice came too late for us.
I’m banking on the fact that our higher than average commodities-based travel expenses this year should be offset by the fact that we’re taking our young kids to Spain.
Shouldn’t be too tough to convince them to eat 20% less cured ham, pimientos, and octopus.
By familyonbikes on May 25, 2008
We’ve beat the gas prices by traveling by bike! We’ll be taking off in two weeks to ride our bikes from Alaska to Argentina – with our ten-year-old twin boys. Traveling by bike is really quite cheap because all we have to pay for is food and the occasional campground. We can’t wait to get on the road!!
You can read about our journey at http://www.familyonbikes.org