Are more people you know doing 'staycations?'
 

Newsweek weighs in on this trend

Looks like gas prices are getting high enough to get even some car vacationers rethinking plans.

I know this group is likely to be among the most resistant to 'staycations,' but is it a building trend?

I can see gung-ho types wanting to use a week to paint the house, but am skeptical that you can get vacation-like refreshment without a change of venue. Too many familiar distractions at home. Bad employers also might be more likely to interrupt. Or even encourage employees to turn in vacation days for money, which some feel that have to do financially but isn't healthy.

(At the other end of the spectrum, I think I saw more Middle Easterners in Thailand on my last trip than in 10 trips before that, combined). Your gas dollars DO get to fund some vacations!

I see the positive side: if more people do staycations the hotel prices might finally come down again...

HTB.

This is hardly "news". Even in the past 2 years around this time almost every news channel ran some sort of "special" or at least a primetime "news item" about soaring gas prices and then either (a) apocalyptic thoughts about vacations the upcoming summer, or (b) tips for saving fuel (money). Every year it's the same thing. :rolleyes: What really amuses me is people who actually go "wow! did you see that?" EVERY single year...

Interesting thought of a stay-cation. I personally like really getting away, even if it is just an hour away and therefore pretty limited fuel use. fortunately I live in CO, USA and we can get to the mountains pretty easy.

Conventional wisdom is that somewhere there's a breaking point on gas prices where it forces changes in habits. There are different theories on where that might be, but as gas prices keep breaking records more and more people will say we're there. Am not sure we are, but maybe we're beginning to be. Transit ridership is a bellwether, as are SUVs being traded in (or trying to be) before their time.

In my own admittedly atypical case I'm trying to have more of a bias against sprawler cities for mileage-motivated leisure trips, as the car+gas part of those trips is 2-3 times what it was 5 years ago (not only fuel costs, but lots more unfair taxes:mad:).

Some hotel markets remain stubbornly high, fer shur.

I just don't understand the math of the whole "high gas prices affect vacation plans" thing.

We're going to be doing a 25-day road trip that will likely end up being 5k miles - in a Suburban. So I'm looking at around 300 gallons = $1200. Compared with $3 gas last year, that's an extra $300.

So, even for my ultra-extreme case, the amount of money we're talking is a couple of nights in a mid-scale hotel at most. For sure, making it a 24 day vacation would easily offset the extra gas cost if Imoney was tight.

Now, I do believe that a typical family buying a total of ~1000 gallons per year has less money in their wallet in general, and that may affect vacation plans. But it's a pretty extreme vacation that burns up much over 100 gallons.

Sure, some local TV news journo can always find anybody to say anything, but as far as the reality of it is concerned - I'm not buying it.

As we get closer to retirement, I am only traveling for business. We just don't feel like splashing out for a vacation.

It isn't just the cost of gas, it is the inflation in the prices of everything!

Also as an FT person, I am worn out from traveling.

Will I take weeks of vacation time and stay home? No. I plan on selling back my unused vacation days.

Exactly, it's nuts. For most people, it would probably be only 45-50 bucks. Big freakin shocker, prices on everything rise as time progresses.

More fear inducing, the sky is falling BS is all the article is. :td:

And what, give yourself a heart attack from overworking? ;)

Sanosuke!

I agree with the skeptics here. I guess a lot of people can't do the simple arithmetic involved. Increases in other costs over the past few years -- hotels, meals, etc. -- probably exceed the increase in gas prices in many cases.

I think the problem is that gas is a commodity and we are constantly aware of its price per unit -- unlike other components of our vacations. @:-)

That sounds like a bummer. :( I was never in a job that had that much biz travel, but wondered if it could burn people out on doing leisure travel. Not taking time off doesn't sound too healthy, though.

I think that's generally true. A lot of every-day situations don't require Ph.D.-level analytical skills; fairly simple arithmetic can answer a LOT of questions. It amazes me how many people would rather believe things on the say-so of others rather than make some very simple calculations. (Of course, you also have the cents/mile obsessed bunch.;))

It is amazing to me how sheep-like people are. The cost of gas just isn't as high (as a factor in overall cost of living) as people think it is. If they would just sit down and do the math they wouldn't get so skittish about it. Even the freight aspect of it will retrench some as more long-haul freight moves from trucks back to trains.

That said, no I haven't noticed more vacationing at home. The people I know who like to do that still do that, and everyone else still goes somewhere at vacation time.

FWIW, The state of Florida had a very strong tourism season this winter, well up from last year.

My suspicion, entirely unsupported--just a gut feeling, is that
1. the majority of FTers are a bit above the median national income and are, therefore, better buffered from inflationary pressures.
2. many/most FTers are in position of instruments that help defray the cost of leisure travel, e.g. miles, points, vouchers, etc that most Americans do not.

most of my friends and acquaintances are not FTers but have the good fortune of falling into the first category. Moreover, the upthread posts about the actual cost of gas vs. ones budget impact is interesting. I think there is a lot of validity to "panic stricken" sheeple not actually recalculating their budget but inheriting the opinion of the talking heads.

Yes, we have changed our vacation plans this year... we will not be driving to Hawaii. The gas cost is just a killer.