The thought of a vacation starts with preparing. Passports, tickets and packing bring stress, but the idea of sipping a cold drink on the beach makes it all worth it. But recent financial concerns are leading many to cancel summer vacations, making staycations more popular than ever.
According to a recent PBS NewsHour report, inflation rose to a three-year high in May, driven largely by rising gas prices and broader affordability concerns. Consumer prices increased 4.2% from a year earlier, putting additional pressure on household budgets.
Average pump prices rose from about $4.04 in mid-April to $4.49 in mid-May, making discretionary spending, such as travel, more difficult for some Americans.
Cianna Duncan, a 26-year-old who recently moved from Tennessee to Florida, was planning a trip in April to visit family in Arkansas and friends in Indiana.
She wanted to drive like she usually does — but this time from Florida, which is a 12-hour drive. But after calculating gas prices, which were around $4.50 per gallon at the time, and comparing them with the cost of a flight — which totaled $300 — she realized the trip wouldn’t be possible, she said.
Duncan can’t afford the gas to go far from Florida, she said, so she’s chosen to stick within the state this summer.
“My summer travel plans are going to different cities in Florida,” Duncan said.
But Ebony Okafor, the director of outreach at the UF Counseling and Wellness Center, encourages travelers not to get discouraged when finances force trip cancellations. People feel whatever they need to when they cancel a trip, but they should use their logical brain to process the disappointment that comes with it.
Okafor advises wannabe travelers to ask themselves, “What is it that I was wanting to get out of vacation? … How can I get close to it now that that option is gone?”
So, a staycation doesn’t mean staying in a dark room, a bag of chips in hand, binge-watching a show and sleeping all day, she added. It just means a vacation won’t look like that trip to Greece or Italy.
For some, saving money while planning a trip is very important. Aryella Costa, a 19-year-old from Orlando who travels to Brazil every year, uses Groupon to find cheaper hotel deals and signs up for gas rewards to manage costs.
“Saving money is important because you also want to have fun,” Costa said. “But you want to be comfortable with having fun, too.”
The thought of a staycation isn’t new to Costa — it's what she did last summer. She’s big on being a tourist in her city, traveling familiar territory with a fresh eye. She enjoys exploring different beaches and shops, watching movies with friends and visiting nearby cities like Miami and Tampa.
“I am a little bit of a Disney adult, so I just go to Disney and the beaches,” Costa said. “I enjoy spending time in my city.”
Not everyone is replacing vacations entirely. For some college students, summer travel is becoming shorter and more limited as work and classes take priority.
Madison Wilkins, a 21-year-old UF linguistics junior and Reitz Union student building manager, is spending less time traveling to save money for bigger plans in the future. This summer, she has no plans besides clocking in and out of her job.
"I can't imagine me not working over this summer,” Wilkins said. “I can't imagine me not having a job."
She plans to save $3,000 for her graduation trip next summer, when she plans to go to Greece with a family friend. Working this summer is necessary to reach her goal.
Spirit Airlines, known for offering ultra-low-cost airfare, ceased operations in May after years of financial struggles and rising operating costs. The airline’s shutdown ended one of the country’s largest low-budget travel options and left travelers who relied on lower fares searching for more affordable alternatives.
The average ticket cost increased by $86 per ticket from last year, according to the Airline Reporting Corporation.
Israel Huskey, a 20-year-old from Kansas City, said the difference in flight fares means she is paying double, if not triple, what she paid last summer to get statewide.
On Spirit, she said she could fly from her hometown to Orlando for under $150. She paid $550 for the same flight this year.
A few months ago, Huskey was planning a trip to Puerto Rico. She had to cancel because she couldn’t afford it. If Spirit were still flying, she said, the trip would have been more affordable.
“When Spirit closed, it was definitely a hit to literally everybody, especially me,” Huskey said.
As a young adult, she finds budgeting and planning a trip impossible.
Okafor’s research on mental health found the U.S. is the only country that doesn’t use its vacation and time off.
A 2023 study found nearly half of Americans with paid time off did not use all of their vacation time that year, leaving nearly a quarter of it unused.
“We don't rest,” Okafor said. “However your vacation looks, it's an opportunity to rest, so take it.”
Sam Rislin is a contributing writer for The Alligator.
