TEMPLE, Texas — Expedia's 24th annual vacation deprivation report, which surveyed 11,580 people across 11 countries in March and April, found Americans take the least vacations globally. 65% of U.S. respondents said they feel as if they don't take enough time off, the highest rate in 11 years.
According to a poll just released by Newsweek, 44% of Americans are skipping a summer vacation this year due to higher costs and high airfare.
In this Money Talks, financial advisor Rolandus Johnson told 6 News that the only way to do vacation time these days is to plan for it.
"Vacations, it may not seem this way, but when you plan a vacation out months ahead of time, you end up saving money actually," Johnson told 6 News. "Because you've got to plan and you are not just free-wheels spending, if you will."
Many Americans are still taking their time off from work but are looking for fun in their own backyards.
"A staycation is just as fine," Johnson said. "It may not be extravagant or whatever the case may be but you could still have some fun, and probably save a couple thousand dollars and have just as much fun, so I say a staycation always weighs as an option."
Whether you travel or stay in your own zip code, here in Texas we have weather that can mean a day at the pool can be very cost effective.
"A place with a pool and you've got younger kids, I don't even think it even has to be younger kids, I think it's just kids in general," said Johnson. "That's a place where they can spend three, four, maybe even five hours and then wear themselves out so that's going to save money too with the kids when you wear them out and they want to take naps!"
The bottom line is, like anything in life, being impulsive can really cost you money, so plan and budget and you will be much better off.
"If you just go out on a whim then you might do something that your budget won't allow," Johnson told 6 News. "But if you go in with a plan and say 'Hey, if I’m vacationing from Friday to Sunday, Friday when we get there we're going to go eat at this place, we're going to go and visit this site,' then you can turn around and budget for it and you know exactly what you are going to spend."
Despite the high costs of travel, more than three million people passed through U.S. airport security on Sunday, July 7, marking a new single-day record, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
That was for the holiday. We'll keep watching the airlines profits and stock for the rest of the year and tell you how they are doing.
More Money Talks from 6 News: