Vacation? In this economy?

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Vacation? In this economy?"

Podcast: Today, Explained (Vox)
Date: August 9, 2026
Hosts: Jonathan Hill (JQ), Emily Stewart
Guests: Susan Rue (author/historian), Hannah Sampson (Washington Post travel writer)
Main Theme:
Exploring the challenges and culture of taking vacations in the U.S. during a time of rising costs, geopolitical unrest, and changing travel norms—with a special focus on affordable alternatives like staycations and the history of the American road trip.

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1. Current State of Vacationing in America

• Vacations are more expensive and difficult to plan than ever:
  • Rising prices for flights, hotels, and even road trips due to high fuel costs and inflation.
  • Logistical troubles: Airport delays, geopolitical instability, and global unrest making planning and travel less appealing.
• Reluctancy to take time off:
  • Jonathan confesses he hasn’t taken a proper vacation in a year due to the hassle and expense.
  • Quote:
    “For something that's allegedly relaxing and fun, vacations are a lot of planning and even more money.” – Jonathan Hill [01:15]

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2. Why Is Travel So Expensive Right Now?

• Economic and global factors driving up prices:
  • Years of inflation and ongoing war in Iran have spiked oil prices, raising the cost of gas and flights.
  • Even cruises are more expensive due to fuel costs.
  • Quote:
    “We're on years of inflation ... we're in the midst of a moment with the war in Iran where oil prices are really high. And so what does that mean? That means gas prices are really high. That means flight prices are really high.” – Emily Stewart [02:29]
• Travel companies holding firm on prices:
  • Airlines like Delta and United are focusing on service, not price competition.
  • Increased reliance on loyalty programs to keep consumers booking directly.
  • Quote:
    “Delta is not a low cost airline. We can't win by trying to provide the cheapest. ... We have to be able to win by providing the best.” – Delta CEO (paraphrased by Emily Stewart) [04:11]

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3. Who Gets to Vacation Now?

• Segmented affordability and the “K-shaped economy”:
  • Higher-income (middle and upper class) Americans are still taking vacations, sometimes even splurging.
  • Lower-income families find themselves priced out or having to cut corners.
  • Vacation surveys: Fewer Americans planning vacations, but those who do are spending more while away (sometimes debt-funded).
  • Quote:
    “People who do have the means are doing okay, they are still spending, and the people who don't have the means are kind of looking for more ways to cut back.” – Emily Stewart [05:14]

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4. Geopolitical Instability & Changing Attitudes Toward US Tourists

• Diminished enthusiasm for international travel:
  • Safety and political tensions are having a real impact.
  • Only 33% of Americans planning European vacations—a 7% drop from last year.
  • Some feel unwelcome abroad due to U.S. policies.
  • Quote:
    “America has not been playing super nice on a policy level ... And so I do think some travelers have this question of like, will I be welcome?” – Emily Stewart [06:46]
• International perspectives:
  • Popular tourist destinations in Europe and Asia pushing back against mass tourism.
  • Cities like Kyoto and Mallorca voicing frustration at overcrowding.
  • Fewer Europeans are visiting the U.S., citing the political climate as a main reason (“Trump slump”).
  • Quote:
    “Number one reason why people are avoiding the US is the political situation. They don't want to endorse the US's politics.” – Jonathan Hill [09:53]

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5. American Family Vacation Traditions & the Rise (and Fall) of the Road Trip

The “Golden Age” of the Great American Vacation

• History and nostalgia:
  • National parks historically viewed as affordable and inspiring.
  • Susan Rue: “The national parks are America's cathedrals.” [15:06]
  • Post-WWII boom: family road trips on new highways, station wagons, and cheap gas.
  • Motels, drive-ins, and the opening of Disneyland all part of the classic mid-century road trip culture.
  • Quote:
    “Station wagons peaked in 1956. Today we have SUVs, but back in the day we would just get thrown in the car.” – Susan Rue [16:07]

The Realities of Segregation

• Black Americans faced real dangers and discrimination on the road:
  • Green Book as an essential travel guide to safe lodging and dining.
  • Segregation was widespread, not just in the South.
  • Quote:
    “Black people had to stay in segregated conditions. Many people are familiar with the Green Book, which was a guide for African American travelers throughout the south and throughout the nation.” – Susan Rue [17:59]
• Transition and change:
  • The oil embargo of 1973 made travel harder and more expensive—road trips waned, air travel and overseas trips became status symbols.
  • Family vacations became shorter as jobs and family structures changed.
  • Now, vacations are often about showing status on Instagram.

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6. The Staycation: An Affordable Alternative

• Definition and personal examples:

  • Staycations mean being a tourist in your own city, doing things you wouldn’t normally do, or transforming home routines.
  • Call-in tip:
    Pulling the mattress into the living room, “faux hotel room vibes,” and movie nights as simple joys.
    • “It just gives this faux hotel room vibe that just makes an ordinary weekend ten times more fun.” – Savannah (caller) [24:08]

• Staycation strategies:

  • Take public transportation to local spots, explore parks, try new restaurants, and plan outings intentionally.
  • Build anticipation—reading reviews, planning routes, and hyping up the experience helps.
  • “The anticipation of that experience will give you that vacation high.” – Hannah Sampson [27:00]

• Romanticizing the ordinary:

  • Use scents, sounds (ambient park music, ride audio), and even webcams to change your environment.
  • Example: Watching a beach webcam to celebrate an anniversary at home.
  • Quote:
    “It was really sad, but we watched the sunset. ... it was sweet.” – Hannah Sampson [29:15]

• The hardest part: Truly unplugging

  • Set boundaries with work and devices. Enlist family help or use tech to lock phones away.
  • “You need that mental break even if you're not gone somewhere.” – Hannah Sampson [30:08]

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7. Takeaways & Cultural Meaning

• Vacations are increasingly expensive and fraught—but still important.
• Affordable alternatives exist, especially with a little planning and creativity.
• Family road trips once symbolized freedom and unity, but the reality included big divides for Black travelers.
• Today’s vacations are as much about relaxation as they are about proving status and sharing the experience.
• Essential reminder:
  Take your PTO—rest is valuable, even if you’re just enjoying your neighborhood.

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Key Timestamps

| Time | Topic / Quote | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:15 | Jonathan Hill: “Vacations are a lot of planning and even more money.” | | 02:29 | Emily Stewart: “Gas prices are really high. That means flight prices are really high.” | | 05:14 | Emily Stewart: “People who do have the means are doing okay...others cut back.” | | 06:46 | Emily Stewart on Americans’ anxiety abroad | | 09:53 | Jonathan Hill: “Number one reason ... the political situation.” | | 15:06 | Susan Rue: “The national parks are America’s cathedrals.” | | 17:59 | Susan Rue: “Black people had to stay in segregated conditions ... the Green Book.” | | 24:08 | Savannah (caller): “Gives this faux hotel room vibe ... just makes an ordinary weekend ten times more fun.” | | 27:00 | Hannah Sampson: “The anticipation ... will give you like that vacation high.” | | 29:15 | Hannah Sampson: Webcam sunset—“it was really sad, but it was sweet.” | | 30:08 | Hannah Sampson: “You need that mental break even if you’re not gone somewhere.” |

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Memorable Quotes

• “The national parks are America's cathedrals.” – Susan Rue [15:06]
• “It just gives this faux hotel room vibe that just makes an ordinary weekend ten times more fun.” – Savannah [24:08]
• “The anticipation of that experience will give you like that vacation high.” – Hannah Sampson [27:00]
• “You need that mental break even if you're not gone somewhere.” – Hannah Sampson [30:08]

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Final Thoughts

The episode blends economic analysis, social history, and practical advice, revealing that while vacations are tougher and often pricier these days, Americans still crave the break from routine. With a little creativity—be it a national park trip, a stay-at-home adventure, or just a hike—rest and recharge are still within reach, even "in this economy."

Transcript

[Jonathan Hill]

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[Susan Rue]

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[Susan Rue]

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[Jonathan Hill]

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[Emily Stewart]

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[Jonathan Hill]

I need a vacation. I'm talking about the type of vacation your phone service don't work, you can't reach nobody, can't nobody reach you.

[Emily Stewart]

It's really starting to become overpriced to travel through the States. I know we living in perilous times,

[Jonathan Hill]

but if you ain't got no money to go on a vacation, stay home. Okay, you guys, it's time to admit something. I'm really, really bad at taking time off work. The last time I took a week long vacation was about a year ago. And know I'm the walking cliche of the American with PTO who doesn't take it. But part of the reason why is that for something that's allegedly relaxing and fun, vacations are a lot of planning and even more money. Plane tickets, hotels, food. And of course I gotta buy that corny souvenir shot glass. I'm Jonathan Hill and today on Explain it to Me from Vox, how to get that recharge you deserve, even if you're on a budget. So am I alone in how difficult it is to get in a vacation these days? I asked business insiders.

[Emily Stewart]

Emily Stewart It's a tricky year for vacation.

[Jonathan Hill]

How is me staying in a hotel for three nights more than my mortgage for the whole month?

[Hannah Sampson]

Out of principle, I'm not paying $800

[Jonathan Hill]

to fly within the United States.

[Emily Stewart]

That's literally insane to me. We're on years of inflation happening. And also we're in the midst of a moment with the war in Iran where oil prices are really high. And so what does that mean? That means gas prices are really high. That means flight prices are really high. That means even Maybe your cruise might be a little more expensive. So a lot of people are looking around and they're, they're pretty worried about prices. Now, that's not the only thing going on. This is breaking news. U.S. embassies across the Middle east are urging U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to the region.

[Jonathan Hill]

American tourists in Puerto Vallarta are now sheltering in place to as flights out

[Emily Stewart]

there get canceled earlier this year. Also, all of the stuff with TSA and the airports being a mess, it

[Jonathan Hill]

is in this country a horrible day to fly. Every time we check, the agony gets worse. Now 9,300 flights delayed nationwide.

[Emily Stewart]

So a lot of people, I think just this summer are kind of looking around and being like, oh, I want to go on vacation, but also, is this going to be a really expensive disaster?

[Jonathan Hill]

How are travel companies responding to people who want to, you know, enjoy vacation, but they're worried about money?

[Emily Stewart]

The story I feel like of consumers, American consumers in the past like six years has been things are expensive and they're doing a lot of stuff anyway, right? And they're mad about it, they're mad about vacation, but they're taking vacation. And that is true now still to some extent, the Delta CEO recently said in their earnings report, like, we've raised prices, but we think so. We think that those prices have staying power. And he said he kind of feels like Delta is competing on service more than price. Now, Delta is not a low cost airline. We can't win by trying to provide the cheapest.

[Jonathan Hill]

We have to be able to win

[Emily Stewart]

by providing the best. United also saw, it said in their earnings, demand was really strong.

[Jonathan Hill]

Demand is strong for leisure. Demand is really strong across the board.

[Susan Rue]

I think the economy is doing well,

[Jonathan Hill]

probably better than people appreciate.

[Emily Stewart]

And all of these travel companies, whether it be airlines, hotels, are really relying on loyalty programs to kind of get people in the door and say, you know, hey, here are all these perks and benefits. And, you know, they want you to book directly with them. So, you know, maybe you're like, I'm on the fence, but you're a Hilton member. You keep getting ads from them.

[Susan Rue]

That's hot.

[Emily Stewart]

Totally Hilton honors. You keep getting offers from them and eventually you say, you know, fine, I'm going to go on vacation with them. But there's only so much I think some of these companies can give, or at least that they want to give, that they're willing to give on price at the moment, especially with fuel costs being as high as they are.

[Jonathan Hill]

Are vacations going to become a luxury Item. I mean, a vacation by definition is a splurge. But are we getting to the point where only the wealthiest people can afford them?

[Emily Stewart]

I mean, I don't know if I'd go as far as to call it a luxury item, but I do think it's becoming something that's segmented. Like a lot of like in economic jargon, you hear sometimes about a K shaped economy, right, where it's like it looks like the letter K, where one segment of people are going up and one segment of people are going down. And this doesn't necessarily mean super rich in everybody else, but it might mean like middle class, upper middle class going up, you know, middle class, lower middle class going down. And I do think that we are a little bit in that situation right now with vacation. I was looking at a survey from earlier this year today, and it said that some Americans said they were planning a vacation this year, which is the lowest that they've seen in several years. But like spending was up. So when people were on vacation, they were willing to splurge. And now some of that is people who can afford it. Some of it is people who maybe are going to be paying off a credit card bill for a little bit longer than they would like. But I do think to some extent, you know, this has kind of been the story of the broader economy for, you know, a couple of years now, where people who do have the means are doing okay, they are still spending, and the people who don't have the means are kind of looking for more ways to cut back.

[Jonathan Hill]

You mentioned the unrest going on in the world and how that's impacting vacations. I'd love to dig into that a little more. More what anxieties are people feeling? How is that factoring into how people are taking time off?

[Emily Stewart]

America has not been playing super nice on a policy level with a lot of countries in the past couple of years, whether it be Europe, whether it be Canada. And so I do think some travelers have this question of like, will I be welcome?

[Jonathan Hill]

A recent survey by the European Travel Commission shows just three 33% of Americans plan to visit Europe this summer, a 7% drop from last year. Unease over how the US is now perceived cited as a reason for dampening enthusiasm.

[Emily Stewart]

That moment when you go into a Northern Ireland bar and are immediately accused

[Hannah Sampson]

of being a bad person because you're from the United States, it doesn't feel very good.

[Emily Stewart]

Last year I did a story on Americans kind of feeling a little bit anxious when they're traveling abroad. And I talked to One woman, I think she was from California who had gone to Canada and was at a ski resort and was talking to a Canadian woman. The woman kind of got a little bit prickly about, you know, American Canadian relations. And of course this lady's like, I have nothing to do with it. But then she and her husband had asked for recommendation on I think a ski slope or whatever, and the Canadian lady sent them down whatever path, recommended the path. And it was like a really bad path. And afterwards she thought, like, did she do that on purpose? How did she get back at it?

[Jonathan Hill]

Oh my gosh.

[Emily Stewart]

Which is like, obviously very funny. She didn't know, but she said, you know, I wondered after, was she mad at us and like, you know, forget you guys. Have fun on that bad ski path. So this isn't necessarily like a new situation, but I do think some Americans are kind of having this feeling, feeling of, you know, will I be super welcome abroad? Even though I do think most people understand that not everybody, every citizen's politics are the same as the federal government's politics.

[Jonathan Hill]

Are there places people are choosing not to travel to right now for whatever reason?

[Emily Stewart]

A lot of popular international destinations have been kind of Americaned out in the past few years. You think about places like Japan, Spain, Italy have started to be like, hey guys, like, why don't you try staying home instead of all of you coming to the exact three, you know, three cities and kind of ruining everything. At least their citizens have been a little frustrated.

[Susan Rue]

Residents of Mallorca are fed up with mass tourism.

[Jonathan Hill]

The streets of the Balearic island filled with protesters over the weekend saying the

[Susan Rue]

area has reached a limit in capacity and resources.

[Jonathan Hill]

This is Kyoto today. Overcrowded streets, frustrated residents. Things like vandalism and litter becoming commonplace throughout the city. Kyoto's infrastructure simply can't keep up.

[Emily Stewart]

I was looking at data from this aviation analytics company called Cirium, and what they had found was that travel from the US to major destination Europe was down about 6% this year compared to last for the month of July. But it's also a lot of people, people do not want to come here.

[Jonathan Hill]

Number one reason why people are avoiding the US is the political situation. They don't want to endorse the US's politics.

[Susan Rue]

We are feeling the Trump slump because of the policies and the war that

[Jonathan Hill]

he's kind of essentially brought on.

[Susan Rue]

Those things have really affected our business

[Jonathan Hill]

and slowed it down.

[Emily Stewart]

Travel from Europe was down like 9% from last year. And so it really is kind of a two way street at this point. And some of it is people not wanting to come here because they're worried about you being stopped at the border, being stopped at the airport, being stopped by ice. So they're just like not feeling welcome in the US Right now. It's also kind of important to point out because so many foreign tourists are not coming to the States right now. That might mean that some popular destinations kind of have a little more space, a little less lines. Think about like the Grand Canyon. You think about Disney, like, it might be nice to kind of go to one of those places. And this doesn't mean again that everybody's just staying close to home. But I do think it's kind of one of those summers where it's not a bad idea to see what's a little bit more in striking distance and see what you can do.

[Jonathan Hill]

So a tighter budget doesn't mean you have to skip out on that beloved pto. The solution might just be a tried and true American tradition. That's next. Support for Explain It To Me comes from Fetchpet Insurance. Here's something that might surprise you. Every six seconds, a pet owner in the US gets hit with a vet bill over $1,000. That's according to a study from a pet insurance company. Be prepared with Fetch pet insurance. Fetch is the most complete coverage for dogs and cats. According to consumeradvocate.org fetch covers accidents, illnesses, diagnostics and more. Every vet in the US and Canada is in network. You can build a plan that fits your budget and once approved, claims are paid back in as little as two days. To learn more, go to fetchpet.com save that's fetchpet.com save. Support for the show comes from Talkiatry. Mental health support can come in many forms, and the truth is it's not always easily accessible. If you've been considering seeing a psychiatrist, but insurance issues and months long wait lists have made you hesitate, then you might want to check out Talkiatry. Tochiatry is a 100% online psychiatry practice that provides comprehensive evaluations, diagnoses and ongoing medication management for conditions like adhd, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ocd, ptsd, insomnia and more. You get to meet with a medical provider who can diagnose mental health conditions and prescribe you medication when it's needed. And because it's 100% online, you have a lot more flexibility. Your tochiatry provider actually takes the time to understand what's going on, builds a personalized treatment plan and supports you over time. They have more than 800 clinicians and all are in network with major insurers so you can use your existing insurance instead of paying monthly subscriptions or out of network costs. You can go to tokiatry.com explainit to complete the short assessment and get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes. That's talkchiatry.com explain explain it to get matched in minutes. I'm JQ back with more Explain it to me. Susan Rue is the author of the book Are We There Yet? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations. She also teaches history at Brigham Young University and she just got back from her very own vacation.

[Susan Rue]

So I went down to Arches national park with three of my grandchildren and their parents and believe it or not, yesterday morning I got up at 5am and hiked to the top of Delicate Arch to see the sunrise.

[Jonathan Hill]

Oh my gosh, that sounds beautiful.

[Susan Rue]

It was beautiful. It was a three mile hike and it was up all the way. But I'm okay today. But it's wonderful to do and lots of people were there from all over the world.

[Jonathan Hill]

That seems like a classic American vacation. Tell me about how national parks became so popular.

[Susan Rue]

Going to the national parks was a very economical vacation for people. They could rent and borrow camping equipment. You could take your children to see these wonders of the world, east or

[Emily Stewart]

west, north or south.

[Susan Rue]

In fact, I think it was the birth of our modern ecological movement with the advent of the national park travel by families, the awe inspiring wonders of

[Jonathan Hill]

at the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, mighty Niagara, the sparkling waters of the Atlantic.

[Susan Rue]

The national parks are America's cathedrals.

[Emily Stewart]

Isn't America wonderful?

[Jonathan Hill]

And art vacation is wonderful too. Yeah. What's the timing for the popularity of national parks?

[Susan Rue]

They became hugely popular after the war and the family vacation became popular then in part because of consumerism. A lot of people were making money and moving to the suburbs and driving in cars. The National Federal highway act was announced in 1956. Very quickly. 1600 miles of highways all over the country. So people could leave their driveways or their apartments or their city parking place and get in the car and go anywhere in America for pretty cheap cost. 28 cents a gallon for gas. That was a long time ago.

[Jonathan Hill]

Oh my gosh. 28 cent gas feels like a totally different world. Can you describe how important the automobile was for the American vacation? Through the years?

[Susan Rue]

It was hugely important. Car ownership rose. Station wagons peaked in 1956. Today we have SUVs, but back in the day we would just get thrown in the car. Sometimes they would put a blanket over the suitcases and the children could sprawl out. A car could be had for $2,000. And as vacations and traveling became more popular, roadside businesses became more popular. Howard Johnson's in the East, Howard Johnson's Next stop, and McDonald's.

[Jonathan Hill]

McDonald's is our kind of place.

[Emily Stewart]

Your kind of place.

[Susan Rue]

One of the great inventions of the era was Disneyland, 1955.

[Jonathan Hill]

Oh, boy.

[Susan Rue]

And also motels. Motels were really popular. Holiday Inn was invented. So that's where you would, in your car, pull right up to the door and unload. So that's all car centered. The food, the lodging, the driving. It's all centered around the automobile.

[Jonathan Hill]

Is there something about the road trip that's uniquely American?

[Susan Rue]

The fact that we have this idea in America that we have freedom of the road that we can at will go and explore. Of course, it was not true for many vacationers. It was not at all true for African American vacationers in this time period. They were severely restricted to travelers from the south who came north. Back in the old days, when dark

[Jonathan Hill]

comes, you don't want to be caught

[Susan Rue]

over here after 6:00'.

[Jonathan Hill]

Clock.

[Susan Rue]

You want to be on this side of the tracks.

[Jonathan Hill]

Three or four times a year, I would go back and forth to Georgia, but I knew I wasn't supposed to stop at night to buy any gas or do anything, not even to use the bathroom.

[Susan Rue]

Black people had to stay in segregated conditions. Many people are familiar with the Green Book, which was a guide for African American travelers throughout the south and throughout the nation.

[Jonathan Hill]

It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication, for then we can go wherever we please and without embarrassment. But until that time comes, we shall continue to publish this information for your convenience each year.

[Susan Rue]

But segregation, while it was legal in the south, it was practiced in other places in the country. You would find segregated restaurants and hotels throughout the nation, and most prominently in Washington, D.C. where many people wanted to take their children. And those barriers began to be broken by veterans, African American veterans who had served in World War II. And the NAACP had 400,000 members by then. And people began to write in and the NAACP began to file suit. It was a very different experience for those travelers. It's a shameful history.

[Jonathan Hill]

So we have kind of this golden age of the road trip. You know, when did that change? When did we stop doing that?

[Susan Rue]

I think it hit its peak in the 60s in terms of road travel. I think competition from airlines and an increased push to travel overseas. The hard stop where I end my study is in 1973 with the Arab oil Embargo. The immediate shortage will affect the lives of each and every one of us.

[Emily Stewart]

In our factories, our cars, our homes, our offices.

[Susan Rue]

We will have to use less fuel

[Jonathan Hill]

than we are accustomed to using.

[Susan Rue]

And I think, of course this has echoes of today when gasoline is hard to get and oil prices go up, then people don't travel as much. And by then the age of the family vacation as the primary vacation was kind of waning and there began to be these couples getaways. So the tenor of the vacation changed in terms of promotion. And these vacations were promoted by the oil companies and the auto companies and the sales of cars. And we don't have that dominant in auto industry like we did in the 50s and 60s. As families change, vacations change. Families are smaller today. Women have jobs that they didn't in those days, so vacations are probably shorter. So time is more precious, I think. But on the other hand, people can work while they're on vacation, which is probably not a great idea, but they can, I think why people vacation remains much the same. They want to learn about their country, they want to show their children the country. It's also a great way to spend money and come home and brag about it. Back in the day they would show slides. Now we just put up on Instagram. How many people do you know who are putting vacation shots on Instagram? Right?

[Jonathan Hill]

Oh, everybody. I'm gonna do it.

[Hannah Sampson]

Sure, sure.

[Susan Rue]

So it's a way of asserting your own status and it's a way of showing your wealth and what you can do and your experiences. So I think being together with the people that you love and just exploring, you get to swim in a swimming pool, you get to eat fast food. Fun. It's a change from the routine and that's what vacations have always been, a change from the routine.

[Jonathan Hill]

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[Susan Rue]

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[Hannah Sampson]

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[Susan Rue]

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[Hannah Sampson]

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[Emily Stewart]

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[Susan Rue]

Hi, my name is Savannah, and I was calling about the vacation episode. I've been married now for five years, been with my wife going on 12, and when money's tight but we want to, you know, have a staycation, we will pull our mattress out into the living room and get our favorite snacks and drinks and everything. And then we'll try to like, get movie tickets and then like coming home, opening the door, taking your shoes off. It just gives this faux hotel room vibe that just makes an ordinary weekend ten times more fun. It's just something silly and simple, but it, it's, it's fun and cute.

[Jonathan Hill]

This is. Explain it to me. I'm jq.

[Hannah Sampson]

I'm Hannah Sampson, and I write about travel for the Washington Post.

[Jonathan Hill]

All right, I want you to do something for us, and that's define a staycation.

[Hannah Sampson]

So it's taking the time to spend in your community or nearby to do things you normally wouldn't do in your regular life and put on hold all of the burdensome things that you would do in your daily life and just go out and have fun and be a tourist like in your own city.

[Jonathan Hill]

My personal favorite is go on a hike. It can be long, short, a little trail, or just a fun adventure to get outside and take a spend time in Sinatra. Another idea, add some extra flavor to dinner.

[Emily Stewart]

Order a cuisine you've never tried.

[Hannah Sampson]

But to me, you're staying at home also. You're not like going to a hotel anywhere nearby.

[Jonathan Hill]

I just paid my rent. So this weekend I will be enjoying every wall in this apartment. Every room will be enjoyed.

[Hannah Sampson]

And you're enabling yourself to like, discover something that you might have taken for granted. So it's not this entire new atmosphere, but it's a new look at a familiar atmosphere. And that is really fun and rewarding while also being budget friendly and hopefully allowing you to maybe put money aside for the bigger trip that you want to take some time. I discovered a wonderful way to have

[Susan Rue]

a full vacation in one day last year when I decided that me and my kids would take public transit to visit their dad in Monterey.

[Jonathan Hill]

And it took a grand total of 12 hours.

[Susan Rue]

We took the bus, the smart train, the ferry. Most of the rides were free for my kids because they're under 18.

[Hannah Sampson]

It was incredibly affordable and it was

[Susan Rue]

a lot of fun.

[Hannah Sampson]

I think that the way to really get into staycation zone is planning and preparing and getting yourself hyped for what you're going to do, which is like reading reviews for places that you might want to go. If you've picked a restaurant, look at the menu and like start to drool over what you're going to eat. Think about your favorite bookstores or paths, or discover a new corner of your neighborhood that you want to explore, like in advance. Start doing that as soon as you decide to stay, and as soon as you decide what you're gonna do, start to plan the trip and then the anticipation of that experience will give you like that vacation high. And I think all of that helps you to stay in the vacationy zone and also make the most of your time and not think about all the things that would be distracting you and annoying you just when you're home doing your boring tasks.

[Jonathan Hill]

It's so hard though, cause you're around the house. How do you romanticize your home? How do you make it feel like, okay, let's turn this into a hotel, or pretend that I do not need to actually clean out that pantry, even though I know I do. How do you make your home feel a little more special?

[Hannah Sampson]

I think we all got too much practice on this during the pandemic. But there are a lot of things you can do to kind of change the vibes of your house. If you're not afraid of candles or scents. Just like a candle that reflects one of your favorite places. Like, I have a candle that is, like national park scented, so it's like, piney. In my house, we do a lot of, like, audio setting the mood. I have small kids, so we'll put play like a ride audio of a ride at Disney World, or just ambient sound from a park that we like, or we'll live stream during the pandemic. My husband and I meant to spend our anniversary at the beach where we got married, but I was pregnant, we couldn't travel. So we found a webcam that showed the sunset on that beach, and we got take out and we just. It was really sad, but we watched the sunset.

[Emily Stewart]

That's.

[Jonathan Hill]

Yeah, it's sad, but it's also, like, quite sweet. It's like, oh, it was sweet. We'll bring the beach together.

[Hannah Sampson]

Exactly. And it was a beautiful sunset.

[Jonathan Hill]

I think for me, one of the challenges of a staycation and kind of all vacations, if I'm honest, is not letting real life creep in and beyond. Like, taking time to do administrative tasks around the house but work, like, I don't know. That slack goes off, I get that email, a news alert goes out, and I'm just like, well, what if I just take a little gander? How do you keep from letting that happen?

[Hannah Sampson]

Yeah, unplugging is so hard. You could have a couple of small kids and teach them to tell you to get off your phone, which mine have learned to do.

[Jonathan Hill]

Get off on the phone, Mom. Get off on the phone.

[Hannah Sampson]

My husband actually has a brick device which, like, locks your phone for you. So the discipline is real there. It takes work to, like, force yourself out of that constant need for, like, scrolling through TikTok or just seeing what's up at work. You don't. You don't need. If you're off, you don't need to be on there if there's an emergency. They know how to reach you at work. So, like, trust that process. Just be super in the moment, super present with whatever you're doing, because you need that mental break even if you're not gone somewhere. You know, like, you need to make the most of the time that you have, especially if you're taking vacation time and spending it at home. Like vacation time is a precious resource that you should be using to the best of your ability.

[Jonathan Hill]

That's it for this week. Next week I'll be using my vacation to the best of my ability. But fret not, we've been working really hard and have new episodes coming your way. Speaking of, we'd love to know what you want us to explain. Call in with your questions and ideas to 1-800-618-8545 or email askvox.com and you know what makes a vacation even better? Listening to this podcast ad free with a Vox membership. For more info, head over to Vox.com members. This episode was produced by Denise Guerra. It was edited by Jenny Lawton, fact Checked by Melissa Hirsch and engineered by David Tadashore. Our executive producer is Miranda Kennedy and I'm your host Jon Blynhill. Thank you so much for listening. I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

[Emily Stewart]

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[Jonathan Hill]

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[Susan Rue]

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[Jonathan Hill]

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