Don’t (Spring) Break the Bank

By Kendall Harshberger
<kharshberger@hilite.org>

Freshman Ariel Harrison usually spends her days before spring break packing her clothes for vacation. This year, though, it will be different for her.

“My parents just told me, straight out, that we weren’t going to go anywhere this year because of the economy. I might’ve been upset if it was for another reason, but I pretty much understood where they were coming from,” Harrison said.

Some CHS students this year, like Harrison, have to change their plans and stay home for spring break because of the economy’s problems.

According to Jan Orr, travel agent for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, during tough economic times people think more about ways of saving money and prefer to use their cash to cover the essentials of life such as food, shelter and some family necessities. Traveling is seen as a luxury and one of the things people could cut back on, which means more people will not be traveling in the near future.

“There’s a significant amount of the population that will be staying home. Most traveling businesses’ rates, like mine, have gone down anywhere from 35 to 50 percent since the economy’s recent problems,” Orr said.

Orr also said that many hotels and resorts are trying to lower their prices for vacation season.

“They want to get more people in, so they’re trying to make some good deals,” she said

Orr said that people are often surprised when they look at their airplane ticket prices.

“The airplanes often underestimate the cost of fuel, so the ticket prices go up. When I get ticket plans together for people, they look at the price and are really surprised. A lot of people are just trying to wait this out before they go on vacation,” she said.

Freshman Adele Zhou, who is also staying home from vacation this year, said it is a good thing that families are taking the economy crisis seriously.javascript:;

“I think there are a lot more important things than vacationing right now,” she said.

Harrison said she is looking forward to relaxing at home over spring break.

“Of course, I am a little sad that we aren’t going anywhere this year, but I can always do something fun at home. It’ll be a great chance to spend a little time with my family,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll find something to do at home.”

Harrison also said it’s better for people to take the crisis seriously than not confront it at all.

She said, “I think that it’s good of my family to be taking the economy seriously. Changes like not going on vacation might help our family in the long run. It might give us extra money to do other cool things in the future.”

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Plans that won’t break the wallet