Europe String

A sinking dollar combined with the credit crunch and insane gas prices has many people re-evaluating their budgets and cutting out non-essentials. Unfortunately for many, the first to go is travel. What are you doing for holiday this year? Have you been and gone already? What budget adjustments did you make? Are you foregoing a break this year, staying closer to home or perhaps participating in the oh-so-trendy “stay-cation?” Your traveling brethren in Europe feel your pain as well. News reports across the continent are bemoaning the lack of holidays being taken. Both tourism industry folks and plain old Joes are hurting.

August is especially tough because in many countries, like Spain and France for example, things just simply shut down for the month and off people go. While many do stay in their home countries (the French for example often hit the beach or their country home) some people aren’t even doing that. Economies around most of Europe are stagnant and the inflation rate in the Euro zone is about 4%. And even if a budget trip is planned – perhaps one to a less expensive location or for a shorter time period – costs for all the other incidentals are up to – food, air tickets, gas prices. One newspaper poll reported 42% of French plan to stay home this year while in the UK 19% of those polled said they weren’t going anywhere, while 34% said they would take a cheaper in-country break.

Sometimes it is hard to have sympathy for someone who HAS to stay in Paris – but travel is so much more than just the destination – it’s the fresh experience of a different culture, the opportunity to meet new people and the chance to escape from the mundane for a little bit of excitement. No matter where you end up going.

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