Trust Me, Something Every American Needs Is A Vacation!!!

And, right now is a good time to begin planning your 2018 vacation. Any travel partner or travel agent will tell you that the best prices are found soon after the plane or boat has opened up for sell the next years airline seats and cruise staterooms.

As one popular travel columnist comments, there are “no two ways about it: Americans are vacation-deprived”. According to the latest Allianz Travel Insurance Vacation Confidence Index, they found that more than 170 million Americans haven't taken a vacation in the last 12 months. That is a captivating statistic, especially when you consider the therapeutic benefits of a vacation are well established, and that there are many vacation options out there for almost any budget.

Some other interesting statistics that came from the study was that it was estimated that 25 million Americans have never seen an ocean. They also said that some 48% of Americans have been to only 10 or fewer states in their lifetime. So consider starting planning right now for a vacation to one of the top three states that Americans aspire to visit: Hawaii, Florida, and California. You can surely get some ocean at either one of those destinations.

Here's another actual illustration why planning ahead is critical to not only getting a good rate, but also finding availability. Just before last summer, around early May, we had a man come in with a request for some help in arranging a vacation for his family. He wanted to take them on a driving trip to Yellowstone National Park and stay in some of the lodges in the area. Well, they have about 2,000 rooms there, but it doesn't take many phone calls to have them booked up; in fact, some folks deposit for reservations a couple years in advance. Needless to say, we had to suggest other vacation possibilities.

We had a vacationer call after they got back from a 3-night stay at Universal Studios in Orlando. Of course, the first day and night were travel days, so they were restricted on being able to enjoy some of the attractions, then on the last day, they had to leave early afternoon to catch their flight, so they had not allotted very much time to enjoy all the attractions. What happened was they tried to do everything and squeeze more experiences into less time.....so they and the kids were absolutely worn out. Again, planning ahead and being intentionally organized so it can really be a vacation for everyone.

Christopher Elliott, the “Travel Troubleshooter” columnist at the Dallas Morning News makes some real good suggestions (in my opinion) to help you in planning for next years vacation. One of them is to consider applying for the TSA PreCheck program. They have been in Abilene at the airport a couple of weeks the past few months, and it saves the traveler from having to travel to DFW to do the interview and finger printing, but it certainly saves time when you are traveling through the airport.

Another good hint that I really like is to “find a good travel agent”. They save the potential vacationer lots of time and trouble, and often find travel promotions that are hard to know about and find. Also, he suggests that the traveler consider purchasing travel insurance that covers accidents, trip cancellation, lost luggage, and medical expenses while traveling. Your travel agent can help you with this important detail that protects your travel investment. You can call that “good travel agent” at The Travel Factory, 4150 Southwest Drive (and it's a lot easier to get to us this week). Call at 698-1421 or toll-free 800-760-4040. Thanks for considering your mental state of mind and taking a vacation next summer....or this fall, or this winter. We would love to help you at anytime.