My family and I just moved to Naples, Italy for my husband's job. Our biggest intent this summer is to check out Rome, The Island Of Capri, Pompeii, and climb Mt. Vesuvius! All while dragging our 3 and 5 year old daughters along for the ride! This is going to be our summer of exploring and really living the culture around us that we are so lucky to be amongst.

Posted By Dominique Heuermann on June 11, 2008, 3:48 AM

We decided to forget air travel and European cruise this summer. Leaving Toledo in mid July and taking an old fashion camping trip. Heading to Upstate New York area, White mountains in New Hampshire, Bar Harbor, Maine, Stowe, Vermont and Niagara Falls, Ontario for some adventures. Even with the price increase in fuel, we calculate savings over other options and we still will get new adventures and memories.

Posted By C M on June 11, 2008, 8:33 PM

We are headed to Bali for 3 weeks in August. Will be our first visit and i can't wait.

Posted By Karen on June 12, 2008, 12:29 AM

I am taking my kids to the Olympics in Beijing. I was able to find an inexpensive apartment near a subway stop and several tickets to events. Pin Trading will be our main pass time. Tons of fun!

Posted By daniel on June 12, 2008, 1:37 PM

My family of four is headed off for our first stereotypical FAMILY VACATION. We will drive 5 hours to Rapid City, SD and do the typical Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills family adventure. If only we had a wood-paneled station wagon...

Posted By Karen on June 12, 2008, 1:39 PM

Due to time constraints and the price of gasoline, my husband and I are going as "chaperones" to Branson, MO, with our 16 yr old son and two of his good friends (this instead of letting them go by themselves!). There will be 2 cars; they can do what they want, and we can do (or not do) what we want! Am really looking forward to it!

Posted By Emily on June 12, 2008, 2:11 PM

USA ROAD TRIP

CHICAGO/ASHVILLE, NC
ASHVILLE, NC/MYRTLE BEACH, SC
UP THE ATLANTIC COAST - OUTER BANKS NC
WASHINGTON DC
GETTYSBURG, PA
CLEVELAND BACK TO CHICAGO

SO FAR I'VE FOUND SOME GREAT HOTEL DEALS AND HOPING THAT WITH GAS SO HIGH THERE ARE MORE DEALS OUT THERE.

Posted By JRITA on June 12, 2008, 2:54 PM

We're headed to Beijing for the Olympics. We've got a hostel (bunk beds work great for our twin boys that hate sharing a hotel bed) within biking distance to the Forbidden City and a couple subway stops from Olympic Park. We'll also spend a night at a cabin near the Great Wall, plus sidetrips to the terracotta warriors in Xi'an (just in time for the release of the Mummy 3 movie), Shanghai (did you know there's a rollercoaster INSIDE the Oriental Pearl TV Tower?), Hangzhou (gotta love West Lake), Hong Kong (The Peak, the Laser show over the city), and Macau (inlcuding the world's highest bungee jump). Now if we could just do something about that unbearable August heat and humidity in China....

Posted By Barbara on June 12, 2008, 2:55 PM

We are heading to Tennessee (Memphis, Chattanooga, Gatlinburg),Columbia,South Carolina, Atlanta, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana. We are going to see our nephew graduate from Ft Jackson. It's such a long drive from Houston that we are throwing in several days before and after the graduation to go tour some of the Southeast with our kids.

Posted By kmiracle on June 12, 2008, 3:31 PM

We're hoping to pick up a couple of the US National Parks we haven't yet been to - Acadia in Maine and Mammoth Cave in KY (separate trips, of course). We might hit them both in fall when the leaves turn...

In August I think we're going to drive the length of the St Lawrence River camping on its shores. That river has to be the prettiest in the world I think... Nice wreck diving too.

This winter, we're hoping to see what other divers love in Bonaire... we'll have to see what the economy says about it.

Then next summer ('09) we need to go to Alaska - the last of the 50 states for us to visit.

Family trips for all the above. Our boys are 16, 14, and 12 now and love traveling as much as we do.

Posted By PJ on June 12, 2008, 4:11 PM

We're hoping to pick up a couple of the US National Parks we haven't yet been to - Acadia in Maine and Mammoth Cave in KY (separate trips, of course). We might hit them both in fall when the leaves turn... if we don't get to go this summer.

In August I think we're going to drive the length of the St Lawrence River camping on its shores. That river has to be the prettiest in the world I think... Nice wreck diving too.

This winter, we're hoping to see what other divers love in Bonaire... we'll have to see what the economy says about it.

Then next summer ('09) we need to go to Alaska - the last of the 50 states for us to visit.

Family trips for all the above. Our boys are 16, 14, and 12 now and love traveling as much as we do.

Posted By PJ on June 12, 2008, 4:13 PM

Since we live in Vermont we are heading first to Searsport, Maine to camp and visit sites in Rockport and Owl's Head. The museum in Owl's Head has a "tin lizzy" display through fall. A visit to the light house museum at the end of the breakwater in Rockport and a revisit to Fort Knox which was never used to defend the coast but is being restored. Then off to the Maritimes of Canada. We plan to visit the Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy, Prince Edward Island, Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Cabot Trail and more. Our son and wife and daughters will be hauling their travel trailer. Each girl is bringing a friend. We will be taking our own trailer along too. It's been 31 years since the last time my husband and I visited the Maritimes. Our son and family went seven years ago. It should be fun in spite of the high price of gas. We're sure glad we went to Alaska last year and rented a Class C!! Filling it up was bad enough then, but with the high price of gas this year, it would be a step to bankruptcy.
I hope everyone will enjoy their summer inspite of the price of fuel.

Posted By Nancy on June 12, 2008, 4:14 PM

my sister and i are going to Ireland for my 60th birthday. Have dreamt of going to Ireland since i was a little girl and knew there was a place called Ireland

Posted By pat on June 12, 2008, 5:52 PM

Check out the great American Road Trip at www.route41.org. It is a beautiful read, like being there with them as they make the trip.

Posted By Larry on June 12, 2008, 6:06 PM

My family's going to Orlando to go see the 4 resort parks and get wet in the water parks in 7 exciting days. I have booked 2 breakfasts with the Disney characters for my 2 grandsons, who are so psyched up and can't wait for this vacation/trip. See you there !!!!

Posted By Victoria B Chico on June 12, 2008, 6:54 PM

My family and my best friend's family are traveling to the Bahamas on a 3-day cruise. We've been before but we are taking another cruise line. My friend's girls will be traveling on a cruise for the first time. This will be a great graduation present to all of them.

Posted By Michelle on June 12, 2008, 7:32 PM

We are meeting our daughter's family inbetween Northern California and Snohomish, Washington. This will save on gas for both of us.
The inbetween is Mount Hood and Columbia River in Oregon, then southward to the Bend area which has a wealth of mountains, meadows, rivers, lakes and endless hiking and rafting opportunities.
The last stop is the Crater Lake and Diamond Lake area.

We will be saving money by sharing 3 bedroom cabin rentals with kitchens, and driving around in our minivan. Most of our meals will be cooked in the rentals except for our 'mandatory' picnic lunches while outandabout.

Posted By Ray Anderson on June 13, 2008, 8:22 AM

Leaving Mom and sister at home in Ohio and Dad and I are headed to Sturgis Motorcyle Rally for a quick stop and then off to see the sites in SD,WY,MT. Should be fun and a good time to bond wiht ol' dad :)

Posted By sarah on June 13, 2008, 2:00 PM

My family is headed for Gatlinburg, Tn
with gas price we are staying in our home State just going from West Tn to East Tn. It's like a whole new world from Memphis to Gatlinburg anyway!
To be honest we can't wait

Posted By Cindy on June 13, 2008, 2:09 PM

My family and I just got back from a weekend trip to Kennebunkport, ME. A friend told us about a bed and breakfast that was having a special, so we called and got a great room for a super low price! It was really great! we had so much fun and none of us wanted to leave. thanks, maine stay!
www.mainestayinn.com

Posted By yvonne on June 14, 2008, 10:30 PM

We're headed to Nassau, Bahamas for our 6-year-old's first 'real' beach experience. Pirate museum, Dolphin encounter, shopping and Senor Frog's! Plus, she's quite excited about the swim up bar--should I be worried?
(Not worried about the gas price, as it's still cheaper to fly to most warm destinations from Buffalo!)

Posted By JON on June 15, 2008, 11:09 AM

We're going on our annual camping trip with extended family. We'll also be going to Disneyland in August with friends. It should be a great summer!

Posted By Michele P on June 16, 2008, 12:12 PM

Late April, returned from the mountains of NC, auto, drove spouse and two others to a Watercolor Workshop, whilst I "messed around", gas not cheap (especially in the comfort of abig SUV), but "road trip" emotionally relexing.

July - New Orleans, combined business and pleasure.

October - Charleston - Pleasure, FF & hotel points

Late December - brief cruise (Carib)

May, '09 - Budapest & Prague (FF Business Class Awards)

Posted By el pelon on June 16, 2008, 12:36 PM

I've just gotten back home (Northern Virginia) from a 5 day trip to Las Vegas--stayed with friends for some of the days and spent 2 nights at the beautiful Bellagio. I got a great deal on airfare and on the hotel so it seemed like a good time to go. And next week I'm headed to Virginia Beach with a friend. We stay in a economy hotel and eat the continental breakfast to save. Then in August, I'm headed to New York City for a long weekend. Got a great deal on a hotel, and will go by bus for $50 round trip, but haven't decided on a broadway show yet.

Posted By Stephanie on June 16, 2008, 12:42 PM

Have you a good economical package to
Puerto Rico ? We would be interested
in Rio Mar Beach Golf resort for
2009. ( Feb/ Mar ) thank ;you

Posted By emily on June 16, 2008, 1:07 PM

My husband, son (16) and daughter (11) are taking a 10 day Mediterrean cruise on Holland America. Spending a few days in Rome and then cruising to Croatia, Turkey, Corfu, Olympia, Santorini (my favorite place in the whole wide world!), Malta and Sicily. Booked back in January and saved over $1500 on airfare (so far - it seems every week it goes up a few hundred dollars). Would love to do a cross country road trip to see the Grand Canyon but that is out of the question now for obvious reasons.

Posted By Dori on June 16, 2008, 1:26 PM

Just back from taking 19 yr old grandson to Paris for 8 days. Trip was postponed from just after 9/11 and though we knew it would be expensive; decided to go anyway. He just finished 1st yr in college and was absolutely blown away by the Parisian lifestyle, the museums, galleries, churches and monuments. I was pretty amazed that he enjoyed all this so much. Had super little hotel on Rue de la Harpe, sandwiched between busy streets around the Seine and Notre Dame. He loved the cafes and people watching and has decided to do his Junior year abroad rather thank. Expensive, yes; worth every penny, absolutely!

Posted By omad644 on June 16, 2008, 1:26 PM

In April, we traveled to Williamsburg, VA to tour the colonial town as well as Jamestown and Yorktown. All are within a few miles of each other, so there was not a lot of driving, other than the round trip from Atlanta. Later in June, we are going to Branson, MO to catch some shows and just relax, and then to Lake Conroe, just north of Houston, TX, in October. We use our timeshare for lodging, and take most of our food, so our biggest expense is gasoline.

Posted By Jason on June 16, 2008, 1:37 PM

Going to Ireland in September for 12 days with my mom & sister. We're all so excited! I've always dreamed of going to Ireland and it's finally coming true!

Posted By Tami on June 16, 2008, 2:02 PM

We are heading to St. Petersburg Russia with stopovers in Poland and Estonia

Posted By Boykin, J-A on June 16, 2008, 2:09 PM

We are headed for a beach vacation on the quiet island of Chincoteague, Va. No nickel-and-diming-lost-your-baby's-luggage-cancelled-your-flight-coughing-aisle-mate airline headaches for us this time. P.S. P.J., you will love the diving, hiking and windsurf schools on Bonaire.

Posted By TropicBird on June 16, 2008, 2:50 PM

Just returned from Central Europe in early May and the French/Spanish Basque country last week. Not all that expensive. Gas was $8.00 per gallon, but our Audi A4 diesel got 40.5 MPG. Next Sonoma in July, then to the Michigan Dunes and Mackinaw Island at the end of August.

Posted By Lawthomas on June 16, 2008, 5:52 PM

In May we flew to Washington, DC to meet our Congressman, rented a car and visited Monticello, Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg. In September, we are going to Santa Fe, NM. We decided to drive the 1700 miles roundtrip since the plane ride into Albuquerque is a little too scary.

Posted By Gerald V. Bush on June 16, 2008, 9:25 PM

Our family of four will be going to Costa Rica in August. We are visiting the Arenal Volcano area and Manuel Antonio. We plan to hike, white water raft, zip line, and see the monkeys on the beach.
We can't wait to visit the rainforest and all it offers.

Posted By Maz on June 16, 2008, 11:07 PM

We are going to England in August to visit my husband's family, who lives in East Yorkshire. We're hoping to take side trips to Bath and Edinburgh.

Posted By Susan on June 16, 2008, 11:26 PM

So gas prices are high, so, we are going to do the Olympic Peninsula Loop from Seattle by Public Transit. We are retired and have time to spare, saving gas and frustration on the highways and let the bus driver do the driving. If anyone is interested email me and I will give you the info. We don't take vacations, just go on adventures and this will certainly be one of those!!!Betty

Posted By Betty & Ken on June 17, 2008, 12:02 PM

I have several trips planned. I will go to Branson for a few days. Later I will spend five days in NYC. I am on a safari in South Africa and will go to Zimbabwe's side of Victoria Falls. Then I plan to attend a four-day gospel concert in Lebanon, MO and then on a week-long cruise in the Caribbean.

Posted By maccogirl on June 17, 2008, 3:56 PM

We are headed to both coasts this summer. In late June we head to CA - a few days in San Francisco on the front and back end of a week at our time-share in Lake Tahoe. We haven't been there in years because we usually trade our "every other year" week for a ski place at spring break.
In late July we head to upstate New York for a few weeks. It will include several days in NYC to take in baseball games at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium - the last year for both of them. We will have to balance the baseball with visits to FAO Schwartz and the American Girl Store for our 10 year old daughter. Thank goodness we made all of our plans early in the spring and got some decent fares!

Posted By Ann on June 18, 2008, 1:53 PM

We're headed to Yellowstone and Montana in August. Family from California, Pennsylvania and Colorado will gather and take in the sites. It's always a challenge to coordinate 3 groups, but it's all about the journey. My husband saw a program about sapphires in Montana and he was intrigued. I think I see some jewelry in my future.

Posted By sheila on June 18, 2008, 9:36 PM

I am going to Hawaii on Sun the 22nd. My husband, kids 10 and 7 are heading for our dream vacation.
We also got our airfare last April 2007. It now cost to fly economy as much as first class. how the prices have soared. We are spending 10 days in Ohau and 10 days in Maui. We plan on just relaxing and doing whatever we want on that particular day. No stress vaca. We are very excited.
Aloha

Posted By colleen on June 19, 2008, 9:00 AM

Last September my sister, brother-in-law and I made arrangements to rent an RV (10-12 miles per gallon average)in Anchorage and spend 10 days seeing as much of Alaska as we can. At the time we weren't anticipating gas to have skyrocketed like it has but we range in age from 61 to 81 and "you can't take it with you" so we're off to see interior Alaska. We're spending time at Denali, Anchorage, Seward, Whittier and Homer doing glacier cruises, visiting marine centers and native Alaskan exhibits and eating lots of salmon.

Posted By Sue on June 21, 2008, 3:29 PM

My family is traveling from Reno, Nv to Springfield, Mo in August. We will be traveling on I-80 (nevada, utah and parts of wyoming) and I-70 (eastern colorado, kansas, and western missouri).

Does anyone have any great local stops for great family food and atmosphere?

Thanks
Mike

Posted By Mike on June 22, 2008, 3:44 PM

My husband and I just returned from a two week vacation to Utah. Flew into Las Vegas then spent a week exploring Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Capitol Reef National Park. Then we did a 4 day rafting/camping trip out of Moab on the Colorada River. It was a fantastic trip, beautiful scenery, lots of hiking,whitewater excitement, star gazing and we met a lot of really great people.

Posted By Lin on June 22, 2008, 7:01 PM

We will make several 3-day trips from Ohio to Washington, D.C. in the summer. My oldest daughter and friends are going to Daytona Beach for the first week of July. In September, I will be taking my mother to Niagara Falls. In October, it's off to the south of Spain for a week.
Gas prices did deter our plans to drive to the West this summer.

Posted By Cindy on June 23, 2008, 3:11 PM

Going to Newfoundland for 2 weeks in July.
Always wanted to go there. Been to all the other provinces. Loved Nova Scotia

Posted By Carmen on June 26, 2008, 2:06 PM

We decided to skip the hassles of the airports and travel within our region. We are planning on a week of relaxation around the NY finger lakes to enjoy some small town USA and check out a few wineries.

Posted By JB on June 27, 2008, 10:42 AM

We are headed on a East Coast Historical tour with our three girls. We start with the long drive to Seattle, WA and then no more cars for 14 days!
We our own in Philadelphia, PA for two days.
Then we meet up with our "Disney Adventure Tour" for their portion of the Philadelphia tour. We move onto Washington,D.C., Mount Vernon and Williamsburg,VA
This week long tour ends in Richmond, VA.
We follow this up with a train trip to New York City to spend five days. The girls may be most excited about our Broadway tickets to "Wicked".
Arranging all of this with the help of AAA and Disney has been so easy! If this trip is as good as the help we have had planning it, we are in for a grand time!!

Posted By Kathryn Southwick Hess on June 27, 2008, 11:11 AM