"The Extra Mile" - the Tracks & Trails blog

Last year, many of our clients started their Tracks & Trails adventures in Las Vegas. It's a great jumping off point for the National parks in Utah, Arizona and California. And here's the good news, airfares right now are just fantastic to Las Vegas from many cities in the eastern half of the United States. And even better news: there are screaming deals for hotel rooms in Las Vegas! The economic situation has had a big impact on tourism in southern Nevada and many hotels are using discounted prices to lure travelers that may be on the fence - wanting to travel but trying to stay on a tighter budget.

While we are all hearing about doom and gloom in the economy (and it may be worse for some than others), we are hoping that would-be travelers are seeing the economy of a Tracks & Trails vacation. One portion of a total vacation, in addition to what we provide on the ground - either RV or car-based National Park vacations - there is another significant cost to most of our clients: airfare.

We have written in this blog in a previous post about airfares being more affordable due to the price of oil falling back to more financially reasonable levels. We have also been reading about holiday airfare sales right around the corner. In the coming days and weeks, there may be discounts up to 25% on airfares to key gateway cities. This is great news since we see an opportunity for families to spend their holidays in new, different and exciting locales such as Tucson, Florida and San Diego. Depending on what you want to do, each of these three destinations has so much to offer.

Many factors will affect travel for pleasure in the next 12 months and we are seeing many reasons to book now for next year's summer vacation. We realize that many folks are watching their wallets very closely and have concerns about their job security. Optimistically, we also see that most people are still working and many still want to show their kids the National Parks.

Today we're seeing the best exchange rates between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar or the "loonie" that we've seen all year. Still not as good as last year but a far cry better than earlier in 2008. So what's that mean for anyone traveling from the US to Canada? While gasoline is still quite a bit more expensive north of the border, it means your US dollars go a little farther.

What's that mean for RV travel?

We read the papers, watch TV news and read many articles in the travel trade and the general media and it's obvious that the nation is worried about the economy. And yet, many believe that taking a vacation every year is their "birthright". So how do you consider all the options for a vacation and try to pinch a few pennies? We consistently see and hear that RV vacations are not only cheaper but bring together a family in the great outdoors.