Ho hum..Only two years ago, I was planning a mediterrenean cruise, a weekend in St. John, etc. Now given the current crisis, I wonder if it is even truly smart to be considering a vacation. Nonetheless, I can't help but try to be optimistic and hope for the best. However, my plans are a bit downsized. Where to go summer 2009? On my list, I now have: Sanibel Island, the Outer Banks, Vegas/Grand Canyon combination, Disney (for the kids before they become adults) or a short caribbean cruise. I only get to pick one. My goal is affordable (ok maybe a little bit of luxury) relaxing quality time with hubby and teens. Nothing too quiet though. We bore easily. BTW, except for the outer banks, I have already done all these. I wonder what other suggestions you might have and also where everyone else is going this year? Are you being more conservative?

Where is your departure city? I'm trying to come up with an affordable trip this year also. I'm near San Jose, CA. We were thinking of maybe an Alaskan cruise so that we could combine that trip with a visit to family in Seattle & Vancouver, BC. The ruises all seem to be a bit longer though than the 5 days I was hoping to get though.

Margy

The economy is pretty depressing, isn't it.

The state of the economy is affecting our travel plans for 2009. While we usually like to go to the Caribbean or Mexico for a week every year combined with a couple long weekend U.S. trips, we're going to try to stay in the U.S. completely to help boost the U.S. economy! However, we aren't going to cut vacations all together.

There is a silver lining in the current situation in that many on Fodors who usually travel internationally the majority of time will spend more time exploring the great U.S.A.

I've been to Sanibel & Vegas/Grand Canyon and liked them both. I've never been to the Outerbanks but heard that it's a beautiful area.

Where are you traveling from, how long of a vacation do you have to work with, and what is your budget?

Without knowing these specifics I would suggest a Northwest trip maybe with Seattle, Victoria, and Vancouver. You can also get great deals on Alaskan cruises through vacationstogo.com.

How about the pandhandle of Florida, specifically, the Beaches of South Walton (Seagrove, Seaside, Watercolors) as the beach there are beautiful and there are tons of activities! You could get some luxury but wouldn't have to spend too much money on restaurants as there are many reasonable options in the area.

We're looking at driving to Savannah and then to Isle of Palms right outside of Charleston for a combination beach/city trip. There are plenty of condos near there if you'd like to cook more meals to conserve costs.

DH and I have been traveling to Europe for the last 5 years but not in 2009.We plan to take Grandson on a roadtrip to Rushmore,Yellowstone and Grand Tetons.Darn though,I just can't help thinking about Rome and Venice. Someday again I hope! Grandson said he would really like to go to Venice.

Agree with others, if as you say you are looking for "affordable" then we need to know where you are departing from.

How old are your kids? They may be bored in Sanibel -- I don't remember there being a ton to do besides shelling and sunning. Relaxing for me, but downtime doesn't seem to have the same value for kids

If you do Disney, I'd recommend staying at the Yacht and Beach Club resorts. They have the best pool area, walkable to Epcot, a little quieter, and will be more of a "luxury" for you and your hubby.

As far as the cruise -- are you big drinkers? Just keep in mind that beverages (even soda and coffee) can reeeeeally hike up the cost of a cruise. If you shop around, it may actually be cheaper for you to plant yourselves at an all-inclusive in Mexico.

Vegas/Grand Canyon is a great trip. Obviously your kids won't be gambling, but they'll probably love the exhibits at each hotel -- the scale-model Eiffel tower, the roller coaster at NYNY, the rides on Stratosphere, the fountains at Bellagio, etc. Grand Canyon is gorgeous (duh! ). Again, their age will determine whether they'd enjoy a hike into the canyon.

The kids will be 17 and 12, girls. We are traveling from NY. I am trying to stick to a budget of $2500 (air and hotel). I have ff miles but I don't want to waste them on domestic flights.

margyb, we were in Vancouver two years ago for an Alaskan cruise and last year on our way to Whistler for ski vacation. We all absolutely loved the city and the sea to sky highway up to Whistler. The cruise was awesome, we took the Glacier Bay route. The kids still talk about it.

We did change our 2009 summer plans. It was to be 10 days in France but when everything went haywire this past summer we decided to hold off on a super expensive Europe trip (there are 7 of us). Se we have rented a house on Tybee Island, GA and will swim, explore the lighthouse, look for dolphins and go in to Savannah a couple times for shopping and meals. We are also driving to save on airfare.

We are hoping to be able to go to Hawaii for spring break 2010. The kids really want to go to France or England though so we'll have to see how the next couple of years go.

We plan to take advantage of the lower gas prices in the US and more favorable exchange rates this year.

We will likely visit the UK at least once and maybe Europe as well. Exchange rate for Pounds is as favorable as it has been in a while and Euro is not as favorable, but not as bad as it has been.

I'm banking on air fares being lowered to attract more travelers, but will see how that pans out in the next few months. May just use FF miles for that.

We are thinking about visiting the North West this summer . . Have not been up there yet.

Like some of you probably, I suffer psychologically if I'm not traveling or planning a trip. We are eliminating a grand summer vacation in 2009, saving up for a family trip over Christmas '09 (hope I can last until then). I'm just grateful we can still think about a trip and have a roof over our heads!

schoolmarm. I know exactly what you mean. I am afraid I will lose my mind. We work hard and have a small window to travel (kids summer vacations. I also agree with some of the posters that maybe driving might be the way to go. The last plane trip we took was so harrowing...five hour delay, sweating through immigration long lines and running through Atlanta airport to catch last connecting overboooked flight to only find that one was also delayed. Awful. Plus paying extra for luggage after waiting an hour to check it in and who knows what else.

Lia, you might want to consider Bermuda. Believe it or not it may fit your budget if you keep an eye on airfares and strike when they are low. Rent from www.bermudagetaway.com or www.bermudarentals.com and do a bit of cooking in the rental instead of all meals out.

I also love the Isle of Palms area near Charleston, SC. Charleston has lots to do and the beaches are about thirty minutes away.

We're using FF miles & returning to the Dordogne in France this June. The Gite (house) we stay in costs us $765 per week & has 2 bedrooms, 1 BA,LR/DR, large kitchen, washer/dryer, etc. We'll wander through Sarlat & explore lots of medieval villages for free. We'll take an inexpensive canoe trip down the Dordogne & admire Beynac & Roque Gageac from the river. We'll go to outdoor markets, purchase roasted chicken & other fresh food & dine at the Gite (we've downsized our dining out at restaurants). If, for some reason, we could not stay at Gites - we probably would not travel to Europe in '09.

One of our most expensive vacations was in '01 when we spent the fall in New England, watching the leaves change color. We stayed in hotels & dined out each night. It was more expensive (per day) than our June trip to the French Riveria (near Nice) & Brittany that same year - staying in Gites all the time.

Stu Dudley

Wow! Just listening to where you all have been and where you're all planning to go makes me realize how blessed we all are!

Sounds like you've been on lots of wonderful vacations already and, if you're like me, you've got pretty high expectations of what a vacation should be. This is just a suggestion, but I have some friends who took a great road trip this past year that you may be interested in. They started in St. Louis and followed the "Lewis and Clark" expedition trail. This took them to so many wonderful places: Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, etc. They ended up in Yellowstone (which I believe you've already been to but who can ever get enough of it?) It's just a thought but we can't wait to do it one day soon. It took them about 2 weeks to complete the trip but said it was the best vacation ever! Good luck........planning is the best part of the trip.

Wow thank you for all the good ideas. I will do further research, which is half the fun. Yes, it's true we are all blessed to have been able to go to great places in the past and that we are still able to consider a vacation in the future. Happy 09 to everyone and let's hope things look up

I've been thinking about this issue a lot, and I'm glad to see someone started a thread!

Yes, our travel plans for '09 have definitely changed. Originally, we were planning a trip to Grand Cayman. Then came some unexpected home repairs and the bad economy. We also found out that we're moving in mid-2009. Since we are moving to a completely "new" (to us, at least) part of the country, we are planning several road trips.

We are hoping to do a few long weekend trips that require flying, but will have to wait and see before we book anything.

My husband and I were planning a two week vacation to Alaska this summer. After investigating, we have decided to put this off until 2010. We wanted to do it right - with maybe a short cruise and then some land time, with fishing (and a guide) - and since we are traveling from the East Coast, we would want to spend at least 2 weeks. I priced it as being more expensive than our last trip to Hawaii. This year we are going to rent a house on a lake in Maine for a week (it is truly beautiful up there) and also plan another trip. With the exchange rates changing, it actually may be cheaper to travel to Europe than stay in the US.

How about Canada, since the exchange rate is moving in the US' favour at the moment? Some interesting options for summer trips would include Montreal, Quebec City, Prince Edward Island (laid back holiday), Nova Scotia and Toronto/Niagara.

Luckily, we don't have to downsize this year, but it 2009 is going to be the year we burn through airline miles and hotel points. We have a 10-day trip to Italy planned in April. We'll spend half in a country house (rental organized by our friends) and 4 nights in Venice using Hilton points. In October, we're going to Egypt and are planning to stay at Marriotts and Sheratons for most of the trip, again using points. We booked business class flghts during BA's reward seat sale - although we had to fork out big $ for fees and taxes, those expenses are past us as part of our 2008 holiday budget. Finally, we're planning a couple of long weekends and, again, will try to use points and miles. I have a $500 coupon with Continental (received it because of a service problem) and we'll try to use that for our flights on one of the trips.

What if you combined Disneyland in California with San Diego or Orange County beaches?