By Ryan Lynch
Money is a topic people often avoid discussing with those close to them. According to a CNBC report, about 75% of people avoid financial conversations with their friends.
However, when it comes to planning trips for spring break, University of Georgia student Lindsay Tuck Morris said being open about personal budgets is crucial.
“When you’re going on a trip together, you have to talk about the money part of it. And I know that that can be kind of uncomfortable to talk about,” Morris said.
Traveling in groups is a common trend among college-aged spring breakers and something Ellie Friese Cave, founder and owner of Ellie’s Travel Bug, a boutique travel agency, said she encourages.
“Group travel is a great way to save money. The more people you have, the more you can split up the cost,” Cave said.
Cave’s normal rule of thumb for booking a trip is six to eight months before departure. According to Cave, because Americans have limited paid time off, they often flock to closer, domestic destinations in large numbers during holidays. As a result, prices rise. Therefore, she advised booking travel to U.S. locations anywhere from nine to twelve months in advance.
If coordinating a spring break trip that far in advance is not practical, Cave advised booking accommodations between October and December to find the best availability and deals.
Flights are often the most expensive part of the trip, Cave said, and suggested Google Flights as a useful research tool.
“If we’re looking at kind of flexible destinations, there is a map view that you can go to, and type in the data that you’re looking for, zoom out on the map and see where the most economical, lowest priced fare is,” Cave said.
For Morris, flights were not a part of her spring breaks plans this year. She wanted to go somewhere within a reasonable driving distance, so she and her friends chose St. Augustine, Florida.
“I was going to have better luck and kind of a nicer vacation where I can stay a little bit longer and do all the things I wanted to do if I kept it more local,” Morris said.
Morris and her friends booked their accommodation through Airbnb. While the cost comparison between an Airbnb versus a hotel vary, Morris likes the space that Airbnb provides.
“We’re okay with sharing beds and someone sleeping on a couch or something like that. And I think that’s a little bit harder to pull off when you’re in a hotel rather than like a whole house,” Morris said.
There is a lot of information on social media intending to help guide student travel. This is especially true of TikTok, which Cave said she often uses to find video reviews of different things, particularly restaurants, to inform her clients. However, she warned against potential misinformation.
“Often times on social media now, a lot of things are glamorized and content creators and influencers will kind of make something seem more tangible for the average person when it maybe is way too expensive,” Cave said.
Besides falling into the traps of social media, another mistake that Cave said younger travelers make is failing to purchase travel insurance. According to Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, travel insurance is designed to protect against risks and potential financial losses during travel or if a trip is canceled.
“I wish I could go back in time and convince my younger self to do this: purchasing travel insurance,” Cave said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Ryan Lynch is a journalism student at the University of Georgia
