The cabin has a kitchen, allowing them to save on meals, and many of the biggest draws – including Great Smoky Mountains National Park – are free or low-cost. A parking pass costs $5 (£3.70) for the day or $15 (£11) for the week.
Augerinos is seeing a similar pattern among clients, who still want a memorable trip but are rethinking what that means. “I’m booking more Montana ranches, Utah and Wyoming national parks and high-end domestic trips that still feel like a real experience,” he said. “For a lot of people, that bigger international trip is getting pushed out until things calm down.”
Waiting for certainty
Jagdish Khubchandani, a professor of public health at New Mexico State University, had promised to fly to Delhi to support his mother through surgery but the Iran war complicated his plans. “I checked tickets and the travel was chaotic,” he said. “I could get a ticket from El Paso to Delhi, but via the Middle East and there was a note on airline websites: ‘airspaces may remain closed’.”
So far, the uncertainty has kept him from booking, but he’s keeping his eye on flights for the next few weeks as more carriers are adding Asia-bound routes through Europe. If he finds a routing that feels reliable, he will pull the trigger, even knowing that it will add four to six hours to his total travel time.
His hesitation reflects a wider pattern. “While there is some uncertainty around travel this summer, we are still seeing people want to travel,” explained Joanna Reeve, a general manager at Intrepid Travel. “They’re just adjusting where, when and how they’re travelling.”
Shorter trips, closer to home
With US gasoline prices rising sharply – topping $4.50 (£3.35) a gallon in early May – even the classic American road trip is being reimagined this year.
Last summer, Oregon resident Eric Goranson saved carefully for a week-long trip to Boston to see the Boston Red Sox play the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. “My girlfriend Alisa is a huge lifelong Red Sox fan and I’m a die-hard Seattle Mariners fan, so we were really excited to turn it into our big summer getaway,” he said.
