It’s no secret that Americans love to travel. Whether it’s a cross-country road trip, a family pilgrimage to Disneyland, or a quiet camping escape in the Rockies, hitting the road has long been a cherished tradition. But in 2025, the cost of that freedom has gone up—way up. According to data from the U.S. Travel Association and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall price of travel has jumped by 20% since August 2019. That’s not just airfare, either; it’s gas, hotels, food, and nearly every other expense that comes with leaving home for a few days.
So what’s driving these price hikes? NPR’s series, Cost of Living: The Price We Pay, has been digging into the numbers and the stories behind them. The conclusion: it’s not just a single culprit. Gas prices have spiked, lodging rates have soared, and recreation costs have climbed sharply since the pandemic. While airfares have increased more slowly, the price of food and drinks in restaurants has ballooned by over 30%. And that’s only part of the story—rising costs for housing, groceries, and power have left Americans with less cash to spare for leisure and adventure.
For Ammy Woodbury of Santa Clara, California, the impact has been immediate and personal. Before the pandemic, she and her family made the trek to Disneyland three times a year. Now, as she plans a trip for summer 2026, she’s stunned by how much everything costs. “OK, well, I guess we're not doing that anymore,” Woodbury told NPR. “We'll just go once a year, it'll be fine.” It’s not just the price of park tickets that’s changed, she explained. “The hotel rooms are profoundly more expensive than they were before the pandemic,” Woodbury said. “And it's just amazing how fast it's gone up.”
Woodbury’s experience is hardly unique. According to Lorraine Sileo, a senior analyst at Phocuswright, a market research company, “Things are a little tighter this year. So when you're looking at your spending, relatively speaking, where does travel fit in when you have other expenses?” It’s a question that’s echoed in households across the country.
But the travel industry isn’t suffering across the board. In fact, it’s become a tale of two markets. At the luxury end, business is booming—high-end travel is setting records. But for lower- and middle-income vacationers, the squeeze is real. Sileo put it plainly: “We know Americans love to travel. We've prioritized experiences, prioritized spending time with family and friends. But you'll think a little differently about it.”
NPR conducted an online survey asking how rising costs are affecting Americans’ travel plans. Dozens of people said they simply can’t afford to go anywhere this year. Many others said they’re paring back—taking shorter trips, staying closer to home, or skipping vacations altogether. Chris Neagle of Battle Creek, Michigan, is one of them. “With the cost of everything else going up: groceries, power, you name it. The cost of living has just jumped,” Neagle said. “I think everybody's seeing it and everybody's feeling it.”
Neagle would love to visit his son and grandson in Texas, as well as his sisters who live across the country. But the rising cost of pretty much everything has made that impossible for now. Instead, he and his wife are planning a modest vacation this fall—a road trip to Vermont to go hiking and leaf peeping. “We are taking a trip to Vermont to go hiking and leaf peeping,” Neagle said. “But we're driving and the cost was modest compared to going to Ireland, for instance. So we made kind of a value decision there.”
That kind of value-based decision-making is becoming the norm. According to Becky Liu-Lastres, a professor at the Dedman College of Hospitality at Florida State University, “People are traveling more by car and doing more road trips, as an attempt to save costs in terms of transportation.” She adds, “They will choose nearby destinations, meaning that they are not going overseas. They're more likely to travel domestically, and they will cut short the length.”
For some, this shift toward local travel has brought unexpected joys. Erin Berryman of Fort Collins, Colorado, and her husband have been camping in the Rocky Mountains, but not in the big, crowded campgrounds you might expect. Instead, they’ve found quiet, secluded spots off gravel roads—so secret that Berryman wouldn’t even share the location with NPR. “I don't know if I'm going to say, because I don't want to give it away,” she laughed. Though she and her husband love traveling abroad, for now, they’re content exploring their own scenic backyard.
Still, not everyone is able to find a silver lining. The data and the stories paint a clear picture: travel is becoming a luxury, not a given, for many Americans. The cost of hotel rooms, which was already rising before the pandemic, has shot up even faster. Add in the higher prices at restaurants—over 30% more for food and beverages than in 2019—and it’s no wonder that so many are rethinking their plans.
The industry’s split is stark. On one side, luxury hotels, exclusive resorts, and high-end experiences are thriving as those with means continue to spend. On the other, families and individuals on tighter budgets are cutting back, forced to choose between a vacation and other essentials. It’s a reality that challenges the long-held notion that travel is an accessible part of American life.
For those who do travel, the experience itself is changing. Road trips and domestic destinations are in, while overseas adventures and long getaways are out. Shorter trips, more careful budgeting, and creative planning are the new normal. As Sileo observed, “You'll think a little differently about it.”
And yet, the desire to explore, to reconnect with family and friends, and to make memories remains strong. Americans are adapting—sometimes reluctantly, sometimes with a sense of adventure—to a world where the price of admission has gone up. Whether it’s a once-a-year Disneyland trip, a quiet mountain campsite, or a fall drive through Vermont’s foliage, the spirit of travel persists, even if the journey looks a bit different these days.
As the holiday season approaches and families weigh their options, one thing is certain: the cost of travel is top of mind. For many, it’s a matter of tough choices and new traditions. For others, it’s a reminder to savor the simple pleasures close to home. Either way, the landscape of American travel has shifted—and, for now, there’s no sign it will return to the way it was before the world changed in 2020.
