On Clearance: The Mother of all Gas Guzzlers

You can call it a home-on-wheels, or a vacation-on-wheels, but soon I think it will become a relic-on-wheels. With the advent of the environmental movement, a deep recession, and the volatility of gas prices, the RV is in trouble. Big time.

RV shipments in the first quarter fell 63 percent since the same time last year, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. Elkhart, Ind., which is the RV manufacturing capital, is dying because of the fall-off in business. Jobs hemorrhaged from this city earlier this year, with the unemployment rate spiking to nearly 11 percent. All because consumers are not purchasing RVs anymore.

But if you want to be like Warren Schmidt (one of my favorite film characters of all-time) and take your retirement on the road then now couldn’t be a better time to cash in on some big wheels, according to this article. And with gas prices being low for now, a family can still have a fun, low-cost vacation in one of these bad boys. A “staycation” can be appealing for so long.

I wrote last week about hitting the road and seeing the country. Pulling up to an RV camp, seeing the beauty of a national park, meeting some interesting characters, it all sounds like a good time to me. But filling up the gas tank would not be. But maybe there will be an RHV (Recreational Hybrid Vehicle) one day.

Road Trippin made easy

Road trips are what I think of as the quintessential, American family getaway. I have fond memories of my dad shoving us in the car at 4am and driving up and down the Florida coast. You see the beauty of the state and country better from the car. And despite the bickering that can sometimes ensue, families bond on the road.

Plus in this recession, and with gas prices staying relatively low, a road trip can be a low-cost alternative to your Mediterranean summer vacay.

And I found something that can make planning so much easier. While visiting one of my favorite travel web sites TripBase.com, I came across a really great feature. You can see it here.

It basically lets you enter what you're looking for in your road trip: how many miles you want to travel, what type of nightlife you're looking for, etc. Then it will spit out cities and towns that fit your criteria, along with gas costs, hotel estimates and even weather predictions.

It does, however, have limits. I entered info leaving from Chicago, and it spit out St. Charles. No offense to St. Charles, but I know there are many other towns to visit within 200 miles.

But this feature is a great starting point in planning your next family-bonding moment.

For a good swine, ahem..time, go to Mexico!

One thing I'm not is a hypochondriac. Believing I'm impervious to disease might be a bad thing, but I will not pass up a good deal because of a world-wide freak-out. The freak-out I'm talking about is the swine flu. Yes, it's scary and it's spreading, but 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms every year in the U.S.; 61 have died from swine flu in the entire world (56 in Mexico). The CDC says you have a better shot of being hit by lightning, than dying of swine flu.

But something else that has fallen ill quickly is Mexico's tourism. And the treatment is hard to prescribe. The Mexico Board of Tourism says the outbreak will cost the country $4 billion in revenue out of a $13 billion a year industry. To fight back, the tourism board is encouraging its own residents to visit the beaches, as it doesn't believe gringos will put their Purell-lathered bodies anywhere near the plush resorts anytime soon. Even though the resorts have remained swine-flu free throughout the outbreak.

Now is a great time to purchase future travel packages to Mexico. Ok, ok, maybe it's not wise to go next week, but you can grab deals for when the swine flu is replaced with another media obsession.



Before the outbreak, flights in August from Chicago to Cancun were priced at $346. Now you can find one for $253. Here are some vacation packages from Expedia.


Cheap, right? And if you have a Mexican vacation planned within the next month, the airlines will change your ticketing with no penalty. So you can land a great hotel deal with your new plans.

But if you want to travel between August and November, perhaps choose the west coast of Mexico. Otherwise you might get stuck due to another media obsession: hurricanes.

Another reason to get an iPhone

I don't know about you, but I'm jealous of anyone with a Blackberry or iPhone. Those gadgets can do anything, and I’m not just talking about email, taking pictures and updating your Facebook status. They can provide a map when you're lost, identify a song on the radio, and now become a boarding pass.

That’s right, a boarding pass. Perhaps you’re running late, or you just get too upset with the idea of killing trees when you print one. If you’re flying American Airlines through O’Hare, now you can simply check-in through your smartphone, then show the barcode on your screen to the TSA agent.

Crazy, huh. I’m only 30 and I can’t believe how advanced technology is.


To learn more about other airports and airlines, read (or listen) to this story from NPR.

Now if only the smartphone would help me fly over traffic getting to O’Hare. Now that would be really something.

Welcome to Five-Minute Getaway

Hi there. Welcome to my blog.

If I can have one wish, it would be to escape from the rat race for a year and just travel. Volunteer in Africa, meditate in India, take an art class in Paris. Unfortunately, reality sets in. But I'm looking forward to retirement. Only 30 more years!

But I can still take the occasional weekend trip, and if I'm really lucky, a whole week off to see a part of the world. So I continue to scour the Internet and curl up with travel magazines, to read stories that stimulate daydreams and make me yearn for a vacay. And that's what I want to share with you.

Since this is the first posting, I'll focus on my current home, Chicago.

But I'll keep it brief today, as I'm sure I'll post a lot of fun stories about this great town.

For those of you who may not know, the Sears Tower has become the Willis Tower, and now there's more news coming out of the tallest building in the country. Check out this story from the Sun-Times.

I for one have never made it to the top of the Sears Tower. Probably because they don't have a bar at the top like the Hancock Tower does. Panoramic city views are even better with a glass of champagne, I always say.



But now I have a reason to visit. This new deck looks thrilling and is sure to attract tourists and residents alike.

What do you think?