It wasn't so long ago we were wringing our hands about Americans being afraid to take vacation. From 1976–2000, we took about 20.3 vacations days annually; from 2001–2013, that dropped to 16 days, which the U.S. Travel Association called the “Lost Week.” Americans were concerned about the cost of a trip—literally (post-recession) and figuratively, as the cost of being away from work also felt insurmountable.
Thankfully, we're making progress on becoming fun again. The number of annual vacation days we take is inching back up, and according to a study released last week by AAA Travel, we may have millennials to thank for encouraging more play time. They're—we're! I keep forgetting I'm a millennial—more likely to plan a family vacation (44 percent) than Gen Xers (39 percent) or Baby Boomers (32 percent). We already know millennials are more likely to have passports and won't think twice about tacking on vacation to business trips. So why not put millennials in charge of new family experiences?
That extra nudge may be all families need to get out of the same-spring-break rut: Thirty-five percent of all families surveyed said they plan to travel abroad this year—up nine percent from two years ago—and three-quarters of families hope to go somewhere they haven't been before. What places are trending, per AAA? This year, it's Cancun, Mexico; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Rome, Italy; and Dublin, Ireland. That gels with what we're seeing, though we might tell travelers to go two hours' south of Cancun to Tulum, as well, where resorts and restaurants are being reinvented (it's the rare Mexican beach town with a Noma pop-up). There are a lot of exciting things happening in Rome right now—even the ancient city is going high tech—and U.S. tourism to Dublin is as high as ever, thanks to more Aer Lingus flights and a booming Dublin food scene. (Get to Catch-22 for some of the freshest fish in town.)
Also encouraging: Twenty-seven percent of families "plan to take three or more vacations in the next 12 months," says AAA Travel. There's no time to waste—let's regain that lost week.