Wanna save on gas? Ditch your Starbucks.

If you’ve given up the idea of summer vacation road trip, think again. Regardless of the gas prices, fuel is typically only the forth largest expense on a trip behind lodging, food, and vehicle cost and maintenance says author Carol White of Live Your Trip Dream. “It’s really a much smaller expense than people think and it’s certainly not worth canceling your dream vacation over.”

Still, it’s going to cost more this year than it has in years prior to hit the road. White suggests pouring the Starbucks and other non-essentials in your tank instead, “You’d be amazed how much we all spend on the extras we don’t really need. The small invisible stuff really adds up but if a family really wants to take a road trip and needs to budget extra for gas, there are a few great ways they can do this.”

If you’ve always dreamed of hitting the road for a family road trip here are a few quick non-essentials you can easily cut:

• Forgo the daily Starbucks latte, have a regular coffee instead
• Plan eating in more, make dining out a treat, not a daily occurrence
• Come on now, be honest. Are you really using all those cable channels? Cutting just one of them could get you a tank of gas a month. Wait till Big Love comes out on DVD and rent it
• Be adventurous! Get your hotels on Priceline or Hotwire, you might be surprised what you get! Many of their rooms are four star hotels.

According to a study done by PKF for the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), fuel prices would need to triple to make that option more expensive for a family of four than other forms of travel. Of course, you don’t have to have an RV to do a road trip, but they are a great choice for those summer vacations.

Whether you decide to cut one expense or all of them, White says don’t let high gas prices keep you from spending time on vacation. U.S. workers are notorious for not taking the vacations they are entitled to, don’t let the gas pump steal what’s rightfully yours: some time away.”

What not to do on your Summer Vacation!

Just in time to get everyone excited about the summer family vacation season, the movie “RV” comes to town www.sonypictures.com/movies/rv/ .

Poor Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is just trying to get some family bonding time with the kids before they grow up and are gone. But, like many families, he dives into the preparations without a clear vision of the task – especially tackling an RV without some guidance (or apparently, common sense!).

RV trips are great for family bonding, whether you are an experienced RVer or just starting out. The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) has lots of great ideas and help at their site www.gorving.com . If only the Munros had known about this source of information. Whether you need a CD on the basics or a list of campgrounds to get you started, RVIA can help you avoid the pitfalls that the Munros suffered.

According to RVIA, there are over 30 million RV enthusiasts in the country, with over 8 million owning an RV. Who is the most RVing age group? The baby boomers, of course, with over 9% of them owning RVs. Today’s typical RV owner is 49 years old, married, with an annual household income of $68,000 – much like the family in the movie. Whether you want to rent an RV like the Munros did, or are looking to purchase one, there is something for every budget with purchases starting at under $10,000.

Once you’ve gotten your vehicle lined up, you’ll surely need some additional tips and hints to make your vacation enjoyable. Phil and Carol White share lots of tips for road trippers on their website, www.roadtripdream.com . The website has a television clip of them sharing their experiences, a complete budget worksheet (.xls format) for both long and short trips, information on their award-winning book, “Live Your Road Trip Dream” and much more.

Carol offers some tips for your family summer vacation.

· Instead of springing the trip on your family like Bob Munro did, enlist their help in the planning. Almost every age can help – plan out your route, mark the maps, gather information on the internet, get a travel guide or two, plan your meals – these are all things that the whole family can get involved in.
· Don’t over plan your trip. Be sure to leave room in your itinerary for spontaneous adventures – or problems along the way. A little planning goes a long way. Too much planning kills to joy of exploration.
· Consider leaving the electronics at home. Pack the games, sports equipment and hiking maps instead. Families spend so much time in solitary pursuits today, like personal music devices, DVRs, computers, game systems, and more – why not leave them home and explore other options on your vacation.
· If you are taking teenagers along, give them each the responsibility to be in charge of one day of the vacation. They get plan the meals (hold your breath!), be the tour guide on the activities, deal with tickets, money, transportation and other things that crop up during the day. A great experience for them.

So don’t let the hapless adventures of the Munro family scare you off. Do some homework, get everyone involved, and take off on your own adventure and bring back memories to last a lifetime.

Boomers afraid of retirement?

As we have spoken to people, an interesting thing has happened. Our message has really expanded to encompass the whole “reinventing retirement” or “phase II life” issues. As everything in the boomers lives, they are changing the face of retirement.

A Del Webb study a couple of years ago uncovered that 45% of boomers say that travel will be their #1 expenditure in retirement, and travel related companies are getting ready for the boomers. ElderHostel has started a new program called Road Scholars that is targeted squarely at the more adventurous, independent and wealthier boomers. The cruise industry is including things like climbing walls on their ships and planning shore excursions that include hiking, biking, kayaking and other more adventurous options. The internet has spawned a whole group of sites that have trip planning help (like us!) to assist those independent research-oriented boomers to “do-it-yourself.”

What we are finding is that there is a whole group of boomers who are actually AFRAID of retirement – they say they will never retire, or not until they are “old” – because they can’t conceive of our parents retirement – golf and the rocking chair! Well, quite frankly, neither can we. What we advocate is to find your second life. Planning a long trip like we did, is only the beginning, and a great way to help figure out what your “phase II” plan might include.

Boomers are intent on giving meaning to their lives, and up until now, work has been that primary identity, and many are unsure what else there is, so they just plan to continue doing what they are doing. We believe there is a whole new set of experiences to be explored in the second half of our life. If you have thoughts to add to the conversation, please send them along.

Next Stop - Arizona!

We've had a super time in Southern California for the last several weeks. Our presentations and book signings in San Diego, Pasedena, Orange, San Bernardino and Palm Desert went flawlessly - and it was so exciting to meet so many road tripping folks.

Probably the most fun was our television appearances - some people actually called us and said they saw us on TV - how fun is that! We were on two stations in San Diego and one in Palm Desert -- all morning "getting ready for work" time. We hope some of you saw us too. We love talking about road trips and encouraging people to Live their Road Trip Dreams!

Today we moved from Palm Springs to Phoenix. This will be a busy week. One of our children is engaged to be married to a wonderful gal from Phoenix. We are anxiously awaiting meeting her parents while we are here. A couple of weeks ago, the kids told us that they are coming over too (they live in Hanelei, Kauai, Hawaii), so I know we are going to have some real family bonding time.

Monday morning, we'll be on Good Morning Arizona -- really early - 5:45 am, then Susan Felt from the Arizona Republic is interviewing us for an article later in the week. All seems to be ready for our appearances at Barnes and Noble in Surprise and Mostly Books in Tucson. Unfortunately, Changing Hands in Tempe was already booked -- we'll try to be there next time!
We're having a great time between signings too - a little golf, lots of good food and lots of laughs with friends new and old.

Carol

“Road Trip” Authors Take Their Own Advice and Hit the Road

It’s the old adage – the cobbler’s kid needs shoes, the barber needs a haircut, and the road trip gurus need, well … a road trip. Too busy to “practice what they preach”, authors Phil and Carol White found themselves tired of the Oregon rain and ready for a change of scenery. But how do you take off when you need to pay attention to marketing your book? How about a book promotion road trip!

Mixing marketing Live Your Road Trip Dream (RLI Press, 2004), their award-winning ultimate road trip planning guide, with a road trip to promote the book is the perfect way for the authors to live their own road trip dream. Today’s technology allows business people like the Whites to mix play with work. They will pack their vehicle with their laptop, cell phone and of course books as they head for southern California and Arizona later this month. Customers can reach them by phone or email just as normal, and they will have some time to explore new places to write about.

They have scheduled several presentations along the way to share the joy of a long road trip with the 10,000 baby boomers reaching 60 every day and wanting to head out on the road themselves. Gen-xers contemplating a mid-career sabbatical or leave will also find the tips and ideas to be invaluable.

The Whites have spoken to over 1,000 people about their planning tools and their adventure in such diverse settings as athletic clubs, RV rallies, AAA, book stores and libraries – all with rave reviews. They have also been frequent guest on radio and TV with over 50 appearances to date, and this trip won’t slow that activity down. Carol says, “Most radio interviews are done by phone, and we really enjoy talking to people about how to make this incredible experience happen, so we’ll just be talking from a different location than normal.”

To see the White’s and hear about planning your own road trip, plan to be at one of the following appearances:
3/6 - 7:30pm - Distant Lands Bookstore - Pasedena, Ca
3/7 - 7:30pm - Le Travel Store - San Diego, Ca
3/10 - 6:00pm - Barnes & Noble - Orange, Ca
3/11 - 4:00pm - Camping World - 40th Anniversary - San Bernardino, Ca
3/15 - 6:00pm - Barnes & Noble - Palm Desert, Ca
3/29 - 2:00pm - Barnes & Noble - Surprise, Az
4/1 - 1:00pm - Mostly Books - Tucson, Az

For additional information on these locations, visit their website at
www.roadtripdream.com/appearances.html

Their lively 50-minute presentation is sure to inspire the wanderlust to plan that long trip that dreams are made of -- and make the listener believe that they too can do it. Phil adds, “We’ll never have another journey as awesome as our road trip dream – we’d love to help you accomplish your dreams too.”