Plan of sunbathing at Hawaiian beaches or embarking on annual family vacations are now things of the past for some, thanks to the current economic crisis that is causing many Paly students and their families to alter their winter break plans.

While some Paly students believe that the Palo Alto community is mostly unaffected by economic crisis, others have been forced to alter their winter break plans in light of the economic recession.

Many plan to stay home or take road trips instead of heading towards exotic locations. The high price of air travel and inflation of the U.S. dollar have led many Paly families such as junior Sophie Cornfield’s to opt out of long vacations.

Cornfield’s family canceled its trip to Israel due to the high cost of travel.

“We usually go to Israel over break,” Cornfield said, “but this year we’re not going there.”

Senior Jackie Rossiter offers a possible reason why this may be the case for many Paly families.

“I think fewer people will travel because they are trying to cut down on spending,” Rossiter said. “Flying is extremely expensive, especially in the past few months that the cost of fuel has been up.”

UC Irvine student and 2008 Paly graduate Jessica Peng says that the economic situation affected her travel plans as well, since she had to pay for her visit back home.

“My school is down south, and this is the first time I have come back to visit, because air travel is so expensive,” Peng said.

Paly graduates such as Peng are finding that they may only have the opportunity to visit their families once or twice over the course of the year. Due to the increase in college tuition costs and travel expenditures, many students will have to spend the holidays at their colleges. This will probably mean that more students will choose to attend colleges closer to home. Learning from these experiences of Paly graduates, current Paly seniors are choosing to apply to colleges closer to home.

Though the combined cost of airline tickets, hotel fees, food, and general entertainment has hindered many Paly students, some have found ways to get around these restrictions.

“We used frequent flier miles to book our trip to Cabo,” junior Olivia Diamond said. “We had to book them in advance because of prices.”

Other students utilized similar methods.

“I am going scuba diving,” junior Jamie Blake said. “We booked our tickets ahead of time, but because of the crisis we are not going anywhere over summer vacation.”

Prioritization has affected Paly families’ decisions. People are opting for cheaper vacations or traveling closer to home. To travel for less, students stay in California, stay at cheaper hotels or hostels, or visit relatives instead of spending money on expensive hotels.

“We might go to Hawaii, but plane prices could mean the difference between a ski and Hawaii vacation,” Cornfield said.

Although the current economic situation has altered many families’ plans, others still view travel as a priority. Junior Camille Smura sees going abroad as an escape from the Palo Alto area.

“It is refreshing to go to Poland to escape the hoopla and drama of Palo Alto,” Smura said.

Junior Zoe Levine Sporer agrees with Smura. Levine Sporer is traveling to Israel during winter break and claims that learning about her roots takes precedent over economic frugality.