Did you know that 13 of the 15 busiest travel days of the year are typically during the summer? This year alone, U.S.-based airlines are projecting a 4.5 percent increase in summer passengers, according to a recent WSJ report.
So where are we headed on our summer va-cay? Back to school, of course! Many families are opting to kill two birds with one stone by taking a summer family vacation to a college campus town near you. Travel expert Peter Greenberg even listed college campus getaways as No. 5 on his Top 10 Family Travel Trends for 2015.
A+ Idea
It’s pretty genius really. Parents and their tweens/teens head off to Flagstaff or Iowa City to experience the town and college in all its glory. What better way to get a feel for their future alma mater than by hanging out for a week at the local watering holes?Off Madison Ave’s director of client services, Sasha Howell, remembers her family’s summer visit to Vanderbilt (her top choice and ultimate pick from 11 schools to which she applied) fondly.
“The whole fam damily went. Mom, dad, my sister who had recently moved there, and my brother met us there. I really got to see the city and get a sense of what I would one day be doing,” said Howell.
Campus Life, the PG Version
Many colleges are cluing into this trend and offering full-day summer immersion programs for would-be students and families.
CU-Boulder (special shout out to our newest Off Madison Ave office in Boulder) Summer Sampler advertises its “award-winning dining halls” as part of its daylong tour program. Can’t you just taste the greasy pizza?
Susan Alaimo of SAT Smart recently offered up similar advice on myCentralJersey.com noting that, “after students tour a campus, eat in the college dining hall, visit the campus center and chat with current students, it usually becomes crystal clear whether this is a place they’d like to call home for the next four years.”
The Year-Round Appeal
And, speaking of home, college towns are also appealing as a new home base for entrepreneurs like digital marketing advisor and road warrior Jay Baer.
Baer and his family relocated to Bloomington, Ind., from Phoenix specifically because it was a great college town.
“100% we moved here because it was a college town,” said Baer. “College towns equal high quality of life with sports, music, restaurants, culture, and smarter than usual peeps around, all with very few hassles like traffic, crime and blight.”
And how does he feel about summers in Bloomington? “It is AWESOME when college is out because traffic (as much as there is) goes way down, you can get into any restaurant, parking is way easier, and there’s way fewer red solo cups all over the streets!”
We hate to break the news to you Jay, but this summer Bloomington and college towns across the US may be a little more inundated with the station wagon set.
Got any exciting summer plans of your own? Here’s some inspiration if you want to head our way and explore the Grand Canyon State and its fine schools. GO DEVILS!
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