PARSIPPANY, N.J.—Raising families, navigating jobs, and balancing social commitments are among some of the stressors on Americans’ plates. The result is that 51 percent of U.S. vacationers admit they’re more stressed today compared to a year ago, and it’s causing more than one in three (37 percent) to cancel or delay their trip.
Wyndham Vacation Rentals’ 2017 “Vacation Ready” survey was conducted online in April 2017 by APCO Insight. The survey asked U.S. adults who went on vacation in the last 12 months about how vacation stressors impact their everyday lives. Respondents identified the most common travel pain points from planning and packing to relationship challenges:
- Too many choices: Two in three (67 percent) vacationers have become stressed due to “information overload” and are paralyzed with too many choices when researching and planning. Two in five (41 percent) get stressed about scheduling things to do during their trip.
- Trouble leaving the daily grind behind: Once on vacation, it takes time to unwind and forget about the stress of work and personal responsibilities. Three in 10 (30 percent) U.S. travelers don’t feel truly relaxed until the second day of vacation or later.
- Relationship-testing moments: Two in three (67 percent) have argued with a travel companion as a result of stress caused by planning or taking a vacation. One in four (25 percent) have even broken up with a significant other while traveling. The good news? One in four (26 percent) have also met the love of their life on vacation.
- Packing: Packing is so dreaded that half of all respondents said they would give up alcohol for a month or social media for a week to avoid doing it. Nearly two in three (65 percent) say not procrastinating on packing your bags would minimize stress.
- Work: More than half (56 percent) felt that not checking work email and voicemail reduces stress. The majority of travelers said taking an extra day off work before leaving for vacation or coming back a few days before returning to work would also help.
- Space, clean clothes, and closed doors: More than three in five vacationers (62 percent) think booking accommodations with space and privacy would make their next vacation less stressful and half of vacationers (50 percent) think that being able to do laundry would help.
