Even just the money for a motel along with gas and food is difficult for a lot of people.

I have literally never been on "a vacation" in the way boomers seem to mean it - where they go somewhere.

it doesn't mean I don't take PTO, ofc I do and it's not that I couldn't afford some sort of cheap holiday package if I had to - I'm sure most of the holiday prices I've seen advertised are a total scam because the economics just don't make sense and there's all sorts of hidden expenses, but even if they're that cheap, it's a large enough sum of money where I wouldn't spend it unless I had to.

"Driving to Arizona" requires a car ($$$), a driving license ($$$), food ($$$$), and a place to stay while there ($$$$$$).

So why would I ever do any of that, when I could just stay in and watch a movie with my gf, all of which is free (as in - no additional expenses), and then next month I might be able to pay down bills, or worry less about paying down rent? It's the same as having Netflix or any subscription service - yes the value might actually be good, but why spend if you could do without, and need the money?

I find this odd to believe though.

Census.gov reports over 12% of people in the States are poor (38 million people).

The NPR reported that half the population can't afford rent.

A good chunk of the rest are able to afford it, but unlikely to have several thousand laying around for a trip.

A vacation doesn’t have to be extravagant. A good chunk of U.S states have PTO even and driving to Arizona isn’t that extravagant anyway.

I guess it depends on what "vacation" means. In the context of this article, it seems like this lady actually travels for vacation.

If we mean visiting the local beach as a "vacation", we've really been screwed over by wealth hoarders.