It's getaway season, but these days a road trip can cause a big rip in vacation budgets because of record-high gas costs. Pump prices above $4 a gallon nationwide, along with air travel hassles, have more than a few families rethinking where they'll go this summer.

In-state campgrounds or resorts, regional beaches or theme parks, and other nearby attractions gain appeal when each fuel stop costs at least $50 -- or as much as $100 for a recreational vehicle. Savings from shorter drives can buy a lot of ride tickets, snacks and souvenirs. Traveling close to home even earns nicknames - a staycation or brief daycations.
Ads echo that message as state tourism promoters pitch vacation and weekend destinations to residents and regional neighbors. In Florida, a new Tours on a Tankful promotion features heritage, nature and cultural highlights for 28 trips. The Visit Florida website has a fuel calculator for each outing and lists 20 offbeat things to do at familiar locations -- a campaign called Been There, Haven't Done That.

Similarly, Iowa promotes one-tank trips with ads in 37 daily newspapers there. "We took the average fuel economy -- 20 miles per gallon -- and the average fuel tank size -- 16 gallons -- and planned trips within the 320-mile range ... of each newspaper," says a tourism office representative.
And in the Northeast, the New Jersey Shore puts out a welcome mat for "vacation orphans" from Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York. The seaside resort strip is within one tank of gasoline for tens of millions of people - though they better not all come at the same time.

Travel executive says: "States have to fight against the tendency for people to stay at home. People see gas prices are high, and they'll say, 'I'll put off that trip.' " - Mike Pina, Automobile Association of America (AAA)

Travel writer says: "A lot of times, people have a list of things they want to do nearby that they never get around to. There's certainly a good incentive this year to do that." -- Tim Leffel, author of Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune

Park the SUV: To cut fuel costs, some vacationers head out in a rental car so they can leave costlier SUVs and vans at home.