When Katie Stewart and her friends started planning their upcoming spring break trip, they did so with the country’s economic situation in mind.

“That’s why we’re just choosing to drive somewhere rather than to take a flight,” Stewart, a freshman pre-physical therapy major, who plans to go climbing in Kentucky or Tennessee, said.

“Climbing trips are significantly less expensive, and we can regulate those things on our own as far as food goes and gas.”

While Stewart and her friends have enough money to take some sort of trip during spring break, other students might not be so lucky. The days of a great deal of college students taking $1,500 all-inclusive trips to tropical destinations are over for the time being, experts say.

“In general, with the economy as bad as it is, I think Americans will take fewer vacations,” said associate economics professor Carl Campbell. “Leisure spending is down as a result of the recession. Given that the unemployment rate is 7.6 percent, probably fewer students have jobs. Students who have jobs are probably worried about not having their jobs in the future.”

Economics professor Khan Mohabbat said a percentage of students will still be able to travel.

“Some students may not partake in long trips; others will due to lower prices and incentives by the merchants,” he said.

Local travel agents say they have been booking less and less student trips the past few years, the result of Internet travel sites and agencies that sell group packages aimed specifically at students.

Barbara Walker, a travel consultant for Carder Travel Limited, 2410 Sycamore Road, said the travel market is “off somewhat of what it has been.”

“Because of the stock market factor, a lot of people don’t plan ahead as much as they used to,” she said. “They’re doing it last minute.”

Sue Emberson, manager of Royal Travels and Tours, Inc., 122 N. First St., said traveling is down “across the board.”

“Student travel is down as well,” she said.

As junior nursing major Christina Plikas sat inside the Holmes Student Center Tuesday, with the temps outside in the 30-degree range, she beamed with excitement over her upcoming spring break trip to Florida.

“I can care less about how the economy is, I’ll still go on vacation,” she said. “If I need my vacation, I’ll get it.”

Sitting at a nearby table, Brian John, a junior computer science major, wasn’t nearly as excited about the upcoming week-off, saying the recession has affected more than just his spring break plans.

“I’m back in school because of the economy,” he said. “And I can’t afford to go places.”

As she ate lunch in the Student Center, Stewart said she and her friends will split the cost of gas and stay with someone they know during their upcoming trip; therefore they’ll definitely be taking a vacation regardless of the recession. Other people she knows, not so much.

“I think a lot of my friends are just staying home and working,” she said.