Trapped in a loveless marriage with the gasoline engine and way behind the mortgage and groceries on the list of pressing concerns, the summer vacation as we know it is in serious trouble.

A survey by AOL Travel and Zogby International says that 57 percent of the citizenry plans to spend less money on summer trips this year than last, that a third of them plan on staying with family or friends while on holiday and that just 10 percent intend to visit Europe.

Looking for a cure for this new kind of summer doldrums, we threw ourselves on the mercy of the bargain travel experts. What, we demanded to know, will become of us if the summer vacation disappears? What will the schoolkids have left to daydream about as the semester winds down? What will become of that perennial first essay topic in the fall?

Sure, it was a little over the top, but, hey, we got answers.

Where to go now

"Maybe you should stay home this summer."

Wait, what? Tim Leffel, author of "Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune," not to mention "The World's Cheapest Destinations," just told us to stay home? Come on, Tim, we go to you for hope-mongering and you give us that?

"Or maybe this is a good time to discover what is in your home state and home region."

OK, better.

If you're determined to travel farther afield, he said, warming to the task, "south of the equator there are bargains." Not only will it be winter in such places as Peru and Argentina when it's summer here, but there will be fewer South American tourists, especially as their kids will be in school when ours are out. Given those factors and the dollar's relative strength on the continent, Leffel said, "I'm amazed that so many people still go to Europe."

Speaking of Europe, even if you're unfazed by the euro's ferocity, you'll still want to consider skipping that continent's hot spots, targeting rural France instead of Paris, the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands instead of Prague, and the countries of Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania instead of Spain, Germany and Britain.

By the way, in Western Europe, Portugal is the most economical destination, Leffel said, though only in a relative sense. (For more ideas, visit Leffel's Web site at www.contrariantraveler.com.)

For tips on U.S. destinations, we were intrigued by a new AAA survey, or maybe intrigued and disheartened is a more accurate way of putting it. According to the study, Honolulu is the highest-priced vacation destination, "where the average published prices for meals and lodging for two adults total $673 a day." Rounding out AAA's top five list of offenders? New York City, Miami, San Diego and Las Vegas.

"Actually, we're finding that Las Vegas is unseasonably cheap," said Anne Banas of SmarterTravel.com, which included Vegas in its list of summer bargains. Clem Bason of Hotwire.com agreed.

"Vegas has been our best market in terms of savings year over year," he said. "This year, you're paying 20 percent less for a four-star hotel in Las Vegas, and honestly that's only going to get better" as the summer goes on.

How to fly there now

Wherever you decide to head this summer, chances are good you'll be confronted with the thorniest of travel questions today: to fly or not to fly.

"Everyone's trying to figure this out," Banas said. "'Should I even travel, and should I fly or drive for my vacation?'"

And if you decide to brave those once-friendly skies? "You need to book early," she said, particularly if you have a specific destination and inflexible time frame.

"And then there are always the tried-and-true tricks," said Hotwire's Bason. "Look to fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday if you can" and take advantage of booking sites that let travelers see when airfares are the lowest in the days around their target dates. Other useful tools in that regard are Farecast.com, FareCompare.com and Hotwire's own TripStarter.com, the last of which can tell you when air costs to a destination from your home city have been lowest and highest during the previous two years, as well as allow you to factor in a few variables.

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