Tripping Out

"VACATION'S ALL I ever wanted," the great philosopher and humanitarian Belinda Carlisle once said. "Vacation, have to get away."

Now's the time of year when Wall Street analysts tell us summer effectively has been cancelled. This time round, the culprit is oil, which is topping $71 a barrel. That, in turn, has helped drive prices of gasoline higher. That's causing sticker shock, so much so that you, the American consumer, will be loath to fill up your tanks and go off on vacation. In fact, you'll probably just stay at home. Luckily you filled up the air-raid bunker in your basement with Yoo-Hoo and Glenmorangie when you were worried about the Millennium Bug back in '99.

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