It's not like we didn't know it was coming. Heck, we've been talking about it for years or at least we've been asking the questions and giving ourselves the answers we wanted to believe were true.
"Do you think the cost of a gallon of gasoline will go up beyond $1.25?"
  "Naw, not here in America."
The price for gasoline is now $1.59? Can it go any higher?"
  "Naw, not here on the west coast. We have oil wells in our back yards."
"My gosh! This morning the price of a gallon of gasoline is $1.89. Surely the government will step in to curb the runaway prices, won't they?"
  "Naw, I'm afraid not. It's happened here as it's happened in other oil dependent countries."
"Good God! I paid $2.09 a gallon for gasoline this morning. Now, that's the limit isn't it?
  "Naw, and I think it's time for the government to step in."

I'm a world traveler and for years I've seen the insidious way the price of gasoline has affected the population of other countries. Just as the automobile had changed their lives and attitudes, so has the current prohibitive price of the fuel, which runs those automobiles, changed the way they live. I always believed that it was foolhardy of us, as Americans, to think, "Not in America". We were the long-term goal. Nowhere else in the world are there gas guzzling vehicles per capita than in our country.

We are too late to stop the upward spiraling of the cost of fuel and energy. Have we harnessed our energy supply? No, it has harnessed us. What has all this got to do with TRAVEL n' TIPS, you ask? Everything. The high cost of fuel for people transporters, the cost of labor to run those people movers and the accelerating costs to maintain and/or replace those vehicles will soon force the traveling public to stay close to their hearths. Rather than commit financial suicide in order to keep traveling, they will find substitute ways to enjoy their vacations at destinations, which are closer to their home bases.

I know myriads of people and groups who, as their last hurrah, are making this summer their last time to travel abroad until the price tag to travel extensively reaches its sanity level again. Since I make my living from traveling I have to bear the brunt of my increased cost of operating, just as any other business does who deals with the sudden increase in the cost of their raw materials.

Until next month, see you at the pumps!

EDITOR'S NOTE:
Nate had stuck close to home this last month. He has traveled our city talking to people on how the increased costs of energy has affected their lives. Contact him on site; http://www.4pointspress.com or direct your email to the Editor.