A recent Automobile Club of Southern California survey found that members’ summer travel bookings are up 10 percent from last year. But high gas prices, an uncertain economy, and good old American workaholism could put a damper on this year’s summer getaways. So the Business Journal asks:

What are your summer vacation plans?

Larry Hamer

Director of Sales and

Marketing

Giroux Glass

My summer vacation is going to be working because I’m in a new job. But at least we live by the beach! I have grown children from a first marriage and kids at home now from my second, and when you have merged families it’s difficult to get everybody together at the same time. Right now we go for just three or four days at a time. We’re looking forward to a big summer vacation a few years from now, when the kids are out of high school. When they’re gone, we’ll go to Europe.

Jean Carpenter

Educational Outreach Director

Kaiser Permanente

Baldwin Park

I have been ill, recovering from pneumonia, but I do plan to go to Bellingham, Washington and visit my daughter and grandchildren. They prefer to come to Southern California, but it doesn’t fit into their schedule to come here this year. I haven’t seen my youngest granddaughter since she was 5 weeks old, so nothing like fare price hikes would stop me from going.

Michael Demoratz

Clinical Director

Head Injury Rehabilitation Services

If I could go anywhere I would probably go to Hawaii, but I’m actually going on a trip to Tampa in a couple of weeks. I’m going to a conference as a speaker and then I’m going to stay over with my in-laws. I do so much business travel that I can just add a day here or there and it makes almost a week, which is all most people get for vacation. Florida is not exactly my idea of a vacation destination, but since this fits in with my work, I’ll sit around the pool, relax and try and do as little as possible.

Kiki Purohit

Owner

Carlton Motor Lodge

I like to take a big vacation either in the summer or in December. I usually go far, to India or to other continents. But I’m not going overseas this time my business doesn’t let me. We have a lot of business this summer, both tourists and local bookings. So my vacation will be camping this year.

Jennifer Brockett

Attorney

Davis Wright

Tremaine

I’m not taking a summer vacation. It’s funny, because now that I’m a third-year lawyer I finally can take time off when I got married last August I took a five-week honeymoon. But I just started here two months ago. My husband also started a new job and he’s already missed four weeks of work for jury duty. So we’re actually looking at taking a two-week trip to Israel and Egypt, but in December, not now.

Todd Baker

Vice President

Grizzard

My company’s stock is down right now, but that doesn’t stop me from going on vacation. We try to take a trip at least once a year, although it’s not always necessarily in the summer. My wife and I are thinking about going to Hawaii this August. We went about 13 years ago for our honeymoon. Now we want to get away from it all and revisit the place.