Staycation?

Does anyone else hate the non-word "staycation" with a fiery passion? Every time I see it written or hear someone say it I cringe.

Why can't people just say "We're not going on vacation to [insert some some far-away, probably tropical destination] this year. We're going to just go on a few short local trips to save [some money or the environment or whatever the case may be]."

Instead marketers, advertisers and other hype-masters have noticed the trend of people saying that they're not traveling as much because airfare and other vacation costs are increasing (on top of their day to day costs increasing) and are trying to make it seem hip and/or eco-friendly to not go on vacation by giving it a stupid name. Now that they've got your attention they can push long forgotten local destinations (that have lost favor to bigger, badder, more distant places) and new barbeque grills, slip-n-slides and inflatable pools on you for your awesome backyard "staycation" and you won't feel so bad about not going anywhere.

It's not a bad idea to stick close to home and do a few short trips or just have a barbecue by your inflatable pool instead of going on a long, far-away vacation if you can't afford it (or for whatever reason you have) but please stop calling it a "staycation".

Now that I got that little rant out of the way: I don't think my girlfriend and I are going on an actual vacation this year. We've already been talking about possibly doing an overnight or two somewhere on our week off. I'm trying to save money to pay off debt and to possibly buy a house while property values are heading down to more reasonable levels. I don't think it was the cost of gas (or anything like that) that made the decision for us. For me, at least, I think it was more a decision as to whether it was worth it to spend $1,000+ for a few days away from home or to use it for something more long term... and I think I'm at the stage of the game where I need to focus on the long term a little more.