While you were away: This week’s top travel stories

Weedcations are on the rise

Keep on Treckin’
Based on the numbers of Americans who took vacations this summer, the economy seems to be improving. According to Bloomberg News, the hotel industry is coming off its busiest three months since 1987, with Saturday-night hotel occupancy at 83% for the month of July. The stats also show that the recent holiday weekend saw a 1.3% increase over 2013 for trips longer than 50 miles. We hate to have to make sacrifices but if taking a vacation helps our economy, then darn it, we’ll keep doing it!

Higher tourist numbers
Marijuana tourism in Colorado and Washington state is rising like smoke in a bong. According to Yahoo! and other news sources, both states saw an increase in tourists visiting for the express purpose of pot use. Some enthusiasts are even packaging tours that revolve around getting high. We’re all for it although in our opinion…Oh, shoot we can’t remember what we were going to say…Wait, it will come in a second…Oh, well. Anybody else got the munchies?

Summer-fall romance
With summer fading, Americans are turning to autumn getaways and this month’s Travel & Leisure rounds up America’s best cities for the season. Included on the list are perennial East Coast faves such as Boston and New York, Midwest charmers Chicago and Minneapolis, Southern gems New Orleans and Louisville and West Coast cities such as San Francisco and Portland. Color us not surprised.

A vacation a day keeps the doctor away
Well maybe not each day, but a Yahoo! news story this weeklists numerous examples of why regular travel is essential for a healthier life. The article cites various studies that show travel reduces the chances of a heart attack, makes people smarter and more relaxed, and increases productivity. One study also showed that people have more sex on vacation which, let’s be honest, kind of makes all those other reasons seem like icing on the cake.

Weird science
Time travel may one day be possible, MTV.com reports. Scientists set out to solve the “Grandfather Paradox,” which asks what would happen if you traveled back in time and killed your own grandfather (like when Marty McFly accidentally prevented his own birth in Back to the Future), so they performed a time travel simulation using quantum mechanics that confirmed that time travel might be scientifically possible. If it does prove true, we recommend booking that on Orbitz, too. And you should probably go back and fix those bad 90s haircut mistakes, while you’re at it.

Tagged: California, New York