In: Economics
Vacation involves both quantitative and psychological costs. Vacation is a get away majorly to spend time with family or just take a break from the regular. Being in a regular is not bad but it can get mundane and lead to frustration or just falling productivity. Hence to reboot , vacation is a must.
Vacation is a luxury good . If the income is not based in daily earning and daily spending basis, the vacation can be evaluated as a psychological cost solely . Due to the positives which vacation offers, people like to spend over and above their regular expenditures and release daily life tensions. The expenditure is no longer an issue and hence expenditure here measured in dollars is a secondary concern.
The expenditure vary with factors like location, travel medium , stay , forgone wages , distance need to be travelled etc. Although there factors add as deficit to the pocket of individual and most of the portion of population have to cut short on regular expenses. The foregone cost is worth it because psychological benefits as discussed above.
Example let a single person earns $500 per year. He is most likely to save for some days off and to a place he probably wants to visit. This is his investment for a better mental health. Hence he, like most people will spend on such trips , given the income and the budget he is ready to let go , to enjoy while spending on a vacation. The spending will vary based on different people's nature and choices towards luxury goods.