COLUMBIA, S.C. — Traveling from Anderson to Myrtle Beach has become routine for Vanya Lopez and her mom Anabel Perez as they visit family.
But, with the cost of everything from food to gas on the rise, in part, from inflation and the war in Ukraine, the miles are adding up.
"With our bigger car, she put in $60 and it didn't even get to the half of the tank," Lopez said. "We had to buy a new car, like this car that's smaller, so we could afford coming down to the beach."
According to AAA, the average cost of a gallon of gas nationally is around $5, the highest average cost ever recorded.
Despite this, Tiffany Wright, with AAA of the Carolinas, said the summer travel season hasn't slowed.
"…but I do suspect that if gas prices continue to soar the way they have been in these last several days, I do think it will make people take pause and they might not travel as far," Wright said.
Reducing your speed, keeping your car maintained and parking at drive-through restaurants can help.
Other tips from AAA can be found here.
"Opt. instead of standing in those long lines, and burning up your gas and idling your vehicle, opt. for parking in a spot," Wright said.
For now, Lopez says she and her mom are still willing to make the drive.
"There hasn’t really been a point where we’re like, oh we can’t afford it," she said. "We’ve just cut down a little bit on things.”
How far they go will depend on the cost.
"We're just hoping that it can like even out, so that it doesn’t keep going up and then we will have to stop spending money on certain things," she said.