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When an Australian millionaire claimed last year that the reason why millennials couldn’t afford to buy a house was that they were eating too much avocado toast, the internet collectively laughed. Because first of all, avocado toast is delicious, don’t @ us. And second, no one can afford to buy a house these days anyway. According to a study by online real estate site Trulia, starter home prices have increased 58 percent since 2012, and in certain cities, you need to spend over 100 percent of your income to even afford one.
So just saying avocadon’t on a morning of bottomless mimosas won’t really help you with a down payment, but it can buy you some vacation time, according to HomeAway, an online marketplace for vacation rentals. Don’t believe us? Put down the toast and keep reading.
Based on an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of HomeAway, of 1,087 US adults aged 18-34, 93 percent of millennials would be willing to skip brunch to go on a trip with their BFFs. And almost half would rather take a 2-3 day trip instead of a week-long vacation. So HomeAway calculated the average price of a brunch (including cocktail, entrée, and coffee) in 15 cities across the country. Based on an average cost of $34, they then constructed a Brunch Index to see what popular destinations you could stay in if you just dialed down your breakfast budget.
The results are surprisingly affordable. By skipping just two brunches, you could rent a 2-3 bedroom vacation home for a summer jaunt in a ski town like Breckenridge, CO (average $70/person) or Squaw Valley, CA (average $72/person). If you want to hit up Austin, TX; Nashville, TN; or Palm Springs, CA, that requires skipping three brunches. We already know millennials are willing to cut back on wedding budgets to travel more, so passing up some pancakes for a weekend getaway seems like a relatively easy choice.
“HomeAway vacation homes are half the cost for twice the space of a hotel room,” says Melanie Fish, HomeAway’s travel expert. Not to mention most of them come with hot tubs, pools, game rooms, and more — ideal for a memorable squad vacation.
The steepest destination on the list is celeb hotspot the Hamptons, which will cost you seven brunches (average $217/person). But after taking one look at this listing in East Hampton, which sleeps seven and has a heated saltwater pool, we’ll happily take that trade and BYOBrunch, along with a pool float.
Tag us in your vacation (or brunch) pics on Instagram @BritandCo.
(Photos via Getty and HomeAway)
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