SHOW US: Where Did You Go This Summer?

This summer I was going to venture out on a 25-city, four-week tour of Europe, but I just felt like the whole spending-money-like-a-rock-star thing was really played out. 

OK, so the 2012 summer budget really only allowed for sitting in front of the AC eating a pint of ice cream. Oh, and I did enjoy a weekend trip to exotic and beautiful Arkansas.

Turns out I'm in the minority, because AAA travel club reports that the number of Americans traveling has been on a slow and steady increase for the last two years. AAA's travel data from July 4 of this year showed a 4.9 increase from last year for people trekking more than 50 miles from home to celebrate.

"Americans are still in love with their vacations and they are finding ways to finance those vacations despite the slow-growing economy," said Cynthia Brough, director of public relations for AAA's national office. Brough said that travelers these days are looking for value and economy, however they personally define it.

And locally, , according to a report released last month by the State of Illinois. In fact, visitors and tourists spent $576.24 million on transportation, food, lodging, retail, entertainment and recreation last year. 

Maybe visitors were lured by local attractions such as the or our Lincoln Highway history gazebo near  — or the fact that Plainfield is home to the crossroads of Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway. 

Now we know you probably can't top our pint of ice cream experience, but on the off chance you actually traveled outside your kitchen this summer, we'd love to see the photos and live vicariously through them. Maybe you went to the beach or the mountains or backbacking through some exotic, far-flung locale.

No matter where you went, inside or outside Plainfield, share your photos here so we can get inspired for next year.

While I stuck close to home this summer, I'll start things off by sharing some snaps from my 2011 summer trek to Ireland.

Happy posting!