Editor’s note: Bob Mullins is a certified money management volunteer at Bend’s Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Mid-Oregon. His column offers personal financial education to Central Oregonians.

Are you looking for the best way to save the most money on your annual vacation? If so, this isn’t that kind of story.

Yes, I’m going to help you to stretch your vacation dollars, but I’m not going to discuss the cheapest vacation money can buy. Why? Because we’re in our 20th month of the current recession, and if you’ve weathered the storm and are still financially able to take a vacation, then the last word you want to hear at this moment is “staycation.”

If you saved money by skipping last year’s vacation, then 2009 may be the travel year of your dreams.

Yes, the recession is so pervasive that people aren’t traveling to distant locations as much and a new word has developed to describe the more localized excursions that people have resorted to in the past couple of years. “Staycation: a vacation spent at home or nearby,” was recently added to Webster’s dictionary. So many people are taking staycations that more opportunities exist to take advantage of great deals on vacations.

Let’s say you were smart and paid attention to what was going on around you last year — record-high prices for gasoline, airline tickets that were sky-high, not to mention the many additional airline fees — and you didn’t take that annual vacation.

Instead, you stayed close to home and may have even received some pay in lieu of time off. Well done! Your patience has been rewarded.

Where do you want to go? Almost everything is on sale, whether it be airline tickets to your favorite destination, a cruise in the Mediterranean or to Alaska, or even an all-inclusive resort at the beach of your choice. Did I mention that we’re in a recession? The travel industry is feeling the pinch and has had to resort to discounts to drum up enough business just to stay afloat.

Flexibility is the most important detail to get the best deal on travel.

If you are able and willing to leave with little notice, are amenable to multiple destinations and have an adventuresome travel spirit that allows you to go with the flow when it comes to your vacation, then you may hit the jackpot. Go to your favorite travel site — Priceline.com, Orbitz.com, Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, Kayak.com, or the many others you’ll find if you search “cheap travel” on the Web — and see what deals are available. If that seems too daunting a task for you, then contact some trusted travel professionals and pick their brains. That’s why they’re in business.

You can choose from many vacation plans that include getting you to your vacation hot spot, a place to stay while you’re there, and all the activities you can imagine once you arrive. Frequently, these are advertised as an all-inclusive vacation.

Or you can tailor your vacation to your own desires and book each aspect separately. There is plenty to be said for either option, so let your heart and your budget be your guide. Just remember that there are package deals to most anywhere, and that includes Europe, Hawaii, Florida, California and New York.

If you want to fly to your favorite vacation spot or cruise port, low fares are available. If you do a little research, and are willing to fly to a less-popular airport, you can still get a bargain on travel costs.

You can start on the Internet, where I recently searched and found that flights to Europe are nearly 20 percent cheaper this year. Last July, I researched every possibility I could for flying from Portland to London in September, and couldn’t find a ticket for less than $1,100 per person. On one quick search at Orbitz.com recently, I found a round-trip flight from Portland to London, leaving Sept. 22 and returning Oct. 13, and the cost was just $845.38 per person.

If your destination is a little closer to home, my airline research shows that you can still fly round-trip, across the country from Portland, aboard Southwest Airlines, for as little as $260, and that includes two checked pieces of luggage.

Again, flexibility is the key to travel savings, and when flying, it is usually less expensive to fly Monday through Thursday.

Perhaps, your favorite vacation would include a cruise.

The cruise industry has been building a lot of new mega-ships, and they need to fill all of those extra staterooms, so there are some great deals available.

A casual search of a few cruise Web sites, such as Vacationstogo.com, Cruise411.com and Crucon.com, will alert you to some of the deals to be found. In addition to reduced prices for cruises, the deals may include free or discounted airfare, onboard credits and reduced deposits.

I have found Tuesdays to be the best day to search for discounted cruises, but you can save some time by signing up for free e-mail alerts from each of those and other Web sites, and you will receive frequent notices of discounted cruises.

When you price in all that is included — food, entertainment and different locations to visit — then cruising can be an economical way to travel.

Finally, let’s not forget Oregon. Our state’s tourism industry is feeling the pinch as well, so a local vacation to the coast, the Willamette Valley, the Columbia Gorge or Southern Oregon for some whitewater rafting and Shakespearean plays may be the best vacation plan of all. You can support the regional economy and save some money at the same time.