--- title: More Than 33% of Men Say They've Faked a Vacation Photo description: More than 33% of men say they've posted a photo to social media that makes it look like they had a more expensive vacation than they actually did. authors: - name: Kerri Anne Renzulli url: https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 185 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/kerenzulli former_staff: true published: '2017-06-20T13:00:11.000Z' modified: '2017-06-20T13:00:11.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - budget travel - Budgeting - Cheap Travel - Debt - peer pressure - Social Media - Travel word_count: 322 canonical: https://money.com/men-women-vacation-spending-social-media/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![170619-men-lying-vacations](https://img.money.com/2017/06/170619-men-lying-vacations.jpg) When it comes to social media, reality is often what you make it -- or, in some cases, how you crop it. Posing in front of a pool or villa that isn't your own? Posting a drink you didn't actually order? Changing the angle so it looks like you're on a secluded beach rather than in the middle of a crowd? All are fair game, it seems, when it comes to boasting online about a vacation. More than a third of men admit to engaging in a little vacation doctoring, saying that they have posted a photo to social media that makes it look like they are staying, eating, or visiting somewhere more expensive than they actually were, according to a new survey by LearnVest. Women were less dishonest about their trips, with only 26% saying they've posted faux holiday images. Overall, 30% of Americans admitted to this self-aggrandizing behavior, although the number rises sharply (to 56%) among millennials -- who are also, of course, [far more likely to have an active presence on sites like Facebook and Instagram](http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/). But faking it until you make it might actually be the smartest strategy for your wallet. The LearnVest survey also found that, although average Americans spends 10% of their annual income on vacation expenses every year, 55% neglect to include that cost in budgets or financial goals. Knowing that, it is perhaps unsurprising that three-fourths of Americans say they have gone into debt -- racking about $1,100, on average -- in order to pay for a vacation. Recovering financially from the splurge has taken about six months on average, respondents say. One challenge: American travelers don't like compromising on their dream destinations. When given the choice between cutting back their everyday spending in advance of a trip, vs. choosing a less costly experience, three quarters said they'd rather cut corners on food and entertainment back home rather than scaling back their vacation plans. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/men-women-vacation-spending-social-media/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Travel", "item": "https://money.com/travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "More Than 33% of Men Say They've Faked a Vacation Photo" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/men-women-vacation-spending-social-media/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/men-women-vacation-spending-social-media/", "name": "More Than 33% of Men Say They've Faked a Vacation Photo", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-06-20T13:00:11.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/men-women-vacation-spending-social-media/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/men-women-vacation-spending-social-media/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2017-06-20T13:00:11.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "More Than 33% of Men Say They've Faked a Vacation Photo", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/06/170619-men-lying-vacations.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1408, "caption": "170619-men-lying-vacations" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kerri Anne Renzulli", "url": "https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_author_renzulli.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1", "email": "kerri.renzulli@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/kerenzulli" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2017-06-20T13:00:11.000Z", "description": "More than 33% of men say they've posted a photo to social media that makes it look like they had a more expensive vacation than they actually did.", "abstract": "More than 33% of men say they've posted a photo to social media that makes it look like they had a more expensive vacation than they actually did.", "@id": "https://money.com/men-women-vacation-spending-social-media/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2017-06-20T13:00:11.000Z", "wordCount": 322, "keywords": [ "budget travel", "Budgeting", "Cheap Travel", "Debt", "peer pressure", "Social Media", "Travel" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Travel", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel" ] } ] } ] } ```