Gas prices climb 20 cents in a month in Colorado Springs.
 / FOX21: Mike Duran
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The nationwide average for gas this month is quickly marching toward $4 per gallon, and there seems to be no relief in sight.
According to AAA, the national average price at the pump is $3.77 per gallon, up eight cents from last week. In Colorado Springs, the average increased 20 cents over the past month to $3.18 per gallon. An assistant manager of the Loaf N Jug gas station at the intersection of Galley Road and Powers Boulevard said she had to hike up prices twice in just 15 minutes Monday.
It's those soaring gas prices that have many people putting the brakes on their Spring Break plans, especially college students.
"It's frustrating," Kelly Silva, a freshman at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), said. "Depending upon how much gas I have, it depends on what I can and cannot do."
Many students at UCCS said the high cost of gas limits how far they will travel for their vacation this year, if they travel at all.
"If it wasn't for high gas prices, there's probably a lot more places I'd go," Silva, who plans to drive to Nebraska to see her family over Spring Break, said.
Some students have had to cancel their plans altogether.
"I'm going home to California, but I won't be doing as much as I thought I guess," UCCS freshman Joe West said. "I was planning on visiting my friend down at UCSD, but maybe not now because of the gas prices."
A few students said they do not plan on taking a vacation at all and will instead work during the week off from school to earn money for the summer. Students like Weston Zwiacher, however, plan on giving up dining out in order to afford their vacation plans.
"I'll maybe go out to dinner once before Spring Break," the UCCS senior said, "but it's probably top of the priority list to get up there," adding he would give up food for gas.
The cost of gas is also affecting airfare, but Blaire Baker said she will fly instead of drive to save money.
"It's almost more cost-effective to fly," she said.
Whether they are eager to get home or visit a fun-filled destination with friends, some college students will go the extra mile to make sure they go somewhere for Spring Break. But, before we know it, that extra mile may cost upwards of $5 a gallon this summer.
"I'm not too happy about it, but I got to get home somehow," West said.