Despite rising gas prices, more than 32 million Americans will take to the road this this holiday weekend - up 1.5 percent from last year.

With all the glum economic news this year, you'd think more people would stay home this weekend. But the American Automobile Association says more people will travel.

Why? Experts point to lower travel prices. Airfares, hotels, and tourist attractions are all cheaper this year thanks to the economy.

It's true that gas prices have been rising, sparking some fears of a repeat of last summer's $4-a-gallon prices. But analysts say prices won't spike the way they did last year, because of the recession.

Right now, the national average stands at $2.36 a gallon - down from $3.80 this time last year.

Still, prices are up about 30 cents a gallon this month. That has many drivers flinching.

"I don't know what's going on but you know everything is like going back to the old days," motorist Aurelio Trillano said.

"We've seen demands stay very slack over the last few months and supply has been fairly robust, too. We've got more supply of gas and oil than we've had probably in the last 10 years or so," Jeffrey Spring, with Southern California AAA, explained. "And so that's really not the issue. The issue is investors looking for a place to part their money right now--it seems to be oil again."

Even though travel will be up this weekend, AAA says that's not the case for this summer.It estimates Americans will take 20 million fewer trips than they did last year.