by Lori Kaplan

The metro and streets of DC are quiet, but the restaurants are packed with holiday merrymakers. So it is the time of year that I think about getting out of town.

My kids are keen to head North . . . to the snow. I mentioned this wish to my family members living in Florida and I was greeted with blank stares followed by questions like, "Why would you want to do that?" I started to wonder if we are in our right mind or if there is something unique about my family.

Naturally I turned to Gfk MRI data to get a few US norms. It seems that listeners to public radio stations are more likely to take vacations – skiing, beach, national park. Given the audience's general interest in the world and typically higher levels of disposable income this finding is not shocking.

Now I want to be more specific because my risk-averse children are begging for a first-ever skiing adventure. A whopping 1.7% of NPR listeners took a cross-country or downhill skiing vacation last year and less than 1% of the US adult population has done the same. Of course some people do go skiing without taking a vacation. About 4% of NPR listeners went cross-country skiing and 6% downhill skiing last year. It looks like I have a small but mighty set of compatriots. Now on to packing the car with all of our toasty-winter clothes.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Audience Insight & Research.

Lori Kaplan is the Director of Audience Insight & Research