EASE DOES IT DEC. 31

Faced with the possibilities of dancing the night and millennium away with Champagne and a crowd, many people seem to be opting for a New Year's evening at home, be it their's or someone else's.

"Most people aren't doing anything too bizarre," said Carolyn Kempf of Elite Travel.

She insists that on the whole, people's lack of travel plans aren't due to a potential Y2K disaster.

"Even people who are not concerned about it are still conservative," she said. "I don't mean this in a negative sense, but people in this area are pretty predictable."

This reflects nationwide tendencies as shown in a phone poll of 1,500 adults taken in August by the Travel Industry Association of America. Of these, 76 percent said they are not likely to travel during New Year's. Only 5 percent named potential Y2K computer problems as the reason to stay at home.

Regardless of the reason, the normally busy travel week leading up to New Year's is slow, said Mark Hill, owner of Destinations Unlimited travel agency.

"I just came back from a cruise, and the ship was going back out with empty cabins," Hill said. "That never happens."

At a regional meeting of travel agents in Carbondale, Ill., earlier this month, Deborah Mileur met one person who was traveling out of the country to Australia for the holiday.

"But most weren't even going to go to a friend's house," said Mileur, who handles world travel plans at AAA Travel Agency.

Hill doesn't know of anyone planning international trips.

"Considering what could happen with electrical or water systems, we did not recommend overseas travel to anyone," he said.

It's not that options aren't available. By Wednesday, 715 people had reserved a place at the $100-per-person party at the Show Me Center. A spokeswoman for the Show Me Center said there is no deadline for getting in on the party. "We'll take their money at the door," she said.

Or for $37, you can get a train ride, dinner and a murder mystery on the St. Louis Iron Mountain railroad in Jackson.

The cost of travel was a factor for some who are staying home. Lack of money or high costs were cited by 7 percent in the Travel Industry Association's poll.

Cruises and package trips to Cancun or Jamaica are relatively inexpensive now since they were priced so high last January, Kempf said. Some cruises that are now around $400 were triple that a little over a year ago, she said.

"Companies are dumping space now because they started out too high and nobody bought tickets," she said.

To keep many airplanes from flying place to place without passengers, ticket costs have been slashed. Many people have purchased $99 round-trip fares to Las Vegas, Kempf said.

Some five-day cruises are being offered at $350.

"That's the rate travel agents normally pay," Kempf said.

Prices should be right for travel in January. Hill is anticipating a busy week come Monday.

"Once nothing happens on the first two days of January, people will be calling on the third wanting to plan," he said.