Thanksgiving Travel
By: Marybeth | November 20, 2007 | Category: Travel
My daily commute makes me want to take a holiday from travel when the holidays come round. I’m staying put this year, but I know what it’s like to be one among millions of Thanksgiving travelers.
When I’ve flown home in the past, I’ve had good luck with early morning, nonstop flights. Unless weather is an issue, morning flights tend to leave on time; and, if you have the option of taking a nonstop flight, they generally save time, negate the connecting-flight worry, and decrease your chances of losing your luggage.
Other time-savers if you’re flying include checking for airport delays before leaving home and knowing the rules about prohibited carry-on items so that you aren’t delayed at security checkpoints.
News reports on holiday travel often focus on airports, but the vast majority of Americans actually drive to their Thanksgiving destinations. A few resources for drivers include:
- USA.gov’s Road and Train Travel page, where you can look up road conditions and find the cheapest gas prices wherever you are.
- Easy-to-follow guidelines on maintaining your tires (I like the tip about using a penny to check the tread).
- Glove Box Tips from the Federal Citizen Information Center, including a section on preparing your vehicle for winter weather (particularly helpful if your Thanksgiving travel will take you from a temperate to cold climate).
It can be difficult to keep a sense of humor when your holidays are disrupted by traffic jams, overbooked flights, bad weather, and other elements beyond your control. For a little help tapping into holiday travel humor, a pre-Thanksgiving viewing of Planes, Trains and Automobiles might be just the thing.
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It seems odd that we add thousands of people into an already over-loaded system during the time of year when weather changes should be expected and we get upset when our "prime-time" flight gets delayed. A range of focus that extends beyond one's personal comfort zone might be useful here.
Fly early and anticipate delays is my approach to travel year-round--especially during the holidays.
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