The holiday season is a glorious time filled with love, generosity and delicious food. The whole family gets together to celebrate another year of kindness and gratitude while simultaneously melting down and coming back together. The holidays are great, right?
Perhaps not, especially if you plan on traveling.
Holiday travel takes the cake for being the most stressful and anxiety-causing activity to partake in during the season. Between getting packed, getting going, and getting to your destination, you have to fight with hungry children and grumpy spouses as well as over-extended flight attendants and zealous TSA agents.
The whole thing is so blown out of proportion that often, folks will choose to stay home by the warmth of their fireplace and the comfort of their family rather than brave the tundra. But what if holiday travel could be made a lot easier and lot less stressful with just a few key decisions?
Low and behold, I give you … choices.
Choice 1: To Go or Not to Go, That Is the Question
Before you can plan a vacation, you have to decide if you are going to actually go or not. Of course, lots of questions come into play when making a choice like this. Where are we going? How are we getting there? Do we have enough money? Are the kids equipped to travel? Are we bringing the pooch? Yadda yadda yadda.
Once you’ve made the decision to go, prepare yourself for that decision. Understand that holiday travel is stressful and will most likely put pressure on your entire family unit. Expect this to happen. Go into your vacation knowing that you will probably run into some snags along the way. Oh, and don’t forget to pack your patience in your carry on.
If you think you can’t fit your patience in your carry on, consider taking a break from holiday planning. Choosing to spend an intimate holiday at home with your spouse and kids is an excellent plan. You don’t have to worry about travel or expenses, and you get to experience the joy of spending the holiday season with your favorite crew.
Choice 2: Riding in Cars With Boys, or Snakes on a Plane
Nowadays, you have several options to choose from when deciding on your method of transportation. There’s the old standby, the car, you have the affordable yet under-luxurious train, and of course, the quickest and often most expensive means, the airplane.
Let’s look at some options that perhaps we hadn’t considered before — the RV. If you’ve ever seen the movie RV starring Robin Williams, you have an idea in your head that using this means of transportation is utterly horrifying. Allow me to set the record straight.
The RV is an excellent means of traveling for a number of reasons. First reason: you get to spend some quality time with your family while also enjoying some amount of private space. Second reason: you can keep the cupboards of an RV stocked with food to avoid “hangry” kids. Third reason: you don’t have to plan your entire trip in a single drive, you can plot points on the map and visit memorials, museums, parks and more on your journey.
If you do choose to drive an RV, make sure you are knowledgeable about proper driving safety in inclement weather. Check your tires and be sure there is enough tread to stop safely even on potentially icy roads.
Choice 3: Packing and Stacking Means Racking Up Expenses
If you’re like me, you over pack every single time you travel. You think you have planned the perfect amount of outfits for the trip, but when it comes to squeezing it into your suitcase, you realize the perfect amount may be too much.
Minimize your packing if you want to save money. Airlines charge additional fees when you start checking in additional bags so avoid those extra costs by packing lite. Put your heavy winter clothes, shoes and toiletries into your checked bag while leaving space for your gifts and airplane necessities in your carry on. Got too much winter clothes to fit? Ship them in boxes ahead of time.
Don’t pre-wrap your gifts! TSA will tear through your packages to make sure they are airline approved so save yourself some time and plan to wrap when you land.
Choice 4: “When” is Nearly as Important as “Where”
If you’ve done holiday traveling in the past, you know just how packed airports, greyhounds and train stations can get with the bustle of everyone leaving town. Plan ahead for the hustle and bustle by securing your tickets early and planning for the proper day to travel.
Oftentimes, people choose to travel the day before the holiday to make sure they arrive on time and with plenty of time to get prepared. It just so happens that the day before a holiday is the busiest day for traveling. Everyone has the same plan to arrive a little early but not so early that they have to leave before the actual holiday starts.
Try something new and attempt to book a flight on the same day as the holiday. If you’re leaving for Thanksgiving, find a flight on Thursday morning. If you’re heading out for Christmas, fly on Christmas Day. I know it sounds crazy, but you will be surprised by how empty airports are on these days. Before you know it, you will be checked in, comfortably seated and sipping that martini you’ve been dying to have.
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