Traveling during the holiday season doesn’t have to be stressful. With these 7 Thanksgiving travel tips, you can enjoy the family, food, and festivities, worry-free! With careful planning and smart packing, you can ensure a smooth and enjoyable journey to your loved ones. From essential preparation to expert advice, learn how to navigate the Thanksgiving travel rush effortlessly.
Say goodbye to stress and hello to unforgettable holiday memories. Read on now for our best stress free Thanksgiving travel tips!
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Traveling during the holidays, including Thanksgiving, can be a heartwarming experience, but it often comes with its own set of challenges.
Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy being with those we love and reflecting on how grateful we are for everything we have in our lives. There’s good food, great friends, football, and family.
Whether you’re visiting family across the country, or deciding to enjoy a special Thanksgiving getaway with your family, there’s lots of preparation to be done.
If you aren’t prepared, there can also be stress and aggravation, especially if there’s traveling involved. Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for travel, so you want to make sure you are doing everything in your power to make it stress-free.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: #1 – Book Early
As soon as you lock in your travel plans, start booking for it. Book your flights, your rental car, your lodging, your restaurant reservations – basically anything that you need to reserve a spot for, do it as soon as possible.
Thanksgiving is a very busy season, and you do not want to be scrambling last minute to find a place to stay, or to find transportation. Book it early and save yourself the headache!
We prefer to use Booking when making reservations. They always seem to have the widest variety of lodging options and the best rates.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: #2 – Travel Early
Along with booking early, you may want to tack on a few days before Thanksgiving to try to miss the enormous crowds. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is generally the busiest pre-Thanksgiving travel day so we would recommend avoiding Wednesday altogether if possible.
On your way home, you’re going to want to avoid the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Everyone is heading home to get back to their normal routine, and Sunday seems to be the favorite day for doing that.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: #3 – Extend Your Stay
Keeping in mind the advice above, a potential option is simply to extend your stay post-Thanksgiving. The majority of people are all going to be traveling home after Thanksgiving. To avoid the mad rush home, you may want to opt for a longer visit with family and friends.
An added benefit of staying later is that transportation costs tend to be significantly cheaper once the rush of the holiday has passed. You can score much better deals if you wait just a few more days before coming home.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: #4 – Pack Only What You Need
If you are flying, do everything in your power to not have to check a bag. We very strongly recommend packing everything you need in a carry-on only.
If you check a bag, not only do you need to give yourself that extra bit of time to get it checked in, but you also now run the risk of that bag getting lost or delayed. Lost or delayed luggage is definitely a hassle you want to avoid during the holiday season!
Pro Tip: If you have to check a bag, we strongly recommend throwing an Apple AirTag in the luggage. You then can track your bag and be able to find it wherever it may go.
If you are traveling to an all-inclusive resort, it will be very difficult to pack everything you need in a carry on but it is possible. Many folks opt to take Caribbean cruises during the holiday season, and again it will be difficult to pack for that in a carry-on only. Read our list of cruise essentials to see exactly what you’ll need to pack.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: #5 – Keep The Kids Entertained
All parents know the disastrous results of bored kids while traveling, so do yourself a huge favor and make sure the kids have everything they need to stay entertained this holiday season. And you too for that matter!
Pre-download games, music, movies, and tv shows to all the devices. Make sure those devices are all fully charged, and bring extra chargers.
Grab books, games, toys, essentially whatever everyone needs to stay occupied, whether you’re flying with kids or driving.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: #6 – Preparation Is Key For Road Trips
If you are taking a road trip to your Thanksgiving destination, your most important action is preparation. You want to be prepared for the minor inconveniences so they don’t turn into major problems. Use our road trip packing list to help you prepare!
Make sure your car registration and inspection sticker (if you live in a state that requires that) is up to date. Also make sure your oil change and other maintenance items will last the length of your trip (and back) with room to spare. Have a game plan for things like a flat tire – make sure you have a spare and all the tools you need to change it.
Keep wipes, paper towels, and trash bags on hand for spills, sticky hands, or car sickness. When we were potty training our kids we kept a mini potty in the car for those times when they “just can’t hold it”. Have a change of clothes ready for everyone in case of bathroom accidents or spills.
Be sure to pack a first aid kit with bandages in different sizes and various medications for kids and adults in case the need arises. The more preparation you do before you leave, the smoother the entire trip will go!
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: #7 – Practice Patience
Traveling is a great way to cultivate patience. There are actually quite a few powerful benefits of traveling but patience is something that is essential to any successful getaway. Issues arise, unforeseen circumstances change our plans, mistakes get made, it happens.
But what is of utmost importance is not sweating the small stuff. Try your best to go with the flow, especially in situations that you have no control over.
Do you have any other suggestions for alleviating the stress of Thanksgiving travel? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe!