To Holiday Travel or Not to Holiday Travel?
The weather forecast for the next two days in the Northeast is not looking particularly sunny. The meteorologists are wringing their hands with a mixture of worry and delight. I thought I’d revisit last year’s musings on the topic of holiday travel. It’s not something I enjoy or encourage; whatever your plans, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
![shutterstock_1467357](https://i0.wp.com/www.theopensuitcase.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/shutterstock_1467357.jpg?resize=334%2C500&ssl=1)
Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday. The Sunday of Thanksgiving Weekend lacks a moniker. Let’s try ?#$% Sunday because everyone who visited Grandma’s house hits the highway at exactly the same moment causing monumental traffic jams.
I planned on getting an early start on a quick shopping trip Sunday, but my houseguest’s ETD was pushed back. No worries. I’m a stealth shopper – my list was short and the stores I needed to hit were concentrated in a limited radius. Was I ever wrong. The stretch of I-287 that connects to the Tappan Zee Bridge was a parking lot by 1:30. I crept along surrounded by compact cars filled with college students and their Costco booty and 7-passenger sport utes loaded with glum tweens plugged into iPods.
I’m grateful each year that I don’t need to travel for Thanksgiving. I’d rather cook turkey for 40 than deal with an airport and possible weather-related delays or sit for hours on the NJ Turnpike. Heck. Until recently, I didn’t even have to cook. After a few years of raw apple pie and lumpy gravy I got the hang of it and now I really don’t mind. And it means I get to keep the bulk of the leftovers. Thankfully, my family is a bunch of low maintenance holiday revelers. Loungewear is the required attire and football reigns supreme. The highlight of the day is fighting over the turkey skin. All very traditional.
![©The Open Suitcase LLC Thanksgiving Turkey food](https://i0.wp.com/www.theopensuitcase.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/p10000491.jpg?resize=1290%2C968&ssl=1)
We did travel one year and a simple maneuver made all the difference – we took an early morning flight on Wednesday and came home on Saturday. We still had our 4-day holiday weekend, but didn’t hit traffic going to the airport and our flight wasn’t full. At the time, I considered it a bit of a Christmas miracle for Thanksgiving and was very grateful, since I expected the sequel to “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.” Will I tempt fate again? Maybe.
If my kids marry.
And have grandkids.
And live far away.
And won’t come to my house.