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5 Thanksgiving Travel Tips to Make Your Holiday a Breeze

By November 19, 2019September 1st, 2022Bus Travel, Packing Tips

Make Thanksgiving Travel Easy

Feeling overwhelmed by your upcoming Thanksgiving trip? There’s no need to be when you are prepared ahead of time! We have five useful Thanksgiving travel tips to make your trip a breeze.

Pack Smart

For your first Thanksgiving travel tip, you can make things a lot easier on yourself by employing smart packing techniques—like packing early. If you’re like most people, you may find yourself packing the night before the trip. Although it may seem like leaving it until the last minute is inevitable due to work and personal demands, it will benefit you tremendously to pack in advance and allow you to get other travel arrangements in order.

A second point to keep in mind is that the lighter you pack, the easier traveling is going to be. No one enjoys lugging a big, bulky suitcase onto a train platform, through an airport, or up onto a bus. Eliminate the hassle by packing a small carry-on suitcase that you can easily lift and wheel around.

Expect the Unexpected

Anyone who has traveled anywhere knows things don’t always go as planned. A flight gets delayed, your car gets stuck in a traffic jam, your checked baggage gets lost, a massive snowstorm puts a temporary halt on road travel—you get the idea. The first thing you can do to mitigate the added stress of travel plans going awry is to mentally prepare yourself for the reality that things could go wrong. When you can expect that anything could happen, you are better equipped to handle the situation.

However, you don’t have to just passively accept a travel situation that doesn’t go as planned. Having a contingency plan is reassuring and can get you back on track. For example, if you are driving your own vehicle to your Thanksgiving destination, use things like Google Maps to inform you of an alternate route to take in case of traffic or a detour. If you are taking a bus and need to reach your destination at a certain time, book an earlier trip so that you allow plenty of room for any delays and will still be able to get to your destination when you planned to.

Use Mobile Apps

Speaking of Google Maps, that—along with a few other apps—is something you are going to want to utilize when you are traveling. You can navigate the roads and get accurate information regarding the route and the time of arrival to your destination. Another great GPS navigation app is Waze, which provides live traffic updates and will alert you of any speed traps, traffic jams, and car accidents.

Navigation apps aren’t the only apps you can use when traveling. You can keep everything organized by downloading TripIt, which is an app that allows you to store and organize every detail of your travel plans in one place. Not only does the app create one big travel itinerary for you, but it will also provide reminders and alerts throughout the whole trip; this way, you can rest easy knowing you won’t forget a thing because your phone will remind you!

Book Everything as Early in Advance as Possible

Whether you are traveling across a couple of states to visit extended family or you are taking the whole family to an exciting new destination for the Thanksgiving holiday, the sooner you book your travel arrangements and lodging, the better. Not only will it make you less anxious about everything there is to do before a big trip, but you will undoubtedly end up getting better rates on transportation, hotels, and other travel-related activities. Because it’s a holiday, the costs of flights will likely surge. If you find yourself looking at astronomical airfare, consider an alternative (and more cost-efficient) means of transportation, such as taking a bus. Similarly, hotel prices will be much higher than average during the week of Thanksgiving, so booking your room in advance could reduce some of that cost.

Finally, the basics like transportation and lodging aren’t the only things you want to book early on. If you are traveling to a place like New York City for Thanksgiving and you plan to go on a lot of outings, make all your reservations before you reach the city. If you know what restaurants you want to visit, reserve your table in advance. If you plan to catch a Broadway show, get your tickets before you even leave for the trip. That way, you don’t have to be bothered with making all those arrangements when you are supposed to be enjoying your vacation.

Don’t Forget to Breathe

After all that planning, the most important Thanksgiving travel tip is to breathe. Relax, take time for yourself, and don’t get consumed with the stress of planning. There is no need to put a damper on our holiday by getting sick. Make sure to rest and leave time to take care of yourself ahead of the big holiday weekend.

Ready to Go After Reading These Thanksgiving Travel Tips?

Take the stress off your holiday plans by following the Thanksgiving travel tips listed here. Another great tip for you? Use bus travel! You won’t have to worry about finding and navigating your way to your location. Let BusTickets.com help you find the routes you need today at a great deal!

References

https://waze.com

https://tripit.wpengine.com/how-it-works/?um=googlecpc

https://www.broadway.com/

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