10 Tips for Traveling During the Holidays

Travel can be an adventure at any time of the year, but sometimes there is nothing better than going somewhere new and exciting for the holiday season. You can choose somewhere that has an entirely different climate than where you live, or rather a destination that has all the holiday delights that you crave. You can always choose a place that you have always wanted to visit. Nevertheless, traveling during the holidays is not the most fun and could be very stressful.

Here are 10 tips for traveling during the holidays:

1. Plan Ahead of Time

The holidays are not the time to decide to travel at the last minute! Heading out at this time of the year takes planning at least a month or three in advance. If you failed to plan, you might find that the only affordable place you can go is your local hotel with a swimming pool, and that is only if it is not completely booked as well!

2. Choose a Destination that isn’t Very Popular

Certain parts of the world are going to cost you a pretty penny during the holiday season, so you may want to avoid those areas altogether. You will not want to travel to the Caribbean for New Year’s. Of course, if money is not an issue, you can still choose to go there, be prepared to deal with some crowds during your visit.

3. Look for Excellent Travel Packages

Travel packages are a great way to save money and book your entire trip with a few clicks of your mouse. Don’t book the first package that you see though, as you will probably find something a lot better if you spend a little more time searching through other options.

4. Consider Alternative Accommodations

Since the holidays are such a busy time for travel, you may want to consider alternative accommodations. Many of the hotels will book rather quickly, but hostels, house sharing options, and even AirBnB’s should be available just about anywhere.

5. Book Your Travel Dates Carefully

The day of the holiday, as well as the couple days before and the couple days after, is the most expensive time for travel. While you may not be able to do much about paying for accommodations during those days, you can save yourself some money by not traveling on those days.

6. Wait to Purchase Gifts or Choose Small Items that Don’t Take Up Space

Gifts are always a part of the holiday season, but you may want to wait until you reach your destination to purchase them. If you cannot do that, then you will want to make sure that they are small enough to fit inside your luggage. If you are flying, remember to wait to wrap your gifts until after you arrive. One other option that you can consider is shipping your gifts to your destination and then shipping some souvenir back home.

7. Download Travel Apps

Travel apps may ultimately save your sanity when you are traveling during the holiday season. You can keep your boarding passes on the airline’s app, check the security wait time at the airport at GateGuru, and find the cheapest gas on certain apps when you are driving. You can even avoid accidents and traffic jams with some apps.

8. Pack Light

Everyone seems to pack everything that they need and then some when they travel, which is why it is always recommended that you take exactly what you are going to wear and nothing more.

9. Eat Before the Flight and Stay Hydrated

Traveling can take hours, which is why you should plan on having plenty of food and drinks readily available. While you cannot make anything liquid through airport security, you can take an empty reusable water bottle to fill at the gate.

You can also purchase beverages to drink before your flight takes off or to take on the plane with you. Snacks of all kinds can go through security, which makes it wonderful when you want to munch on some of your favorites. Of course, if you are driving to your destination, this is much easier, as you can pack a cooler with everything that you may want on your trip.

10. Always Plan for the Unexpected

Anything and everything can happen when you are traveling during the holidays, so you should always plan for the unexpected. You may think that your quick two-hour flight means that you do not need to pack any food, but you may think otherwise if you end up delayed for a few hours. The same thing applies to rental cars not being available, accommodations being wrong, or not making it to where you need to be on time.

These ten travel tips will make your holiday planning much easier this year. If you use some of them, your holiday travel adventures become better each year!

Tell us your plans for the holidays and how do you deal with the stress of traveling.

Happy Reading,