Holiday Travel Expected to Be Almost Normal This Year And I Can’t Wait

Crowded airports, full airplanes, congested highways, bustling rest stops. Show me the chaos of Thanksgiving travel. I can't wait!

AAA predicts that Thanksgiving travel will rebound to almost pre-pandemic levels this year and I say bring it on. I'll be glad to experience something normal.

It's not that trudging through crowded airports the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, or worse the Sunday after Thanksgiving is that great an experience. I've done it. And I can still remember miserably waiting for a delayed flight to Lubbock in Dallas with throngs of other holiday travelers.

Or the year Kathy and I were driving back to Joliet from Michigan for Thanksgiving and got caught up in traffic on The Tri-State Tollway about an hour from home. Man, we just crawled, crawled, and crawled. That wasn't much more fun than the delayed flight.

But being home. Making those memories. That's what it's all about. And the mixture of anticipation of time with your family and friends. And the hustle and bustle of the airport, or the train station, or even the Interstate, that's all part of the experience.

I still can remember how warm my heart felt, and how comfortable it was to be back in Lubbock with Kathy after that journey from the Quad Cities. Or the excitement I felt on the ride home from Michigan to be with Kathy's family that Thanksgiving.

It's an experience I haven't had since before the pandemic. So yes, I'm looking forward to pointing my car towards Chicago, hitting Interstate 70, and enjoying Thanksgiving this year. Along with the other 53 million people who will be traveling.