Tips for Traveling Over the Holidays

Travel Over The Holidays
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Jenn: Hey, everyone. And welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday with The Travel Mug podcast. This is Jenn, and I'm joined by Meggan.

How are you today, Meggan?

Meggan: Um, these days it feels like midnight at 5:00 PM , but we're dealing it's fine. Um, again, as we say, every single year, we must go through it to get to the other side. So here

Jenn: is true.

Meggan: it's all good.

Jenn: Yeah, we are recording this the week of American Thanksgiving, so it is, yes, late November. And I've been seeing a few news articles that the TSA is expecting the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record. And they are projecting 18. 3 million people to be screened through airport security from November 26th to December 2nd.

Meggan: I feel like they say that every single year,

um, but obviously the number of people traveling seems to be growing, which I, it's a very different culture in American, in America with their Thanksgiving versus our Thanksgiving. It's very interesting, like they take it super serious.

Jenn: very seriously. And, you know, since we are going into the holiday season, I thought that it would be good to just give some general tips around traveling during this quite busy time, especially if you are flying. So my first tip is to give yourself a So much time.

Meggan: all the time.

Jenn: All the time. If you have a flight next week, you should probably just leave now.

Meggan: What are you waiting for?

Jenn: Why aren't you at the airport? The airport is likely to be busier than normal. So just consider leaving earlier then you normally do. Yes, you could be through security in five minutes. However, the last time I traveled, I went to Atlanta and I actually got, um, pulled aside to do some secondary screening and I was at security for 45 minutes.

So,

Meggan: You are, you are a suspicious looking character.

Jenn: I guess I was that morning.

Meggan: Yeah. I,

Jenn: My next tip is to check if your airport has the ability to reserve your time and security. So, in Halifax, it's called YHZ Express, and I know they have this at several airports in Canada and the U. S. and it's free. You just book an appointment time to go through security. And then speaking of pre booking, you can also pre book airport lounges if that is something that you have or you want to do.

If you're traveling with gifts, consider leaving them unwrapped, especially if they're in your carry on, in case security needs to see what's in them. And remember that snow globes count as a liquid.

Meggan: I mean, I suppose.

Jenn: Listen, I have heard of many a snow globe being abandoned at the airport.

Meggan: It's snow globe abandoning season.

Jenn: If you live in a part of the world where it's likely to snow or be bad weather, I recommend not flying in the day of an important event. And additionally, I would try to avoid flights with connections as well, it, obviously, it's not always possible, but the less connections you have, the less of a chance something's going to go wrong,

um,

Meggan: motto all year long.

Jenn: Same, but especially when there's snow or ice involved, those pesky de icing, it always puts you behind, and if you have a tight connection, you're in trouble. And lastly, my last trip is if you're preparing to take a road trip for the holidays, make sure your car is ready, make sure you have snow tires, again, if you live somewhere.

In the part of the world where it might be snowy or bad weather, uh, considering having CAA. And just make sure your car is up to date on its oil changes and tune ups, and make sure there's no weird lights on. I mean, that's a good thing to do.

Meggan: are good mottos to live by.

Jenn: And, of course, all the usual travel tips apply as well. Make sure your carry on bags are the right size. Make sure your liquids are in containers of less than 100 millimeters. And fun fact, gravy, cranberry sauce, wine, jam, etc. They all count as liquids. So, you know, just in case you're trying to fly home with leftovers or something.

Meggan: Jam.

Jenn: just pack

Meggan: Leave your, jam behind.

Jenn: in your checked, luggage, of

Meggan: Pack it well though, that would be unfortunate.

Jenn: Oh, a mess. Yeah.

Um, Meggan, have you ever traveled over, like, the holidays, like a really, really busy time of year?

Meggan: No, um, I would say in terms of over the holidays, uh, and of course the big one that stands out here in particular, of course, is Christmas. And we always stay local, like, within the province. Um, never really traveled anywhere that's been too, too busy, like, a specifically busy time of year, except for maybe, like, high season, of course. in terms of, like, Christmas or something, we probably likely will, like, once our parents are gone, maybe someday, like, do that, but we have yet to do it, and I'm, I'm actually, I'm okay with that.

Jenn: Yeah, I mean, obviously avoiding the super busy times of year is nice. We've traveled a little bit, like, immediately after, uh, New Year's, which is probably, like, less busy than Christmas or American Thanksgiving, but it was still pretty busy.

Meggan: Right, right, right.

Jenn: That is all we have for this week. Let us know if you have any, uh, special tips for traveling at the super busy time of year, you can find us on social media at travel mug podcast on our website, travelmugpodcast. com. We're also on YouTube and we'd love it. If you left us a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify, we love reading them. And. And or if you want to support the show, you can do that through buy me a coffee and until next time. Bye everyone

Meggan: Bye.