Traveling for Thanksgiving? Expect More Company

One thing I am thankful for all year long is living close enough to most of my family that I can stop by for a visit with only an hour's drive. I am within an hour's drive of all five of my sisters. My sister-in-law and my niece live on Long Island and I don't get to see them nearly as much as I would like to.

But when it comes to the holidays, we usually head to what was my mother's house and her mother's house before her in Carbondale Pennsylvania. My one sister, her husband, and their son live there now and its the gathering place for most family get-togethers.

That house is exactly one hour from my house in Endicott. So when it comes to the holidays, we usually just drive down on the holiday itself.

Usually, traffic is fine Thanksgiving morning and Christmas morning. But this year, the AAA is reporting that more than 54 million Americans will be traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. That is the most since 2002. And with gas prices going down in the recent weeks, a lot more people will be hitting the open road.

The day before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year. That's both on the road and in the skies. And if you are flying for the Thanksgiving holiday, according to CBS New York, the TSA is predicting 25 million Travelers will be hitting the friendly skies, which is up 7% over last year.