Will You Attend Family Gatherings This Thanksgiving?

It’s that time of year, the Thanksgiving holiday is next week and for some people this is the best time of the year. What I want to know is, will you be traveling this holiday season?

When I think back over my life, I can remember looking forward to going home for the Thanksgiving holiday. When I first left home I wasn’t very far away, so there was no question about whether I was going to go home and visit my family. Now that I am a little further away and I have a family of my own, I still enjoy visiting my family back at home for Thanksgiving.

Last year AAA estimated that 49.3 million travelers would drive more than 50 miles for Thanksgiving, 4.45 million Americans were expected to fly and 1.49 million people were expected to use trains and buses to travel.

We all know that 2020 is a very different year because of COVID-19. AAA says that people still intend to travel during this holiday season, but the numbers are way down. They say that there will probably be a 50% decline in air travel, a 4.3% decline for automobile travel and a whopping 76% decline for those traveling by buses and trains.

Most medical experts are asking families to avoid large family gatherings, and states are restricting travel and asking out-of-state visitors to stay home. Because of these warnings and restrictions, many families are rethinking their Thanksgiving holiday plans.

What are your plans? Do you intend to heed the warning of health officials and scale down your holiday celebration, or do you intend to have the large gathering that your family is used to?