When you're a student, and you're away at school, you probably plan to visit your family or loved ones during the holiday. You may also have a boyfriend or girlfriend, so you might have to visit multiple families and even locations over the holidays.
This can mean, depending on the particulars of your situation, that you're perhaps flying to your destination, and then once you're there, maybe driving, or maybe you're driving from place-to-place without flying.
Regardless of the specifics, traveling to visit family on the holidays can be very stressful if you're a student, so what can you do to reduce the stress? The following are some tips to make holiday travel a little more manageable and take some of the frustration out of it.
Time Your Trip Accordingly
According to SmarterTravel, the busiest travel days during the holidays are typically a few days before Christmas, and then the day after Christmas. If you want to find a less busy travel time, particularly if you're flying, think about either traveling a couple of weeks ahead of time if your schedule allows, or travel on the actual holidays themselves. This may not seem ideal, but it can actually reduce your stress levels quite a bit.
The airports will be pretty calm on quiet on Christmas Day, for example, as compared to a few days before Christmas.
New Year's Eve is also a pretty light travel day.
Dealing with the Airport
If you are leaving school to go home and you don't have the luxury of picking less-traveled days, you can still reduce your stress.
First, give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport and through the airport. If you're having someone drive you, make sure they plan to pick you up several hours before your scheduled flight.
A lot of the stress that occurs during the holiday season comes from things that we inflict on ourselves, by, for example, being late.
When you're booking your flights, if you haven't already done so, try to pick early morning options. Yes, you have to get up earlier, but these flights are less likely to be delayed or canceled than later flights because there isn't the chain effect of other delays and cancelations that build up throughout the day.
Plus, if you take an earlier flight and something does happen, you have more options for a flight later in the day versus taking the last flight out.
If you're going home and you can fly into a smaller airport that's nearby, do that. It'll be less busy and less impacted by the influx of holiday travelers.
Make a Written Packing List
Most of us have a fear of forgetting something, whether we're driving or flying. Start a written packing list a few days before you're set to leave and add to it as you need and things come to you. Then, when you're packing you can check these items off so you'll be more confident you don't forget anything.
Ship Things Ahead of Time
While it can be costly to ship things home ahead of time, it can save you money at the airport, and it can also reduce your stress on the day you travel.
If you're going home for several weeks over your school's holiday break, you might want to ship some of your essentials, and you may also want to ship any gifts you've already purchased.
If you haven't bought gifts yet, think about buying them online and having them shipped directly to your destination.
Expect the Worst and Have Backup Plans
You, of course, don't want to think about your travel experience being a nightmare, but sometimes things don't go as planned. When you're preparing to head home for the holidays, go ahead and mentally prepare yourself for things to go wrong, and have backup plans in place.
You never want to be in a panic. Check the weather well in advance to let you know how traveling may go, and maybe you decide you need to leave a day earlier or later if you're driving.
If you're flying home, you should have plans in place for what you'll do if your flight is delayed or canceled. Know the rules of the airline you're flying with, and find several alternative flights that you may be able to suggest to airline agents if necessary.
If you haven't booked flights yet, you can check Google flight stats for one that you're considering, and it will show you how often it's delayed or canceled.
Prepare Yourself If You're Sharing a Ride
If you're a student, you may be catching a ride with classmates whose families live near your own. If that's the case, then you should plan for the car ride.
Download your favorite apps onto your phone and bring some headphones so you can relax during the drive, and you don't' have to worry about interacting with everyone in the car if you don't feel like it.
If you're the one driving, make sure you set some rules for being in your car. Let everyone know you're going to be focusing on the road and holiday traffic, so you don't need their input along the way.
It's dangerous to drive during the holidays when traffic is at its worst, so be mindful of what you're doing rather than getting distracted by your carmates.
Bring School Work
You may be ending one semester and not having started a new one yet, but you can still alleviate some of your general anxiety if you bring the materials you'll need to prepare for the upcoming semester.
For example, maybe you bring your school laptop, and you can go through the syllabuses for your upcoming classes. This will help you feel more relaxed and present with your family because you're proactively doing something school-related, even while you're at home.
Some students may feel like it's better to leave behind their thoughts of school when they go home, but if you're someone who likes to stay connected, this could cause you more anxiety.
