The start of the Memorial Day weekend has arrived and millions of people are expected to hit the roads and the skies to head somewhere for the holiday. AAA estimates more than 37 million people will travel for Memorial Day.
Travelers we spoke with in Central Florida said one phrase rings true on weekends like this: “Timing is everything.”
Memorial Day Weekend
Whether you are filling the family car – or – stepping onto an airplane, when you are travelling on Memorial Day weekend sometimes it’s not where you are going. It’s when.
Derric Walker said he made sure to leave early. “Yeah we wanted to get an earlier start because we knew everybody else wanted to get a jump by the time they get off of work.”
AAA said reasonable gas prices and an upswing in the jobs market has many feeling the freedom to get away. At Orlando International Airport, Bernard Thomas and his family said they figured out how to beat the holiday travel rush -- leave a whole week before everyone else!
“We went to the Bahamas on a Disney cruise ship and we just came back early this morning. We are going to fly to Miami and then back to Saint Louis,” Thomas said.
The family believes they’ll be getting home just as many of their friends will head into one of the busiest holiday travel weekends in the last decade, giving them time to rest as others are struggling to get to and from their holiday destination.
“That is going to be my vacation from the vacation. It will give me a couple of days to reenergize before going back to work,” said Thomas.