New Yorkers Plan Less Travel for Thanksgiving This Year
Remember when we were kids and the holidays were a huge deal? We’d get together with our grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and even some friends we loved as family and we’d share a massive meal and then go outside to toss a football or nap on the couch after stuffing ourselves full.
Things sure have changed, haven’t they?
I grew up in one of those crazy homes with six siblings and grandparents and holiday dinners that were filled with chatter and excitement. Today, there are just three of us in our house for holiday dinners and I miss the excitement and chaos.
Traveling to see family for the holidays was something that many Americans put off during the pandemic for fear of getting sick but now that the threat has passed, we’re all jumping to get together again, right? Actually, no. At least not in New York.
Instead of blaming the pandemic for changing our Thanksgiving plans this year, New Yorkers blame inflation and gas prices.
The average New York family says it is only prepared to travel 66 miles round-trip to spend time with family and friends this Thanksgiving. Nationally, Americans say their limit is 82 miles round-trip.
What’s more is that one in five New Yorkers say that if they did have to travel a further distance, they would really like it if their family or friends they’re going to visit would chip in to help cover the cost of travel to see them.
But wait, there’s more!
Half of surveyed New Yorkers say that even if they were able to travel, they would rather have a low-key Thanksgiving at home so that they could save what they’d spend on travel costs and instead, use that money to scoop up Black Friday deals.