Tweet

Photo courtesy of Holiday Group

We can all agree that traveling over the holidays can be stressful. Between visiting relatives and fleeing the frost for destinations like Gran Caribe Real Resort & Spa in Cancun, it seems like everyone’s on the move. Avoid a Home Alone situation (a.k.a. a mad dash to the airport followed by the realization that you’ve left little Kevin at home) by following a few of these handy travel tips:

Prepare: Print out boarding passes ahead of time, get to the airport a half-hour to an hour earlier than you typically would and, by all means, take potential power outages that may cause your alarm clock to stop working into consideration (we’re looking at you, McCallisters).

Pack light: If you’re traveling sans-children for a week or less, skip the 5-piece luggage set and opt for a carry-on. That way, you’ll skip the dreaded wait at baggage claim and won’t risk a lost-luggage meltdown.

Play around: De-stress during a layover by reading an entertaining book like David Sedaris’ laugh-out-loud (and entirely fitting) novel Holidays on Ice. If you have an hour to spare, pop into a salon for a pedicure; Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle contains a butter London nail salon, where manicurists will find out what time your flight leaves before dolling up your digits.