INDIANAPOLIS — Happy Thanksgiving week! The national holiday is used to celebrate the harvest and other blessings from the year.
For some, that means going back home to see family. For others, it's a chance to get away from the cold.
"We're headed to Tampa," Ms. Butch, a traveler at Indianapolis International Airport, told 13News.
Either way, travel is involved for many.
The McDowell family lives in Atlanta and traveled to Indy Sunday night.
"We're gonna have two Thanksgivings, one here and then one back in Atlanta," Ms. McDowell said.
While it is simple to thank our families, traveling can be pretty tricky.
"Planning is key. We got there really early, so we had time to relax and grab a bite to eat. So I definitely recommend that if you're traveling with the family and younger kids get there as early as possible, so that we won't have to wait through all the TSA lines," McDowell said.
The Butch family from Indy is heading out to get some sunshine.
"We're gonna do some beach time, and my two girls, they're competitive swimmers, so they'll be spending a lot of time swimming in the pool, and it'll be fun to do that in a different environment," Ms. Butch said.
While TSA lines might not look super long, the lines will only grow the next few days. You are going to want to pack up and head to the airport early.
AAA says they are expecting 1.9 million Hoosiers to travel, the majority by car.
"We're a pretty big driving state. I do think the lower gas prices are encouraging even more people to drive. We're seeing them below $3 a gallon in a lot of places already, and they're still dropping a little bit more," Christina Griffiths with AAA said.
With the increased traffic, Indiana State Police have already started ramping up patrols.
"It's the first year that we've seen since the pandemic that the number of people traveling is actually going to be more than 2019, which is the year before the pandemic hit," Griffiths said. "So this is the first that we've seen that we're surpassing that pre-pandemic travel even."
She's reminding travelers that with all that company on the road and in the air, they need to "have a little grace."
She's also hoping everyone remembers the final destination — Thanksgiving.