Embracing the holiday travel experience

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- Hundreds of thousands of people are on the road, driving to see their families for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Many more are taking to the skies and AAA is predicting an increase in travel both by air and by roads.

For those of you that dread the traffic, the lines, and the headaches; take heart that on the journey to family and food, you are not alone.

"To me it's just another day, I guess if you're frazzled by busy-ness, it can't be a bit over-whelming," said Austin Collins, traveler.

You might run into laid-back folks like MIT graduate student Austin Collins, one of 200,000 people in New England trying to get from their point A to their point B.

"If you get there early, arrive in time for everything, it works out," Collins said.

Collins chose not to go by car, like 88 percent of the northeastern population, chose to avoid the airlines, where passengers loads decreased, but took the bus to Danbury instead.

"Our bus driver was the most friendly I'd seen yet," Collins said. "He was making jokes the whole time, and that was appreciated, it's great people aren't grouchy types that stay introverted, when they open up to you."

The number of people trekking for sweet potatoes and stuffing is slightly up this year over last, although distance traveled is down.

For Collins, his trip allows him time to study.

"Elements of the theory and functions of functional analysis."

Which, as an electrical engineering PhD candidate, is much more stressful than any day-before Thanksgiving bus-ride.

"If you go into the attitude of dreading it, you are probably not going to be happy through the whole thing," Collins said.