Prevent Holiday Travel Stress with These 3 Tips

The holidays all sound good in theory – the gifts you’ll receive, the catching up you’ll do with family, a soft wintry morning snowfall depending on where you land. But sometimes the anticipation and goodness are quickly derailed as you’re even just traveling to get there, be it by a flight delay, a screaming kid, or just a conversation gone wrong. 

Remember these three words: Attitude, Latitude, and Gratitude.

Attitude: Know how you’re going.

Do a quick self-check before you start off – What is your attitude? Are you open-minded about the experiences you’re about to have? Or are you already feeling yourself tense up, with a mindset of ‘let’s just get through this’?  If something went wrong last year, did you learn from it or are you still holding a grudge?

If you are traveling with extended family, remember how rarely they might see you or your partner, and how precious the time together is for them. You’ll earn lots of “family points” if they see you helping to create a good experience!

The higher your expectations are for things to go the ‘right’ way (or ‘your’ way), the more disappointed you’ll be when they don’t. And most certainly, they will not. Most of us can trust we won’t have the same experience Steve Martin did in the 1987 movie great “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” But it still doesn’t hurt to keep a sense of humor about you. (If you get a chance to view that movie trailer, it might just set you in the right mood.)

Latitude: Know where you’re going.

Think about where you’re going and what you’ll need. A good degree of planning can help you to be ready for flight or road delays, and for the ensuing chaos. Will you need snacks and distractions for your kids or yourself? What happens if you need to find a different way to get there?

Assuming that you will encounter some glitch, anticipating issues and planning for them is the best way to handle most things that come your way with the least amount of stress. Even looking ahead to the weather forecast can help you plan for changes, or create activities for everyone accordingly.

Gratitude: Know why you’re going.

There’s no other way to say it. Remember what you’re thankful for. Remember why holiday travel was invented – so that we could eat great food with family, catch up with loved ones, and show off how children have grown. To help, express what you’re grateful to each person for, directly to them. It’s a great conversation starter, and doesn’t have to be obvious, for example, “I love getting to learn new holiday traditions from you.”

When you can get past the hassles of travel and logistics, you might realize that John Candy’s great line in the movie above is true… “Love is not a big enough word.”  And if all else fails, sing. Every great holiday travel movie has people singing in a car together, and they usually look pretty happy doing it.

Attitude, Latitude and Gratitude. Write these three words down on a piece of paper, and put it in your wallet or purse, your car, or just sew it into your favorite sweater. Make sure the words are visible to give you a boost at the moment you may need it.

Finally, guess what?  The concepts behind these three words are exactly what you can apply to your relationship throughout the whole year! Know how you want to go with your partner. Know where you want to go. And know why you want to go. Rely on those shared convictions to guide you over the journey for the long haul.

These tips were brought to you by The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California.