Civil War origins, turkey-less first meal: 7 interesting facts about Thanksgiving

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Thursday, November 25, 2021

Thanksgiving travel ‘rebound’?

A Southwest aircraft, N8675A, at gate B9 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. | Wikimedia Commons/BWIAviator

An unofficial tradition of Thanksgiving has been the tens of millions of Americans who travel great distances to be with family for the holiday.

Although last year saw a drop in commuting for the holiday, due to the peak of pandemic lockdowns and mandated social distancing, AAA estimates that this year will see a “rebound.”

In a press release from earlier this month, AAA predicted that 53.4 million people will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, which will be up 13% from 2020.

“This brings travel volumes within 5% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with air travel almost completely recovering from its dramatic fall during the pandemic, up 80% over last year,” explained AAA.

“With 6.4 million more people traveling this Thanksgiving coupled with the recent opening of the U.S. borders to fully vaccinated international travelers — people should prepare for roads and airports to be noticeably more crowded.”