School is out, the kids are free, and Mom and Dad deserve a break. This weekend many Americans, approximately 38 million of us, will be on a highway or interstate heading somewhere. For a lot of us this is the annual pilgrimage to where the map turns blue. You didn't think you were the only person that thought this would be a great weekend to head to the beach did you?

Don Redmond with the American Automobile Association says the lower prices of gas across the country will have more Americans traveling by car this holiday weekend. In fact the Triple-A is estimating that this will be the largest number of Memorial Day travelers on the road since 2005.

The cheaper gas prices that we’re seeing this year and even cheaper than last year is really fueling the family budget, allowing people to get out and travel like they haven’t done before.

Redmond suggested in his comments to the Louisiana Radio Network that since January of this year American drivers have saved over $18 billion that would normally go for filling up the fuel tank.

While it's great to know so many of us will be getting some well deserved rest and relaxation this weekend don't expect the drive to be stress free. More motorist on the roadway mean more possibilities for things to go tragically wrong.

This becomes a deadly time of the year with that many new travelers on the road all trying to reach their destination at the same time. If you can leave earlier do so, if you can stay later, do that as well, try to avoid some of these big rush hours.

If you prefer your travel mode to be high and pressurized you'll be pleased to know that the price of airline tickets are also down this year. It's estimated about 2 million Americans will be flying over the long weekend and ticket prices for the top 40 domestic destinations are down by 40%.

 

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