According to AAA via Conde Nast Traveler, this weekend will be the busiest travel weekend in U.S. History. More Americans will be crisscrossing the country to spend the 4th of July with friends and family than ever before and to avoid long waits in traffic, you need to prepare.

I consider myself a pretty experienced holiday weekend traveler. I've done at least one trip to the south every year since I was like 8. Of course, I did not drive when I was 8, you know what I mean -- I waited until I was 11. I wanted to share with you some tips on how to avoid being stuck in gridlock in the hot summer heat and they go a little something like this:

Don't pee - People who need to pee will ruin your travel experience. You need to take care of bathroom business right before you leave. You need to only drink when you are unbearably thirsty. Even then, you cannot drink much. Anymore than one bathroom break in a 13 hour trip is too much. If you are steaming through on a 24 hours journey to Florida, you can take two bathroom trips. (Florida you say?)

Leave in the middle of the night - You tell some people this and they roll their eyes. They either roll their eyes because it seems obvious or because they know they cannot convince their significant other to do it. Whatever category you fall into there, I am the one who will be rolling my eyes at you when you don't listen and you are whining about the traffic you hit in Baltimore. You will, by the way, hit traffic in both Baltimore and D.C.

When you do stop, make the most of it - Stops are the time killer on any road trip. If you have to stop for any reason, top off the tank, make sure everyone uses the restroom, and grab whatever snacks you need now.

Curb your enthusiasm - Try and keep everyone calm on 684 South. This is when everyone gets too hyped about the vacation. You need to pace yourself. The trip gets really crappy if you have wasted all your fun conversation about the trip before you even get to Jersey.

No road rage - For better or worse, we are all in this together. We are all supposedly heading somewhere better to enjoy relaxation and cocktails. One bad road rage incident can slow things down for a lot of people.

You need to heed the advice or take heed of my advice or it will get real frustrating real fast.

 

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