✈️Your holiday travel survival guide

Plus: how to find your chosen family

View this email online Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Life Kit producer Clare Marie Schneider I like the airport. I enjoy the odd food choices: eating an egg sandwich for dinner, grabbing a pre-board frozen yogurt. I look forward to being tempted by embossed sweatshirts and bejeweled keychains prominently displaying the name of whichever city I’m in. In that liminal space, sometimes it feels like I really do need a zip-up sweatshirt that says “Miami.”  I don’t like being stuck at airports though. If my flight is canceled or delayed, then getting M&M’s at the kiosk doesn’t feel like a fun romp before I’m on my way. Any purchase starts to feel like one made out of desperation rather than delight.  Unfortunately, I have a high chance of encountering a flight disruption this week as I fly across the country to see my family for the holidays, “the absolute worst time to travel,” says aviation journalist Benét Wilson. But she has helpful advice on how to cope with the stress of cancellations and crowded airports.    Stress-free travel tips Malte Mueller/Getty Images/fStop 🤌Be patient  "Lines are going to be long. TSA is going to be a little crazy. The [airline] might run out of seats. I always tell people to just pack their patience," says Wilson. 🕒 If your flight gets canceled, reschedule as soon as you find out "I tell people to make sure they have the airline app on their phone because sometimes you get information on there quicker than the gate agents. Whatever you do, do not stand in the long line. Either use the app [to reschedule your flight] or just call the airline directly," she says. 🧳 Pack items to make the journey pleasant "I call it my little travel kit," says Wilson. "I always have my Bose noise-canceling headphones. I take two power chargers. I have my Kindle, I have snacks. Download movies because you never know if the Wi-Fi is going to be on the fritz." 🏠 And for next year: consider staying home … Perhaps the way to ensure the least stress around the holidays is to not get on an airplane at all. Scott Keyes, founder of the travel site Going.com (formerly known as Scott's Cheap Flights), says his secret best advice for travel over the holidays: “if at all possible, just don’t do it.” 🗓️ ,,, or travel in January — the 8th, to be precise  Keyes says that’s when prices “just fall off a cliff from the most expensive time of the entire year to the absolute cheapest." Ticket prices, while "extremely volatile," can drop 75-80%, he says.  The best times to fly Newsletter continues after sponsor message See you in 2024! And tell us your New Year’s resolutions We’re taking a little break but we’ll be back in the new year with lots of ideas on how you can improve your life in 2024.  We know you’re probably stressing about holiday gifts and not thinking about January yet … but if you happen to know what your New Year’s resolutions are, tell us! Send an email to lifekit@npr.org with your full name, your New Year’s resolution and why you’ve chosen it, and we may feature your response in an upcoming newsletter or on NPR.org.  In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday and we are thankful to you, our Life Kit readers!  Listen Sponsor-Free Support public media while getting expert advice on health, finance, relationships and more with Life Kit+. You'll get sponsor-free listening AND that warm fuzzy feeling that comes with making a difference. You can also check out loads of other NPR+ podcasts with benefits at plus.npr.org. Explore Life Kit+ This week on Life Kit Malaka Gharib/NPR Cultivating a chosen family. Some queer and trans people may experience rejection from their families after coming out. Instead, they may have a chosen family: a loving network of friends and other non-biological kin. Daniel Blevins, founder of Stand In Pride, an organization that helps LGBTQI people create relationships with parent figures, explains how to find friends you can lean on for support. Listen to the story here. How to talk to teens about drugs. Overdose deaths among teenagers have skyrocketed in the last few years due to opioids like fentanyl. Experts say drug education that focuses on harm reduction, an approach that focuses on safety rather than abstinence, could help save lives. Here's how to start the conversation with young people and how to respond in an emergency. Listen to the story here. How to cope with SAD or seasonal affective disorder. It's getting darker and colder, and there's still a pandemic. Oh, and then there's seasonal affective disorder. Here’s how to spot it and what you can do. Read the story here. Dear Life Kit: My folks guilt-trip me into spending the holidays with them. Between long-held traditions, unfair expectations and clashing personalities, the holidays can be a perfect storm for conflict. Therapist John Kim helps untangle three holiday conundrums. Read the story here. Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: LifeKit@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Daily News, Code Switch, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Life Kit emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy