Going home for the holidays has always been my favorite part of the fall semester in college. The fall semester comes with two major holidays that I celebrate: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Going from cooking, cleaning, and taking care of yourself while trying to get the best grades possible to finally having home-cooked meals and no worries in the world is truly a blessing. But in a college town like Tallahassee, battling the traffic while getting in and out of the city during the holidays can be a hurdle.
As Thanksgiving nears, the excitement of going home to celebrate with friends and family and stuffing my face with food is not too far away. The biggest trouble for me is when the post-Thanksgiving traffic hits. This happens when almost every single college student returns to FSU at the same time. So, here are some ways to beat this traffic when driving back to Tallahassee.
The Early bird gets the worm
The fastest and safest way to get back to Tallahassee without traffic is to be the first on the road. Most people will be driving back to Tallahassee on Sunday, Nov. 24. So by starting a day early, you can have a chill drive, stop for coffee, and have peace of mind when coming back to school.
Another silver lining of coming back a day early is that you now get an extra day to relax in your dorm or apartment before beginning the hectic school week leading into finals. While everyone else will still be settling into their routine, you’ll be ahead of the game.
The later, the betterÂ
On the other hand, sometimes it’s best to be the last one here. If you spend every minute soaking up time at home, you’ll have no choice but to be the last one on the road. This has advantages and disadvantages, but it’s a great option to beat traffic.
Being the last one to hit the road back to Tallahassee allows you to spend more time with your family and enjoy all the luxuries that being at home gives you. It also means traffic will die down, and you won’t have to worry about a three-hour car ride turning into a five-hour one.
The only downside is that you have no time to settle back into your dorm or apartment and are left scrambling as classes start the next day. While it may seem like having no time to settle in is bad, it just depends on how much time you need to prepare before the start of the school week.
Sitting Through it
As much as I want to say beating the traffic back to school is easily avoidable, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Life happens even if you plan to leave early or late so you don’t have to sit through misery; sometimes, that choice isn’t up to you. Sometimes sucking it up and preparing for the worst is all you can do.
The best way to make this time as fun as possible is to make the drive as enjoyable as possible. You can make a new playlist to try out new music or listen to a new podcast you’ve wanted to listen to. So many things can make your car ride that much more bearable. A fun podcast sounds like it would make the entire drive worth it to me!
All in all, coming back to school is stressful and hectic, and doing things to avoid that feeling can help a lot. I hope you try some of these ways to beat the traffic back to Tallahassee!
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