Hey, happy Thanksgiving, all! May you eat tremendous food with tremendous people in the next few days. If you're traveling, see below for some general travel suggestions.

Regardless of how you travel during the holidays, bear in mind that, statistically, the season is stressful to most folks, as is travel—a double-whammy. Whenever possible, extend to people the good cheer and empathetic spirit with which the holidays were intended.

If you're planning to travel during this holiday season, “I always advise passenger traveling over the holidays to expect longer than usual security lines and to arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights,” cautions Roxxanne Rohl, worldwide service director at Tampa’s First Travel. She advises people to anticipate lots of families traveling with small children on the plane, which tends to slow things down.

Before You Go

If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, then travel light. Beyond the obvious notion of taking only what is essential (buy toiletries at your final destination, pack clothing that mixes and matches to perform double duty), there are more subtle ways to travel light—and smart. In an effort to cut a few ounces, don’t pack your whole address book. Print out a single sheet of phone numbers and addresses you might need. In the event your luggage is lost, this valuable book is tucked safely at home. (In a similar vein, e-mail yourself your travel itinerary, credit card numbers and important telephone numbers that can be accessed easily in the event your luggage or wallet are lost or stolen.)

Air Travel

How much time should you allow for checking in and getting through security during the holiday season? “Although every airport is different, I encourage people to allot two hours, even domestically,” notes Anita Pagliasso-Balamane, owner of Ticket to Travel. “To make it stress-free, it’s better to sit there with a cup of coffee than to jeopardize the trip by cutting it too close.” And to facilitate getting through security quickly, remember to wear slip-on shoes, keep the change out of your pockets, minimize jewelry, and eschew a belt (assuming pants will stay up unassisted).

And before you pack your bags, think about it: How many black carry-ons with wheels do you count spinning on the luggage carousel? Make sure your bag is personalized with a big, colorful luggage tag or easily spotted bow. Think of giving each family member something in the same pattern but in different colors, so you can distinguish between family members’ bags at a glance. Because most holiday travelers will liberally interpret what constitutes a “carry-on,” consider checking all luggage through to your final destination, bringing to the cabin only the creature comforts that make for fun travel—a neck-rest ring (remember, most airlines have done away with blankets and pillows), a healthy snack, your iPod, and a book you’ve been eager to read.

Families traveling internationally will certainly have their passports, but even families traveling domestically should have pictures of all family members. A picture is worth a thousand words when trying to describe a temporarily lost child to airport personnel.

On the Road

Driving is a sensible way to avoid busy airports and long check-in lines. But a road trip comes with its own set of pitfalls and potholes. Given the high price of gas, choose your car with the best gas mileage. The same goes for rental cars. Consider traveling a day or two on either side of the biggest crunch days, and plot your route to get you through congested areas at off-peak times (avoiding roads that serve as access roads to airports).

But how do you stay sane on the wide, open road amidst the holiday pandemonium? As with a NASA launch, it’s all about careful planning and precision execution. Consider carrying a master list of all that you’ve packed. Although it sounds monstrously fastidious, it helps to see where your gaps are, it allows you to easily keep track of things from car to hotel to final destination, and if you generate this list on the computer, it can be used as the basis for future trip lists.

The list should be divided into categories: clothes and equipment (these are the things that go in the trunk, to be exhumed at your final destination) and the stuff that makes or breaks your travel time—food, entertainment and car comfort.

Just before departure, check road conditions via local news or the Federal Highway Administration's web site, and be up to date on the weather forecast.