Thanksgiving - A Holiday Worth Skipping?

So here we are - in the throws of the holiday season... right on that line between "let's focus on the Thanksgiving menu" and "it's time to decorate for Christmas!" (that is if you haven't started already... like me... no shame). Now, for most people, the Thanksgiving holiday is a great time to see family because a lot jobs close down Thursday and Friday and that gives you a four-day weekend.

But at what cost? Because Thanksgiving travel is a complete and total nightmare.

I used to be one of those warry travelers, heading 5-6 hours heading up the road to visit family from my old apartment in Raleigh. But every single year, without fail, there was some kind of drama - usually involving sitting in 20 minutes to 2 hours worth of traffic delays from car accidents.

And then came Thanksgiving 2017... the last Thanksgiving I ever traveled lol. Halfway between the VA/NC line on the VA side, about 2.5 hours into my trip... my Jeep broke down. We're talking driving down the road and smoke starts rolling out of your hood broke down (ended up being the water pump). Of course, I understand that the root issue was unrelated to the holiday itself, believe me when I say the travel conditions made it excessively challenging to solve.

I won't get into all the details but but after sitting on the side of a busy-ass highway full of wall-to-wall holiday travelers in the midst of a road-work area (no one even remotely stopping to offer assistance except for the van that broke down across the other side of the road from me), I had no internet service and had to call my friends to try to pin point me on a map based on what I could see and what exists I had passed (since I couldn't use GPS). Then, they had to Google repair shops and tow trucks near the area that were open on a Sunday evening on Thanksgiving weekend around 5pm and give me a bunch of phone numbers to try. Shockingly, I did find someone who could come get me but not for awhile.

So after waiting nearly 3 hours (and deep into the dark by this point... shoutout to the trucker that broke down about half a mile ahead of me and already had a tow who walked down to check on me as I was waiting), my very late tow truck arrived and then me and my late cat, Yoji, had to ride over 2 hours back in the cab of of the tow drivers truck down to Raleigh with a quick side stop at my bank to get out the cash required for such a large tow.

And so then I swore I would never travel on the Thanksgiving holiday again. No regrets.

I love my family and I love having a nice dinner with them but it just isn't worth it, especially compared to all the fun we have when I go home for Christmas (which is superior in every way). Instead, I now have Thanksgiving with friends or I don't celebrate at all and instead have a "Friendsgiving" that same weekend where we play games and drink and eat really good food that is atypical of a Thanksgiving meal since everyone has already had one or two big meals by that point plus plenty of turkey leftovers. (And hey - we live at the beach. Surf and turf makes the perfect Friendsgiving menu!)

This year - I will be celebrating with some friends and neighbors. I am responsible for the mac & cheese and also some sort of dessert. I am thinking pumpkin cookies or maybe pumpkin cinnamon rolls? I do love baking!

So here is my question - where does Thanksgiving rate in your list of must-celebrate holidays? Do you dream about watching the game/parade with your folks as you eat a bowl stuffing drenched in turkey gravy -- no matter the distance required to travel -- or is it just another day? Do you care more about the shopping deals that are following shortly after? Do you celebrate with local friends only?

PS: to my wonderful cousin who shared the Thanksgiving menu with me this year - it looks delicious and I will definitely miss you guys. I except many photos.