Near-record gasoline prices didn’t keep Nicole Caradona and her two daughters from starting a getaway weekend Friday at the start of the July 4 holiday weekend.
But it did keep the Decatur, Georgia, family closer to home.
“We had been thinking about going up the East Coast to Maryland, but with higher gas prices we decided to travel a bit less and check out Chattanooga instead,” Caradona said outside of Ruby Falls on Lookout Mountain Friday afternoon. “From here we’re headed to Nickajack Lake to go kayaking with some friends. There’s just a lot to do here.”
The Caradonas are among 42 million Americans who are expected to travel by car away from home over the three-day holiday weekend – the highest number ever projected by AAA for the Independence Day weekend. Although air travel is still projected to be down due to travel delays and cancellation concerns, the nearly 48 million Americans projected by AAA to travel at least 50 miles away from their home this weekend is up 3.7% from last year and just shy of the pre-pandemic high reached in 2019.
“Earlier this year, we started seeing the demand for travel increase, and it’s not tapering off,” Paula Twidale, senior vice president for AAA Travel, said in a travel forecast for the Fourth of July weekend. “People are ready for a break and despite things costing more, they are finding ways to still take that much-needed vacation.”