Why more millennials skipped this year’s holiday trip home
For Simone Harvin, the holidays no longer come with a plane ticket or a packed car. Although she loves her family, her annual trip home simply isn’t happening this year.
“Travel of any kind is exhausting, but the expectation of being the one to endure long road trips and holiday traffic gets old after a while,” Harvin told Straight Arrow News.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport expects more than 5 million travelers this holiday season. Another 109.5 million Americans will travel by car for their year-end trips, a 2% increase from last year, according to AAA. Harvin has no interest in joining the crowd this year.
“A part of me is in silent protest. Not an angry one, just one that says, ‘Hey, it would be nice if the effort we make year after year was matched at least once,’“ she said.
What changes in millennials’ lives have triggered shifts in holiday decisions?
And she’s not alone. Many millennials told SAN they are opting out of holiday trips home, highlighting emotional stress, complicated family dynamics, and rising costs.
Being flexible about locations was once a millennial calling card. In the early 2000s, millennials moved more than any other generation. Between 2008 and 2017, data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that about 25% of millennials moved in a given year, give or take a percentage point.
That began to shift in 2017. The reasons for that are varied, but some is obvious: The oldest millennials – delayed behind many previous generations – bought houses and started families at growing rates. By 2022, Gen Z took the crown for being the most mobile generation, as the share of millennials on the move declined below 20%.
Now, once-mobile millennials are more likely to have young children at home. Simple, cheap flights are more complicated and expensive with kids in tow.
Millennials who are traveling outspend others, according to new research published this November by Deloitte. The average planned holiday travel budget for millennials this year is $2,602 – higher than any other generation, according to Deloitte.
Allison Lepanto and her husband have also decided to skip their annual travel from North Carolina to Ohio to visit extended family.
“The stress, emotions, and pressure to ‘pretend’ with family members has drained the joy out of a season that is supposed to be grounding and restive,” Lepanto said.
How does mental health factor into millennials’ decision making?
Now, she is building a new tradition, focused on staying home with her husband. It has its perks.
“Choosing to stay home has brought us an intimate, meaningful holiday grounded in slowness, intention, connection, and traditions that nourish our soul and growing family,” she told Straight Arrow News.
Mental health experts say this line of thinking is becoming more common, especially among millennials, the post-1980 generation known for being open about prioritizing emotional well-being and setting boundaries.
Elizabeth Bodett Dresser, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, told SAN she has seen this shift more frequently in her work.
“More adults are choosing not to travel home for the holidays, not because they don’t care about their families, but because by this time of year, their emotional batteries are often on low and going home usually drains them further,” Dresser said.
For Lepanto, the emotional toll of travel, along with strained relationships and unspoken expectations, eventually became too heavy.
“We began feeling like we needed a holiday to recover from our holiday,” she said. “The energy investment required to travel, manage strained relationships, and field the inevitable complaints was too high a cost.”
What does it cost to travel for the holidays?
Domestic flights are 7% more expensive this year, according to AAA, averaging nearly $900 for a round-trip ticket. The report cited the days leading up to Christmas as the most expensive; flying on the holiday itself is cheaper.
Travel expert Joe Cronin has spent more than 20 years working with travelers as head of International Travellers Insurance. He told SAN the shift is about more than just saving money.
“It is a personal choice. More and more travelers are choosing to create meaningful memories without the expense of airfare, returning to their childhood homes,” Cronin said. “Instead, they are financially and emotionally more purposeful, taking cheaper, restorative travel closer to home.”
Joe Zdrilich, an attorney based in Georgia, told SAN he also opted out of traveling during the holidays.
After a previous holiday trip home, Zdrilich realized the stress of leaving his practice overshadowed the appeal of being away.
“I scheduled a holiday getaway and wound up logging late nights from a guest room in a relative’s house to finish an urgent case,” he said.
Now, he has a different metric for considering the value of holiday travel. And this year, he is choosing a more peaceful holiday season.
The post Why more millennials skipped this year’s holiday trip home appeared first on Straight Arrow News.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
