If the Steve Martin and John Candy’s classic film “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” can teach us anything about the holiday season it’s that you should prepare for what you can’t prepare for.

Admittedly, that doesn’t make a lot of sense on the surface, but the point is that your attitude when you hit the asphalt should lean toward venturous and not vindictive. Internet media such as travelandleisure.com and travelchannel.com butt heads over whether Thanksgiving is the busiest day for traveling in the year. No one, however, is arguing that the days before and after Turkey Day are a wild ride.

Unexpected winter storms freeze airport traffic, train cars are packed to the brim with new rail-users and interstate interchanges jam up for miles. PennDOT’s summer road work will be put to the test as Pennsylvania’s infrastructure is used and abused.

AAA projects nearly 49 million Americans will travel for the holiday season, and Shippensburg University students are certainly a part of the coming horde. The I-81 corridor is already littered with motorists from across the Eastern seaboard and beyond, but now its four lanes will have to stand up to a formidable adversary — hungry and exhausted college students.

With campus food tasting ever blander when compared to home-cooked turkey drowned in gravy, escorted by potatoes and filling, flanked with cranberries and warm rolls within arm’s reach, the highway is no place to let your guard down.

Be wary, for you will encounter the ever-anxious family dad, left-lane cruisers, right-lane tailgaters, merciless truck drivers, absent-minded RV travelers, last-minute delivery vans, swerving coach buses and sweet-sixteen first timers.

The interstates will make NASCAR look like child’s play, and no matter how many “safety corridors” I-81 has, there will be nothing but unprecedented mayhem. Perhaps that is a little dramatic, but AAA expects 1 million more people on the move this year, putting even more stress and strain on the system.

If numbers don’t catch your attention, then maybe maps will. Go to www.511pa.com and check out the historical travel maps. In years past, I-81 northbound (toward Harrisburg) has seen its fair share of traffic accidents and bumper-to-bumper standstills. The government’s hour-by-hour maps feature traffic patterns from the last two Thanksgiving time periods in eight state regions. The Wednesday before and Sunday after Thanksgiving are the two days it selected to show the development of traffic.

With Wednesday the first full day off from classes, and Sunday the last of Thanksgiving break, these interactive maps are a good source for students to determine the best times to hit the roadways.

Heavy traffic was reported on I-81 north of the Susquehanna River between 12–7p.m. on Sunday for 2014 and 2015. The Capital Beltway around Harrisburg saw increased congestion as well, along with the I-81 Carlisle exits.

Wednesday proved to have lighter traffic, but was more prone to accidents, creating spontaneous delays. This week may not be any different as a snowstorm moves in from the west. While surprising snow flurries and wild winds sent a sharp warning to Shippensburg that winter is coming, local travelers may luck out on the storm.

Accuweather’s forecast predicts the Appalachian Mountains will shield the Cumberland Valley and everything east from the approaching winter weather. But never forget — Mother Nature makes her own plans.

So when the planes are grounded, the tracks overburdened and the roads gridlocked, just take a deep breath and remember what you are thankful for — instead of attending Thursday classes you will be gorging on a Thanksgiving feast with family and friends.

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