1. Listen To Music

Music can be the best remedy for stress. Whether you're traveling by plane or car, listening to music is one way to clear your head and relieve any unnecessary stress. You can occupy your time by creating a playlist for the trip!

Or if you haven't gotten sick of Christmas music yet, you can listen to that too during your trip to get in a festive mood! Music has always been my one outlet for keeping myself calm during stressful times.

2. Make A Plan Of Things You'll Do At Your Destination During Your Trip

If you need to keep your mind occupied from reflecting on any anxiety you have, you can try planning what you'll do at your final destination during your trip. Create an itinerary of things you plan to do solo or with family. This can help keep you calm and will help make time go by faster.

3. Give Yourself Down Time

Giving yourself time to relax is one of the most important ways to combat stress while traveling on the holidays! Take a moment to allow yourself time to stop for a moment to do other things besides stressing about the trip. It can become easy to get caught up in trying to get everything done and taken care of all at once. Therefore, giving yourself downtime can help you clear your mind and reset.

4. Make Sure To Triple Check Luggage Before Leaving

To prevent yourself from going through an extreme amount of anxiety over forgetting something, make sure to check everything beforehand to ensure you don't forget to pack anything.

Inspect your luggage, house, and carry-on bags up to three time before heading out of your house to go on your trip to make sure you're not leaving anything behind.

I usually make a list of everything I need to take on my trip, then check the items off my list as I pack them. Also before, heading out it's good to ask yourself if there is anything else you need to bring and if the list you made is accurate or if you're missing something small but important, like toothpaste.

5. Try To Plan Your Travels For A Less Busy Week

Everyone knows that holiday traveling can be a mess both on the roads and at the airports, since so many people are often traveling at the same time.

To avoid waiting in long lines at airports or getting stuck in traffic, if you can, try to plan to leave on a less busy week. This would probably be the week before Christmas or several days before. Don't try to travel during the week of Christmas since this is when traveling will be the busiest, unless you have no other choice.

6. Focus On Self-Care

Often when you are stressing over traveling, you can forget to take care of yourself. And if you're like me, you may find yourself too focused on taking care of everyone else around you rather than yourself.

Make a little time for self-care, whether it's taking a moment to read a book or listen to music.

7. Make Sure To Anticipate Delays

Because you're traveling during the holidays there will likely be some type of delay, whether you're traveling by plane or by car - delayed flights and heavy traffic are not uncommon for this time of the year. Take these delays into consideration and give yourself some extra time when leaving for your trip.

8. Take A Moment To Breathe

While traveling, it can be easy to get lost in the anxiety and forget to take a moment to breathe. Try to take at least a minute to take deep breaths and calm down. Try using breathing exercises to keep yourself from tensing up and to relieve stress.

9. Talk To Someone About Your Stress Or Anxiety

If you're not traveling alone, try to talk to someone about the stress you're dealing with while traveling. And if you are traveling alone, then try calling someone and talking about it over the phone. Talking about any stress you have can help relieve some of the pressure and you can also see if the person you're talking to can offer any helpful tips to relieve the stress.

10. Plan To Leave Early

Finally, anticipate the delays and traffic that I mentioned earlier and leave early for your destination. This will make you less likely to panic about not making your flight or getting to your destination later than you'd hoped.