Alva James-Johnson: The flying vs. driving debate

When planning a family trip in the continental United States, there's always mode of transportation to consider.

Both driving and flying have their advantages, and you're not always sure of the best option.

It pretty much boils down to money and time. And if you have plenty of both, the decision is much easier.

As soon as my husband and I had children, it was a no-brainer. Buying plane tickets for the whole family just got to be too expensive. So we began driving all over the country via minivan.

That put a lot of mileage on the vehicles, of course. But road trips have been good bonding times for family; at least when we're not getting on each other's last nerves. There's nothing like being cooped up for 12 hours or more with the ones you love.

After playing the alphabet game for the hundredth time, you begin to wonder, "And why didn't we fly, again?"

Well, this year, we decided to stay home for Thanksgiving. And we had guests come from out of town instead.

The two families arrived early Thursday -- one group after flying from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta; the other after driving from Houston.

The couple from Fort Lauderdale has a 2-year-old daughter, and they decided to fly to reduce travel time.

The couple from Houston has two sons, ages 3 and 6. They found plane tickets too expensive for the weekend trip.

The drive from Houston was supposed to take about 10.5 hours, but it took three hours just getting out of the city. After encountering multiple traffic jams on the way -- one due to an accident in Louisiana -- it took them more than 13 hours to get here.

My friend said the trip was frustrating at times, but well worth the experience.

It saved them a few hundred dollars. And when the boys became restless, she just used an iPad to keep them entertained.

"Thank goodness for technology," she said.

I asked her if she regretted not flying for even a moment, and the answer was, "no."

In addition to the cost, she also was concerned about terrorism.

"With so many things happening to these airplanes now-a-days, nobody wants to fly anymore," she explained. "You just feel safer in a car, even though you can still have an accident." The other couple had a different perspective.

"If something's going to happen, it's going to happen," the husband said. "It doesn't matter where I am. So I don't even worry about it."

Besides, the round-trip flight for his family of three was $1,200, which they covered with frequent flyer miles.

So, the flying versus driving debate continues. I'm just glad everyone arrived safely.

Alva James-Johnson, 706-571-8521. Reach her on Facebook at AlvaJamesJohnsonLedger.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Alva James-Johnson: The flying vs. driving debate ."