Hitting the road when you have a baby changes everything. Travel just ain't what it used to be.  Even me, a travel expert, was daunted by the idea of traveling with my daughter by plane for the first time.  As with everything there is a learning curve and you get better with experience. I'll save you some of the trouble and share some of my learninngs from our very first family vacation.

It's no doubt that the recommendation against all non-essential travel has many people thinking twice about their upcoming trips. Travelocity alone has emailed nearly 14,000 customers about this issue and has had over 30,000 page views to their related FAQ. While most people are opting to change their plans for alternate destinations like Orlando, Las Vegas, Atlanta, the Bahamas, or the Caribbean some people are still chosing to go. If you have a trip in the coming weeks, what will you do?

Given Joe Biden's comments this morning which fueled the media fire over the H1N1 flu virus, I thought it quite brilliant that Jiffy Lube would go out with their poll on how American's would travel this summer.  Of course it promotes road trips!

All I want to know is when do I get to go to Cuba?  Three cheers for the Obama administration for setting the stage for possible civilian travel to Cuba in the coming years.  We're not there yet, well not unless you're a descendant with relatives in Cuba but hopefully the announcement this week on easing restrictions to Cuba will put American travelers on the path to visiting the historic country.

I've been talking about getting your passport for a few years now, but this time I really mean it.  The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative has had a rolling ID ramp-up requiring passports for people who are entering the United States from Mexico, the Caribbean, or Canada.  Up until now it only mattered for people who were traveling by air.  But as of June 1st passports, NOT JUST A DRIVERS LICENCSE, will be required for entry back into the US.

When I read the article on the attitude of Ben Baldanza, CEO of Spirit Airlines, in the New York Times business section this weekend entitled Don't Come Crying To This Airline I was blown away.  How brazen.  The word the article used was outrageous.

Make this your year to green your travel. It’s easy, I promise. Travelocity launched The Green Directory to help you select green options for your next vacation. Because these days, there is so much green talk, and as we all find out sooner or later, talk is cheap. It’s actions that really matter. Especially where there is a high potential for green-washing.

As the travel industry strives to green itself, there is a lot to do and even more to learn. But if you care about preserving the places you visit the good news is that a whole lot is happening to make tourism more sustainable these days. Travel providers have a key seat at the global green table and how the travel industry responds to climate change, preservation, and conservation are critical to the future of places we love.

According to shopping accounts in from Black Friday and the holiday weekend, shoppers are still spending but they are purchasing carefully and they want deals. When it comes to travel, would-be buyers are no different. I'm happy to report that I finally have some really good news in the department! We can actually start talking about deals again.

From a data report issued today, we found that if you priced out a December trip earlier this year and found travel was out of your reach this holiday season, it’s time for another look. Travelocity’s most recent data shows a steady decline in airfare over the last five weeks with an average price drop of $53. Softening travel demand is translating into lower prices for travelers. And, now, less than one month until Christmas, prudent travelers hoping to get away can snag falling airfares and stellar hotel deals. The catch is they're all based on availability and may not last much longer.

Not only does the Transportation Security Administration get better with expereince, I have to say, so do our Travelocity Thanksgiving Task Force spotters. This year was our best ever. And not just because the weather cooperated in most parts of the country, or that the President opened military airspace around the nation to ease air traffic congestion, or even the fact that there were fewer air travelers this year. I owe our success to this great team of ten who walk some of the nation's busiest airportsand report live with their findings and update the blog every hour from pre-dawn to post-dusk.

This year our spotters (who I like to affectionately refer to as Turkey Trotters) took full advantage of the technological advancements and went wireless with their PDAs, cameras, and computers to update this very blog with the latest and greatest news from the front-lines of air travel over some of the busiest travel days of the year.

If you're reading this post, you've probably read at least some of the others. (Weren't the posts great this year?) And especially because this holiday is all about giving thanks...I'd like to take the time to thank each and every one of our turkey trotters for covering the airports so well. Jenn Gaines at LAX, Holly Burns at Las Vegas, Rachel Berg in Denver, Song Yang in Atlanta, Jeff Varhol in Miami, Joel Frey at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Michael Brophy at Washington National, Jenelle Blanchard at Chicago O'Hare, Jill Harrison in Phoenix, and Genevieve Brown and Charlie Davidson at New York Lagaurdia airport. -- you guys rock! It's because of all of you, and all of our fantastic behind-the-scenes helpers (this list is long, forgive me for not naming everyone on it but you know who you are!) that Travelocity is able to help travelers in real-time know what to do to ease their travels at the holidays and any time.

But don't let that stop you from getting to your Thanksgiving dinner! It's not going to stop me or the Window Seat Bloggers who are stationed in ten of the nation's busiest airport today and tomorrow to deliver information on how travel is faring on these very busiest travel days of the year.