Today’s featured article comes from Carol Margolis, founder of smartwomentravelers.com.

The holidays are stressful enough without adding travel stress to the mix. With these easy to implement strategies, you will be boarding your flight with your bags of stress left behind!

Ship holiday gifts ahead of time. Avoid purchasing fragile gift items. Pack your gifts amongst a few sweaters, and take them to UPS, Fedex or the Post Office for early shipping to your holiday destination. With the airlines charging fees for each piece of luggage, the shipping charge is often less than the luggage fee. All of your shopping gets done early and safely shipped, so you can focus on just your packing.

Hire a car service to and from the airport. When you figure out the costs of driving yourself to the airport (gasoline, tolls, parking charges), it is often not much more to hire a car service. It feels very luxurious to have a driver pick you up, load up your luggage, and give you a nice, smooth ride to the airport. It is even more special to have a driver ready and waiting for you when you return home, rather than schlepping your luggage back to the parking garage when you are feeling a bit tired and cranky after a long journey. A tip for finding a car service: Call an upscale hotel near your home and ask who they recommend for a trip from the airport to their hotel.

Enjoy time at the airport. Yes, it is possible to really enjoy your time spent at the airport. Get there a few hours before your scheduled flight time. Enjoy a nice leisurely meal at a full-service restaurant with your family. This is much nicer than arriving in the nick of time, grabbing cellophane-wrapped sandwiches at a food stand, and falling into your airplane seats all stressed out.

Pack your suitcase, then remove half the clothes. It is common for travelers, especially women, to overpack and bring clothes or shoes that end up never being worn. Most hotels have washers and dryers, and if you are staying with family, they usually do also. Family and friends want to see you, not you in different clothes every single day. Chances are, you may be receiving new clothes for the holidays or shopping the after-Christmas sales, and you will need space in your luggage for the new items. Stick an empty fold-up bag into your suitcase for transporting gift items back home, a bag that is easily carried onboard with you on your flight home.

Check your bag with full details included. Include your name and telephone number on your luggage tag. Place a copy of your itinerary (flight info, hotel name and address or family member’s telephone number) inside your luggage in the event that your luggage tag gets lost. Use TSA-approved luggage locks or good old twist-ties to keep your luggage zippers together. Attach brightly-colored ribbons to your luggage to identify your bag amongst the many bags coming off the luggage carousel.

With these simple strategies, your travel will become a pleasant adventure instead of a stressful trip. May the spirit of the holidays be with you!

Carol Margolis is a well-traveled businesswoman, wife and mom who has collected countless pearls of travel wisdom over many years. She shares these pearls of wisdom by offering free tools, resources and strategies to travelers at SmartWomenTravelers.com and at her blog PearlsofTravelWisdom.com. She talked travel on the television show Great Day Houston, is a popular radio show guest and has contributed to USAToday.com, LATimes.com and numerous travel sites.