MACON — As Memorial Day weekend approaches, people across the state are making travel plans.
WMAZ took a closer look at how many people you can expect to see on the road next week and how much your trip may cost you.
Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer and for many, it means spending time with friends and loved ones.
People like John Parks are getting a head start -- Parks' son just graduated from college and he says this Memorial Day weekend, his family is road tripping.
"We drove up to Florida, Georgia coast, and now we are on the way back to Phoenix," Parks said.
Parks said their Memorial Day travel adventures won't stop once they arrive back home though.
"We're going to drive down to mainland Mexico to a little town called Bahia Kino," Parks said.
According to AAA, more than 40 million Americas are going to be hitting the road Memorial Day weekend, which is nearly five percent more travelers on the road than 2017.
AAA estimates that 100,000 people across the state will travel by plane, and despite gas prices being at a four year high this holiday weekend, 1.1 million people across the state will travel by car.
Last Memorial Day weekend, gas averaged $2.23 a gallon in Georgia. This year, that price has jumped to $2.71 a gallon.
But for Parks, he says family time is worth the cost.
"It's hard to get the family together. We have not seen him in a while (his son), so we decided to get the family together and go on a little trip," Parks said.
While the Parks' start their vacation early, you may want to do the same.
AAA predicts travelers will face the most traffic Thursday and Friday leading up to Memorial Day weekend.
AAA says traffic will especially build in the late afternoon as commuters get off of work.