Californians' desire to maintain holiday traditions apparently outweighs concerns about the cost of travel.
AAA Northern California on Friday estimated that 11.4 million Californians will travel 50 miles or more from their homes during the upcoming Christmas and New Year's holidays, a 4.1 percent increase over 2010.
"Californians are scaling back on travel expenditures as they express pessimism over the current sluggish economy," said AAA spokeswoman Cynthia Harris. "But many are creating opportunities to visit family and friends during these holidays to catch up on much-needed rest and rejuvenation after a very challenging year."
AAA estimated that more than 10 million Californians will travel by car during the upcoming holidays, up 2.5 percent from last year.
However, AAA said just 925,000 will travel by air, a nearly 10 percent drop from 2010. AAA speculated that the high cost of air travel prompted some Golden State residents to opt for a road trip.
Nationally, AAA estimated that 91.1 million people will be on the move, up 1.4 percent from last year.
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