Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter.
At about this time every year, I really want to tell everyone, “It’s easy: If you want to avoid all holiday travel mistakes and hassles, stay home.”

This is how to easily avoid common holiday travel mistakes

At about this time every year, radio and TV producers ask me to go on the air and dispense travel advice. They’ll ask me how to avoid the agony of holiday travel. And at about this time every year, I really want to tell them, “It’s easy: If you want to avoid all holiday travel mistakes and hassles, stay home.”

It happened on a hot autumn afternoon as we too off on our first RV vacation. We were cruising south Highway 101 in California."THUMP!" Uh-oh.

How to survive an RV vacation with your family

It happened on a hot autumn afternoon as we cruised south toward Santa Rosa, Calif., on Highway 101 in a 24-foot Coachmen Leprechaun recreational vehicle.

“THUMP!” the camper went. Not like the kind of thump you make when you go over a speed bump. It was the thump of hitting something.