DUNMORE, Pa. — The Fourth of July is usually a popular time to travel, but this year, some from Northeast Pennsylvania are canceling or changing their plans.
Last year, according to AAA, was a record-breaker when it came to Americans traveling, but not this year because of health concerns.
"We are expecting at least 700 million Americans to hit the road this summer, which sounds like a high number, but it's actually down 15 percent from last year," said Nina Waskevich of AAA North Penn.
Some are still planning to travel.
"My plans are I am traveling down to Florida to Key West with my family to spend vacation on the beach for 4 or 5 days. I'm not nervous, it's more of a precaution, a lot of precautions will be used," said Tim White of Danville.
But others said they are sticking close to home, canceling beach trips, and other family vacations.
"We were all going, it was going to be a family again like we go on family vacations, but I'm just afraid, I'm afraid of a lot of things," said Bettyanne Smith of Harding who canceled her vacation.
Marcella Yasharian of Wyalusing even called off a big family reunion this Independence Day weekend.
"It's grown to about 100 people. We had a wedding, this year we were going to have a graduation and baby shower, but because they come from all over the united states and they have babies, and my husband and I have lung issues, we decided to cancel it. Nobody wanted to, I mean, it was right up until the last minute and maybe, maybe, maybe but for safety sake we said, no we can't risk it."
Ken Coville of Blakeslee won't be going anywhere.
"The COVID-19 thing has made it so difficult to make that decision. You don't know what's going to be open. All the fun things you like to do on the fourth, they're canceled. So what would be the point of going anywhere?"
Health officials continue to warn people to avoid crowds and take precautions.
AAA predicts the majority of those who are traveling will be hitting the road, not taking to the skies.