AAA projects that 45.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, according to a press release. That’s 1.4 million more travelers compared to last year and sets a new Memorial Day weekend record. The previous record was set back in 2005 with 44 million people.

“Memorial Day weekend getaways don’t have to be extravagant and costly,” said Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel. “While some travelers embark on dream vacations and fly hundreds of miles across the country, many families just pack up the car and drive to the beach or take a road trip to visit friends. Long holiday weekends are ideal for travel because many people have an extra day off work and students are off from school.”

AAA estimates that 39.4 million people will travel by car over Memorial Day weekend. That’s an additional one million travelers compared to last year. Driving is the preferred mode of transportation during holiday travel periods, AAA said, with 87% of Memorial Day travelers choosing to take road trips.

Rental car provider Hertz said that Friday, May 23 is expected to be the busiest day for car rental pickups, and that cities seeing the highest demand for rental cars include Orlando, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami and Seattle.

Retailers along key travel routes are building unique experiences to make their stores a memorable piece of customers’ journeys. Read more about how c-stores can be road trip destinations in “Worth the Road Trip!” in the May issue of NACS Magazine.