A record number of Americans will travel this weekend, packing up their bags and hitting the road to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family, friends and maybe some football.

But travel this year will look different than it did 12 months ago, according to a bevy of early data, surveys and industry experts.

The chief culprits behind the shifts? More travelers; deepening economic anxiety; tensions around geopolitics; and a six-week government shutdown that only ended a few weeks ago.

Record travelers, but tighter belts

AAA projects that 81.8 million people will travel at least 50 miles over the long holiday weekend — 1.6 million more people than last Thanksgiving and a record level.

Six million of those travelers are expected to take domestic flights, another increase over last year.

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