Thousands of New Jerseyans are leaving home to travel elsewhere this holiday season.

Gas prices in New Jersey were slightly up this week – with a gallon of regular gas costing $2.57, up 2 cents from last week and up 17 cents from last year.

AAA reminds anyone traveling by car to make sure it is travel-ready. The agency says that over 800,000 motorists will call AAA this season for roadside assistance. This includes issues like dead car batteries, flat tires and lockouts.

At Newark Liberty International Airport, representatives from the Transportation Safety Administration were instructing flyers about the best way to travel with their Christmas items.

Bottles of wine and liquor, or any large amount of liquid, need to be placed in checked bags. Hard candies like candy canes can go inside carry-ons.

TSA officials also say that they are urging passengers to not bring wrapped gifts on to planes – use a gift bag instead.

“If you use a gift bag, what happens is that TSA can reach in if it triggers an alarm and make sure it isn’t anything hazardous, prohibited, dangerous,” says TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. “If you use a wrapped gift, someone’s going to have to open it.”

TSA also recommends that travelers give themselves plenty of time to get to the airport before their flight.

About 115 million Americans are expected to travel away this Christmas, with 104 million of them traveling by car, according to AAA. This is 3.9 million more than last year – the highest number of travelers in almost 20 years.