The holiday season is a great opportunity to take a pause and spend some time with family and friends. Unfortunately for many of us, we live far away from our loved ones, with visits often requiring us to get on a plane. If you can avoid flying, you probably should -- you don't need to be named Kevin McCallister to know that air travel this time of year can be chaotic. But of course, not everyone can.

And then there are people like Hal Vaughan.

On December 23, 2018, Vaughan did something a lot of people did that day -- he boarded a plane leaving from New Orleans to Detroit, hoping to spend some time with his family. But despite the fact that his daughter Pierce lived in nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan, Hal didn't stay in Detroit. He quickly hopped on another plane, this time to Ft. Myers, Florida. And when he arrived in Florida, he once again took to the skies -- now destined back to Detroit. He was back home in time for Christmas, taking what appeared to be two unnecessary flights to get there.

So of course, the next day -- Christmas Eve -- he got on a plane again, this time to Hartford, Connecticut. And he didn't know anyone who lived in or near Hartford; in fact, as he told the New York Times, he had "never been that far north in my life." He spent the day in that area and then, on Christmas Day, got on his fifth flight -- not home nor to Detroit, but to Atlanta. Finally, on December 26th, having spent a good amount of time in airports and in the friendly skies, Hal Vaughan took one more flight, landing in New Orleans and finally driving home to a small Mississippi town. 

The time spent with family? 

All of it, actually. Except for that last flight. Just ask Mike Levy, the man wearing earbuds and taking a selfie in the photo on the left, below. He was sitting next to Hal Vaughan on that flight from Ft. Myers to Detroit.