Photo by Satish Kumar Photography.

If you’re at work, your office is likely pretty empty. If you’re on the Metro, there’s probably not too many over-crowded trains. If you’re walking home, you’re surely thankful you’re not stuck in a car right now — because everyone’s trying to get the heck out of the city.

If you’re still here, you’re probably among the small number of people that seem to remain in Washington for Thanksgiving. Whether family is too far away or the entire family is here, you’re not rushing to the train station or airport, and you’re certainly not sitting in traffic trying to get someplace else. Every year, AAA counts the people that will travel for Thanksgiving; it’s usually in the millions.

But they never mention you, who chose otherwise.

Maybe it’s because of its transient nature, or maybe it’s because there’s four straight days that commuters won’t be driving into the District for work. Either way, Thanksgiving is one of those great times to stay behind in the District, much like Christmas or the entire month of August. The city just empties out, and perceptibly so. Bars and restaurants are less crowded, there’s far less traffic, the morning and evening hours seem even more desolate than usual.

The city’s pace slows down, almost as if everyone left here got together and decided to just relax for a few days.

I’m happy to be amongst those staying behind, mostly because my family is too spread out over too many states and countries to make Thanksgiving travel workable. There’s plenty to do, and plenty of opportunities to do it — museum exhibits to see, bars and restaurants I’d usually avoid because they’re packed, libraries and book stores to peruse.

If you’ve stayed local for the first time, enjoy the experience. If you’ve done this before, you probably know how great it can be. Travel is often wonderful, and it’s always good to get some perspective on where you live by leaving it for a while. But the perspective on a local Thanksgiving is surprisingly satisfying, and you can have it just by staying put.

Those of you sticking around: what are you planning to do with all this extra room to stretch out? Let us know in the comments.