Xavier Vega and his partner, Soluna Vega, cheered in relief as the “Welcome to Connecticut” sign came into view. It marked the end of an unplanned 17-hour highway odyssey home after their flight became one of more than 1,000 cancellations tied to the ongoing government shutdown.

The couple, who had to take a train, bus and a rental car on Saturday to drive over 1,100 miles from Florida, are among thousands of travelers whose plans have been derailed by the widespread cancellations – and are searching for other ways to get where they’re going.

An end to the travel woes could be in sight. On Sunday in a procedural vote, Senate lawmakers voted on a bipartisan deal to fund the government through January 30 and set a vote on an Affordable Care Act bill in December.

The measure must still pass the full Senate and the House before heading to the president’s desk.

Air traffic controllers and TSA screeners must work without pay during the shutdown, and as financial strain grows, more workers are calling out, adding pressure to already-stretched agencies and delaying travelers.

The staffing shortage, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s order last Thursday to cut flights by 4%, resulted in chaos across the nation’s airports over the weekend. More than 1,000 flights were canceled and over 6,500 delayed on Saturday alone.

For some travelers, like the Vegas, the disruptions have meant resorting to long drives, costly rebookings and days of uncertainty, all ripple effects of a shutdown that continues to grind the nation’s air system to a halt.

As a result,