When friends ask what is that first thing you want to do once normal circumstances resume i.e. free of Covid 19 lockdowns, I instantaneously and consistently reply “road travel!” While travels of all kinds are fun and allow opportunity to unwind, explore, and learn, a road travel is a journey that allows you to be guided by your inner being. It makes it possible to chase the sunrises and sunsets, pastures, farms, villages, canals, rivers…and all sorts of natural features from a close proximity.
A road trip can be a planned journey or an impromptu decision. It does not require heavy transport reservations…you of course, must ensure your vehicle is in a perfect state, well serviced, to avert delays and disappointments. Road travel allows concessions like oversleep, lethargy, indulgence…one doesn’t have to adhere to a strict minute to minute schedule.
Road travel gives you a much-needed opportunity to really get back to who you are, what makes you tick, and potentially rediscover parts of yourself that have been lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday life back home. And there is nothing quite like a long drive on an open road to clear the mind. It will quieten you down, giving you a new sense of direction, a new vibrant vision, and a passionate heart-pounding purpose. Well…these are also the times when you introspect, finally admit what you need in life and hence, the drive on this long long road may result into those potential volatile moments – to make or break ‘stuff’. But let’s not go that way!
I have spent last two decades travelling to various hills, towns, and cities, by road, in India. Some of the most breath-taking locations, with a view akin to that from a fantasy movie, were experienced while driving towards the destination. These places do not exist on the tourist maps, they mostly go unnoticed even when you are in your own vehicle, unless you are lucky enough to hand over the wheel to your travel partner for a bit, and your eyes are still open albeit exhaustion.
Covering kilometers after kilometers, relinquishing sleep and nourishment, feels like a rush towards new goals, a dedicated effort to forego what’s not meant to be. The near approach to destination gives a sense of accomplishment, leaving one with a sense of empowered! It is odd but when you reach your destination, let’s say while checking in a hotel, you come across more lucid and confident, a complete contrast in comparison to your speech and state of mind post air travel, or when you were being closely guided by a travel agent. Road travel is an experience similar to a genuine and dedicated attempt towards completion of a challenging project. It leaves you fulfilled!
When behind the wheels, one has the flexibility to halt at unusual places, ‘dhabas’, spots… It’s a perfect opportunity to see locals and their lives. Those who have travelled to the interiors of Himachal, or even to Manali, which is a popular tourist destination, may have witnessed a whole lot of town activity – people rushing to work… educated womenfolk going to schools and offices; students – half awake, flopping on each other, noisy buses, cranky bus drivers/conductors… The exposure to locals and interaction with them broadens the horizon, they bust your myths; it is not that you always end up admiring them, but it is always useful to know their perspective, especially if you can read between the lines.
Road travel allows you to test new destinations, it is a world that is screaming out to be explored; if you like the place you stay on, else move on to a different location. It is your vehicle, it is absolutely fine if you haven’t packed well and your belongings are falling out of your bags, or if you are in your pyjamas with no undergarments underneath. On road trip, you are at home – with your closest people and in your most natural raw physical state.
My best moments during road trips have been those while I googled for unconventional eating joints, searched for them in the nooks and crannies of the town, leaving the car aside, and then walking another kilometre to find a hidden swanky hippy café. Yes, the best spots are all hidden in the remote areas that can be reached only, and only, if you are fuelled with passion and fervour.
The Dalai Lama says that “Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” Make it happen with a road trip. It is a two-pronged journey, one that you cover in terms of physical distance and the other one ‘within’, that transports you into your best version; an endurance that compels you to repeat the experience, not for Instagram, but for finding the missing pieces of your inner anagram!!
Monica (Managing Editor) is the quintessential researcher - she thrives on showcasing overlooked aspects that form the foundation blocks of people, places and issues. She is a social scientist by profession with masters in Economics and loves to travel.