[dicor]

Someone like me who did travel a lot before marriage and luckily got a like-minded partner.

But the things which changed after my marriage were:-

1. Always take a vehicle out which is easily repairable. (Like Maruti, Hyundai, TATA, Mahindra). Before marriage, I never bothered about this. Breakdowns were part of journies.
2. Stay in a comfy hotel rather any lodge, tent, dorms or just anywhere.
3. Eat at reputed (where hygiene is assured) joints like Kamath, CCDs. No trucker joints.
4. Go in the planned way. No last moment decisions now.

Post lockdown and in COVID-19 era, road trip manners are again going to change. Some of the things which probably I would start following:-

Dining

• Will avoid eating at restaurants / Dhaba out there on the highways.
• I will keep snacks, fruits, ready to cook meals, a stove etc along.

Lodging

• Again, I would avoid staying at hotels at all. Even if an emergency, I would prefer the budget brands like Oyo, Treebo or Ginger, Raddison etc.
• If it's Bed and Breakfast, I would prefer to sleep in my XUV as rear seats can become flatbed. just adequate for my family of 3. Find a petrol pump, park and sleep.

Tourism

• Wherever possible I will try to book the tickets online to view monuments / other visitor tickets. IMO, GOI will also work towards it.
• No entry to the guide in my car.
• I will avoid going to the places where I need to take their transport. e.g. Ajanta Caves, Ramoji Rao Filmcity.

Travelling

• No more travelling during the night for a few years. Post lockdown lot of people have become unemployed. There are chances that some of these will find illegal alternative jobs to feed their family.
• Travel in a vehicle which can be easily serviced good RSA.
• Avoid travelling with friends in the same car. 1 car per family.

Accessories

1. A DC power mug for warming liquids.
2. A car refrigerator to increase shelf life of food.
3. A bottle hand sanitizer, tissue papers, disposable mask and gloves will be part of essential items during long trips or daily drives. Mask and gloves for those friends who need lift occasionally.

Maybe I am overthinking but I am interested to hear fellow Bhpians views too.

[GTO]

Three things will change for us:

- The journey: No eating at restaurants along the way. All snacks will be home cooked & packed.

- The accommodation: Only our own holiday home (or that of immediate siblings). That severely restricts the holiday options, but hey, better safe than sorry.

- The destination: All the precautions followed right now. Staying away from people, public places, restaurants etc.

Road-trips are going to be different for a while now.

[Sheel]

Absolutely with you people on this.

If our group goes for a ride, we plan to do just 1 day ride and carry our home cooked food and fruits. Own water. Not stopping anywhere at any public place.

Similarly, with family, either to very close family [in law's / immediate cousins / siblings].

All drives / rides to be one day affair and no public transport at all. [We were anyway taking flights only, but for this year at-least we won't and would wait to see how things pan out].

All rides to be in top-shape without any sort of compromises.

[antz.bin]

As I clicked this thread, my heart sank. My new car was had run just 63xx km at 5 months old when lockdown 0.1 started. I had bought the Diesel just so that I can go on long road trips to practically everywhere, picking up where I left off on the motorcycle a few years back.

I was waiting for my newborn to cross the 6 months mark (this happens 1 month from now) to be able to start going out to nearby places with her and my better half.

Turns out there is no use for it for another few months to a year. Even though I have had a death in the extended family during lockdown 2.0, now that I realize it, this thread has officially made me the saddest I have been in the past 2 months.

I really hope the vaccine is out within a couple of months. I will be the first in a socially distant line to get it as soon as it is available at a reasonable enough price.

On the bright side, most tourist spots will be deserted at least initially. That would be a nice time to enjoy Nature in its full glory with nobody bothering you since the earth would have practically healed by then.

[gkveda]

Few restrictions posed to myself at least for 6 months or till vaccine is found
-Mostly restrict to one day trips. If at all stay is essential, stay in relatives house.
-No eatery on roads or hotels. Trips only with family.
-Destinations will be lonely places.
-Avoid temple runs and busy places.
-Avoid usage of local transport even at the destination (like local Jeep, safari, toy trains etc)
-Avoid standing in queues for tickets, entry points, etc
-Avoid water destination and getting into water such as rivers, lakes.

[Shreyans_Jain]

My 2 cents

Destination: only homes of close relatives. No casual holidays to the hills or wildlife sanctuaries or fancy resorts.

Distance considerations: destination has to reachable in one go. No overnight halts.

Breaks: only for fuel or bio breaks, and only when absolute necessary. These will have to be planned stops at places which we are certain are sanitized regularly for sure. Start on full tank and empty bladder from home. Cashless and contactless payment everywhere(Paytm etc). I am no longer comfortable with swiping cards.

Car check: business as usual for BHPians, new for casual folk. Vehicle must be in good shape. Oil, coolant and washer fluid levels checked beforehand. Tire condition and pressures checked, including spare. No nasty surprises during the journey.

Eatables: carry all food and drinks you need from home. Eat inside the car. This will be tough for those with a ‘no eating in car’ cleanliness policy. No more halts at Murthal for parathas.

Fastag: recharged before start of trip to ensure no surprises at toll booths. 100% cashless and contactless affair.

Extras: will need to carry hand sanitizer and wet wipes for all. Storage of sanitizer is a bogey - it is flammable and can’t be casually dumped into the glove box or center console box in summer heat. Has to be kept on person.

[OrangeCar]

My Road Trips -

- Only when Inter district and Inter state travel is possible without any restrictions. Do not want authorities to stop for identity proof / pass / etc. In fact I fear increase in red tape-ism and thus possible increase in bribes too.

- Hotels: Do not mind staying at hotels going forward as well. Like before will pick decently good ones. Going forward, might be extra careful in the type of hotels I pick. But will not avoid staying at a hotel while traveling.

- Restaurants: Try and research good restaurants en-route. Will not shy away from good restaurants. Will certainly avoid roadside treats - roasted corn / tender coconut, etc. I used to usually research nice eateries of various destinations to try local / interesting cuisine. That quest will continue.

Of course, some inhibitions are there. Like not ordering from restaurants, even the ones we used to before and are confident about their hygiene standards. Once these inhibitions shed over a period of time, say next 2 -3 months; will feel better about eating at outstation restaurants and staying at outstation hotels.

Other than that, biggest fear right now is the inability of free movement of people or vehicles across districts and states.

[speedmiester]

I am avoiding all road trips for the next three months. Have cancelled two reservations that I had booked long time ago.
Only road trips I will be taking is between Bangalore and Mysore for the time being. Post that, it will depend on the situation.
With elderly parents and a kid at home, do not want to take any chances as of now.

Even after the next three months, few things to keep in mind are
1. Car in top condition
2. Tools, tyre inflator and other important items which help in not getting stranded in the middle
3. An inverter to heat water, carry ready to eat food items. Enough water, sanitizer, masks, gloves etc
4. Restrict travel to distances of 3-400KMs which could be completed in a single day
5. Avoid crowded places
6. Travel at off peak times

[Thermodynamics]

The last time I hit the road was a day before lockdown 1.0. It has been barely months and it feels like ages. Don't know how long rationale would overpower heart. With monsoon around the corner, it starts to feel like a forbidden fruit.

I would avoid multi day trips, rather prefer extended day trips something like start at night, spend the day, drive back after evening.

[AMG Power]

The most important factor I can think of:

Watch your back!

There are lots of wild animals (leopards etc) roaming around even in cities. If you stop your car at any place during the journey, make sure you're not caught by surprise - even if you've stopped to have your own food.

One way would be to ensure wide open spaces all around so you are not taken by surprise. And if you are in the habit of stopping on the road to take a leak, well that would be a wrong time to be caught unawares.

This is a video of a leopard pouncing on a lorry driver inside a lorry parking lot (yes, inside a parking area!) in Hyderabad.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1tFnmvo3aH0

This can happen anywhere. So please take precautions. The Coronavirus has brought us a host of issues we need to be careful about.

Take care and Stay safe.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by dicor

Dining

• Will avoid eating at restaurants / Dhaba out there on the highways.
• I will keep snacks, fruits, ready to cook meals, a stove etc along.

I never imagined that there would be a situation like this and read this thread with great sadness.

Eating out on the highway restaurants, taking tea breaks etc..were the highlight of any trip for me more than the destination itself. Now if all those are restricted I cannot think of any long drives. I believe things will be normal very soon. We just have to get those numbers to zero..

[Aditya_Bhp]

In the immediate future, until this crisis ends, I would stay at home and avoid all possible trips, especially visits to relatives and friends, as I do not wish to endanger their lives. Also, will be limiting all sorts of meetings and shopping, especially busy supermarkets.

Travelling for any sort of leisure is a strict NO! Lockdown may end but the virus hasn't gone anywhere.

[ABHI_1512]

Little against the tide I guess but here is what I think :

Since the last month or so, I have had the situation where I had to visit hospitals and places which are supposed to be on the high risk category regarding the virus. The weekly sojourn to the markets and shops were there as usual. At all the places, I took the basic precautions needed to avoid the virus while maintaining the required distances from people nearby. The usual touch points were avoided sometimes by using the elbow and sometimes by some other way. Visits to the ATM also involved touching the keypad to key in my PIN and I would think that I have avoided the virus for now. The more I think of the virus as the new normal, the more I am in sync with the changed scenario.

I would definitely venture out for the road trips but with some cautions added to my usual way. The hotels I chose earlier will obviously not want to lose customers for the fear of the virus. Well known hotels will obviously come up with their set of precautions as well. So just as earlier, I will select hotels that will maintain their properties according to the changed scenario.
Regarding the food part, clean restrooms and clean roadside dhabas anyways I prefer, so may be that will remain but of course with precautions. I anyways carry ample amount of dry food in the car because of driving for long hours. Choosing off beat properties will remain but with the knowledge of local conditions. I have been using sanitisers from very long anyways, so may be the use of them will increase much more than previous occasions and that’s about it.
Basic precautions aside, i would still like to take my road trips the usual way. Let’s see how the scenario comes up in the coming days, hoping for the better days.

[locusjag]

I could pack coffee, food and water for a contactless family roadtrip - but the women in our families typically rely on restaurant/stop-area restrooms for bio breaks.

I just don't see any truly contactless roadtrips happening. And so, no roadtrips for my family for the foreseeable future.

[balenoed_]

I do not think we have to totally rule out the possibility of road trips in the near future. That would also hamper the tourism and associated economy further. I think once the situation is contained (hopefully soon), the highways and accommodations would open up. Isn't it? I am just trying to make myself happy may be.