For romance of road trip, be prepared to rough out, says traveller

Travel diaries

 The wind in your hair and the scenic beauty with each passing kilometre - the idea of a road trip might sound an ideal getaway from the hassles of daily life. However, planning for one boils down to taking care and giving thought to the most minute details.

Ask Anil Srivatsa, a traveller who is better known for road tripping in 17 countries within a span of three months with his family. He gave a talk in the city on Saturday to a select group of travel enthusiasts. It was organised by GoRoadTrip, a start-up that plans road trips in South India and in California, USA.

Citing the example of a simple requirement like water, Srivatsa explained: “There might be one guy in the group who drinks five litres of water and another drinks two. Pretty soon, the latter is going to think how much water is the other guy drinking, especially in times of shortage. Small issues like these could boil down to a major problem. So, an arrangement has to be made beforehand,” he quipped.

Berty Ashley, an avid traveller from the audience, spoke about the ordeal he faced when he went on a 48-hour road trip from the Philippines to Malaysia with his friend. “I wanted to listen to metal music while my friend was into Ilayaraja. He considered my music noise and I did not like his tastes. Everything went well but this was a major headache,” he said.

Srivatsa said a simple solution could be to put music on shuffle as he did in his case. “What I did was put the music of everyone in one drive and play it on shuffle,” he said.

However, apart from concerns such as these, the experience of a road trip would make one realise things which are quite divine, Srivatsa said. “Humans by nature are friendly. It is only governments and religion that divide us.” Recounting a particular incident in a town in Kazakhstan, Srivatsa and his family were invited to live in the house of a total stranger.

“There are angels everywhere who come to your rescue when you need them most,” he said. Beginning his trip from Bengaluru in April, Srivatsa and his family travelled up to Scotland.

He now plans to go on a trip to the Australian Outback, where there is no civilisation for miles.