Why I hate road trips

Road trips don't make me happy! (Photo Courtesy)

Road trips have a connotation of being romantic, bohemian and what not. Pack your bags, dump it in the boot (or strap it to your bike), enjoy the scenery and drive into the horizon! Ah! Lovely picture! But now coming to reality. Ask me and I’ll say road trips are over rated and I hate them. And before I hear a chorus of dissenting voices, hear me out! I am entitled to my opinion, right? :) So here’s what I think. 

Let’s start with advantages of traveling by road:

1. No schedules to adhere to. The biggest advantage of traveling on your own by road is you can start or stop when you like. There are only self-made schedules - no reporting 60 minutes prior to departure time. 

2. There is no weight limit for the luggage. You can carry as much as your car boot has space in it. And can be unplanned too. I have dumped stuff in shopping bags and thrown inside the car. It’s my car, who cares! 

3. You don’t need a local taxi. Your site seeing transport is taken care of in your own vehicle. You don’t have a driver waiting for you with his meter on. If you wish to take it easy, saunter out of your room at 6pm for all your care. My vacation, who cares! 

Okay! I can’t think of any more reasons why road travel is good. So, I am moving on to the actual idea of why I am writing this post. 

Why I hate road travel?

1. I can’t drive: Driving for hours is for people who love driving or companions of drivers who love, well, just sitting there. I am of neither category. So my only choice to sit for hours strapped to my seat. This is exactly what I am not good at - sitting in one place and not being able to move around. I could look out of the window and enjoy nature! Since some places are accessible only by road, I have seen the hills, the meadows, the sunset and sunshine and the rest of it in between. So there isn’t much entertainment in doing that too. I could read in the car (yess!) at one time and that kept me going. But I get motion sickness just sitting in the moving car now, so that’s not possible. I can listen to music but for how long? Most importantly, I am a destination person than a journey person. So it isn’t fun for me to be going through a journey for hours.  So, yeah! It’s boring to travel by road.

2. No schedules to adhere to: In our case, this is also a disadvantage. We are bad at making self made schedules and usually end up driving after dark which pisses me off. And since I am not in control of the steering wheel (You just read why), it irks me. It’s always harder to sit next to the driver and watch him negotiate dangerous turns on the dark or drive through heavy rain than actually doing it. It just adds to me stress levels. And let's agree, it's plain dangerous!

3. Loo problem: This is probably my biggest issue with road travel. Women don’t have the anatomical advantage that men do and hence one has to just wait till the next decent place where you hope you will find a decent loo! I stop having liquids hours before travel. I still have to go on the way. And I am dehydrated by the time I get to the destination.

4. Why drive, if you can fly: Most people don’t agree with this concept, but I don’t see why would you want to drive for 10 hrs to say, Goa when you can fly in an hour! And party the rest of the time in Goa! You may party on the way but only when you have a group (which I don’t). Maybe one time to enjoy the view but then why do that every time? And to every other place that can be reached through other modes of transport that have a loo built into them?

I think my views are valid because I have traveled quite a bit and haven’t based my views on trips few and far between. Drop me a line and tell me what you think about road travel. You can also tweet to me on @Suman_Kher. I’d love to hear from you!