Opinion Worldly insights: For a while, travel will involve uncertainty and disruption
Post pandemic holiday etiquette will involve a series of small and large shocks for travellers.
It is one of those ironies of life that we attach greater value to exotic places halfway across the world, ignoring the rich history in front of us. Adventure is a state of mind. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock) 
It is one of those ironies of life that we attach greater value to exotic places halfway across the world, ignoring the rich history in front of us. Adventure is a state of mind. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock)
Confusing information regarding travel regulations continue to create chaos on Indian highways. Post Covid, even a road trip five hours from Delhi is fraught with complications. Though hotels in destinations like Mussoorie and Nainital have had soft re-openings. To encourage at least a little occupancy, some properties are selling “work-ations”: safe spaces to continue life in isolation. However, till there’s clarity on what exactly happens when you reach a state border, people are unlikely to venture out.
Till three weeks ago, entering Uttarakhand meant a fortnight in an institutional quarantine; even for residents. Similarly, it’s utter mayhem on the Punjab and Himachal highways with five-km-long jams at checkpoints. The state had issued e-passes which travellers were expected to carry but the officials manning the route were unclear if passengers needed to show Covid negative certificates as well. Indeed, for reasons other than this wretched virus, one has to be incredibly brave to attempt a vacation right now. Post pandemic holiday etiquette will involve a series of small and large shocks for travellers.
An example of what our depressing new reality could look like emerged when an amusement park, Fuji-Q Highland in Tokyo opened after many months. A video posted online showed their two top executives taking a ride and plunging 230 feet down on the park’s most popular attraction, the Fujiyama roller coaster—without so much as a squeak. The video of the masked and silent riders ended with a message: “Please scream inside your heart.” Is it even possible not to yelp in horror on those terrifying rides? But one better learn to stifle these natural reactions because, expelling (potential) virus-carrying aerosols in the air is simply unacceptable. I highly doubt those genuine screams of fright can be controlled when your stomach is churning on a roller coaster and if this becomes a rule, it’s heck of a dampener. Half the fun of these faux danger rides is in making a noise.
So, bye bye international travel or perhaps any travel at all, bye movie halls, bye restaurants, basically, adios to life as we knew it. So, what are our options for entertainment till 2021? Rediscovering our own neighbourhoods and cities. There’s some interesting data that the sales of bicycles in India have shot up during this period. Presumably because the Delhi Metro that transports 30 lakh passengers daily is shut, and buses are not permitted to run at full capacity. Cycles also happen to be the safest option for transport. Besides, people need to get innovative about exercise, since gyms are shut as well. I have always owned a bike for leisurely winter rides. For the first time I have used it for chores during the lockdown. And have made the very pleasant discovery that despite the heat, a cycle ride can be very enjoyable. Perhaps that’s a function of novelty but it’s true, I’ve experienced my neighbourhood differently on a bike, rather than walking or driving by.
To paraphrase Marcel Proust, the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. It’s a mantra we’ll be forced to adopt to quell our wanderlust and if we are to have any fun in the months to come. For me, heading off my own beaten path means exploring my daily route. I’ve driven past Lodi Gardens probably over 500 times in the last decade; but it’s only last week that I finally decided to enter for a walk. It was more beautiful than I remember; an island of lush green serenity where thoughts of Covid automatically float away. It is one of those ironies of life that we attach greater value to exotic places halfway across the world, ignoring the rich history in front of us. Adventure is a state of mind. There’s no better time to attempt to experience the familiar — in a whole new way.
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