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EXCLUSIVE: Revenge Travel: All you need to know about the emerging trend amongst Indian masses
Let’s face it. As a species, we are designed to travel. All of us have the travel bug to various degrees, which gets us to leave our home and hearth, venturing out to the great unknowns from time to time. Or at least to the neighbourhood hill station or beach town, as the case might be.
One or two trips a year used to be the average travel time with most of us erring on either side of this mean, depending on the quantum of wanderlust we carry in our hearts! Of course, over the last 18 months or so, all this has gone out the window!
Now, everyone’s talking about this new–fangled trend, ‘revenge travel’. The fact is our urge to travel is something that is as old as humanity itself. The only difference is that with the pandemic forcefully getting entire nations to function to a common schedule of lockdowns and restrictions, we’re all doing it together, at the same time!
I think it is more a case of ‘Rebel Travel’ than revenge travel. A case of us all rebelling against the strictures that have prevented us from indulging our baser instinct – that of wandering, exploring, and indulging our nomadic genes.
Despite the negative connotations of the term ‘revenge travel,’ it actually is a great phenomenon. For one, it provides the beleaguered hospitality industry and tourism sector with a much–needed lifeline. Then, it has the huge emotional benefits that accrue to the travellers themselves. However, this is also fraught with its share of downsides.
We’ve all read or heard about the horror stories of miles of cars dotting the mountainsides, waiting to get into some hill – station or the other. Then there are the tales of overcrowded tourist towns running out of water, insane levels of traffic causing people to spend 8 hours to cover a distance that would otherwise take not over three hours and the elephant in the room – a massive spike in covid positive cases each time a place has opened to tourists.
So, does this mean that travelling in covid times, Revenge travel if you will, is a bad thing? Not at all. In fact, with a little planning, caution and considerate behaviour, this is probably exactly what the doctor ordered.
Book and go: At the best of times it isn’t a great idea to head to your favourite holiday destination without firmed up bookings. Pretty much all our holiday destinations, be it hill stations, Himalayan towns, beach destinations or historic places, have a very fragile ecosystem. Landing up without a booking simply on the back of misplaced optimism and a Hail Mary is a seriously bad call. Most of the snarls with traffic and – crowding at destinations that we’ve witnessed is a result of exactly this behaviour. We’ve landed up without a booking, hoping against hope that something will materialize. Well, it most likely won’t, primarily because everyone has had the same idea and at the same time to boot – Revenge travel. So make it easier on yourself and the eco–system. First, get a confirmed booking at a place of your choice and only then head there.
Covid is here to stay: And so are the protocols that keep it at bay! Just because travel curbs eased up doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. It only means that we’re transiting from one phase to another. Travel by all means. Just ensure that you follow the covid protocols that are by now ingrained in our psyche. Wear a mask at all times, keep a pocket sanitiser handy, maintain social distancing, etc. After all, we’re all participating in this trend of Revenge Travel to make the most of the break we’re getting and not to make things worse.
Check before checking in: While various hotel associations and bodies have mandated sanitization protocols for their member hotels to follow, it always helps to be careful:
Make it a point to check with the property what their sanitization process and protocols are. Book only if you are satisfied that these meet the desired standards
Before you check-in, ensure that your room has been sanitized as advertised
Be diligent. The hotel would do what is needed to ensure a contactless stay as far as possible. However, it is in your own interest to make sure this is actually implemented on the ground.
Call it ‘Revenge’ or ‘Rebel’ travel, the fact remains that it is here to stay. For Most of us, it’s just another way to maintain our sanity in a world that is changing faster than we can cope with. While it has its dangerous downsides, all it takes is some small lifestyle changes while we’re on the road to not just mitigate the risks of ‘Revenge Travel’, but make it a safe and immensely enjoyable endeavour!
About the author: Mr Abhishek Talwar – Author and Travel Enthusiast
