CHENNAI: Imagine a memorable drive with your family, friends and pets for a weekend. The Roadtrippers Club, a fast-growing road tripping community for enthusiasts, beginners and those who love hitting the road, launched its chapter in Chennai.
The club was started for the first time in Mumbai in February, this year. It has chapters in eight cities — Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Guwahati, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Hyderabad. In an effort to support avid travellers, the club gets together and plans road trips where families, friends and solo travellers meet like-minded companions. And what’s more...it is pet friendly. “Our mission is quite simple — get those who like to go on road trips together. It was started by five of us who are globetrotters. Now, every city has its group of people who plan their outing.
We have over 2,000 members till date. There are several bikers club, trekking clubs and individual manufacturing car clubs that plan their own drives. The concept of carpooling is encouraged. We have a captain who heads the trip and a tail man who ensures nobody is left behind. Every journey has a theme or purpose. We also teach safe-driving practices on highways and take people to lesserknown locations,” says Deepak Ananth, one of the founding members of the club.
During the journey, there will be technical sessions on the different types of car and its basic functioning. One of the longest trips the group undertook was from Mumbai to Rann of Kutch. A minimum of five cars to a maximum of 37 cars have gone on one trip. The club is a non-profit organisation and the expenses incurred during the travel are equally shared among the travellers. “People from different age groups participate. We have kids, and senior citizens in their 70s who join us.
The locations are usually chosen by the travelling community of the city during meetings. The crowd from Hyderabad like architectural sites, people from Mumbai are more cosmopolitan and for Chennai we predict a liking towards temples, cultural places and hill stations. Some of our interesting trips include a visit to olive ridley turtle hatching sites and strawberry farms in Mahabaleshwar. Travelling together is cheaper and gives quality time. Solo travellers feel accepted. Ours is an inclusive community,” he adds. The next destination for Roadtrippers Club to start a group is Kolkata.
They’re expected to expand their horizons across 15-16 cities within a year. Sai Narayan Bharadwaj, a travel buff, will be taking care of the road trips in the city. He will ensure the planning for on-and-off-road trips. The first road trip for our city will be organised on November 17 and November 18. The Pitchavaram mangrove forests are one among the few in the itinerary planned for the city’s travellers. Around 30 people are expected to have registered. People on a trip or planning for one can check their website for monitoring road conditions, recommendations and travel stories with plenty of photographs.
(For details visit: https://www. roadtrippersclub.com/)