LIFE IS A BEACH

Our first long road trip after the lockdown may not have been somewhere out of the ordinary, but it was great to get the juices flowing again. We went Trippin’ with Lemon Tree!

- AATISH MISHRA

WHAT HAVE THE LAST FEW months of being locked up at home been like for you?

I put this question forward to our motley crew of road-trippers once we reached our destination in Goa. The answers ranged from tearing-their-hair-out frustrated to ecstatic to be spending time with their families. Some people’s jobs got significantly harder, while one was even stuck outside the country because flights were halted. But one thing was agreed upon — it was great to get out on the open road and have a change from whatever they were up to in last few months. This trip, the journey, the destination — it was a breath of fresh air, both literally and metaphorically.

We had no clue what we were getting into. Were the roads open? Were there long lines at toll booths? Would there be police check-posts at district borders? Would we head out, only to be turned back home again? The Centre had announced that state borders were to be opened, and Goa had opened its doors to tourism. But administration at the grassroots is arbitrary, and there was no saying what we would encounter. This was a leap of faith. The only thing certain was that we had a safe place to stay when we reached — the Lemon Tree Amarante Beach Resort in Goa.