Off on a caravan....

Getting on a train, bus or plane to travel any where has become an act of either bravery or foolhardiness. But it’s the tourism sector which is hit the most. They now know that its going to take much longer than expected to get people to travel and now they are trying everything they can to make it safer and address their fears.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has tied up with Motohom, a camper van company to give people back the joy of a road trip while not exposing oneself to public transport.

Here, you can rent a campervan and head out on your own, exploring the state at your own pace. And where ever you think the view is great, stop and make that a night with a view.

Currently two type of vehicles are on offer – a minivan for a lone person or a couple and a bigger one for families. The minivan has a repurposed trunk and rear passenger seat area that can be converted into a flatbed. Underneath it lies all the amenities you would need to cook a meal on the go. The vehicle also comes with a detachable living space that goes on the roof for extra room.

The larger campervan has a small bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, bathroom and a “terrace” space on the roof of the vehicle. Both vehicles also come with a waste disposal system.

How to get going? Well, the minivan costs Rs.4000/day and the bigger one, comes with a driver and an attendant for Rs.21,000/day. You can explore only Maharashtra as of now on these Motohom vans.

And in case you want to also make some money out of this opportunity, you can lease out your van to the company for a seed amount of Rs.2 lakh. The company will retrofit it and turn it into a campervan. You can earn a monthly rent compounded with interest. You can also agree upon a fixed time and during that time, use the campervan for your own trips – two trips per year. Once the lease period is over, you get your vehicle back and your seed capital, to be paid monthly with interest.

As we said, the pandemic is now opening up opportunities and experiences which we had never ever even imagined.