How can I plan a safe all-India cycle tour?

Heading out on an all-India trip is a sure-shot blunder if you haven’t gotten your health insurance done. The best investment you can make for a safe cycle tour across India is to have your accidents covered in as many places as possible. Several health insurance companies offer premiums that cover hospital expenses up to 10 lakh rupees throughout India at a fare of only 8000 rupees per annum. Just make sure that the rider premium for accidents which hardly costs anything is plugged in with the policy, and you are good to go.

 

Some of the policies also cover one health consultation visit and medications up to rupees 3000 a year. Considering that close to half the amount of the premium paid is going to be reimbursed with just one visit, not investing in health insurance before the tour is an absolute no-brainer.

 

Misplacing or having your phone/iPad/laptop or debit/credit cards stolen, is an event one needs to be prepared for irrespective of how careful you are going to be on the tour. The best way to deal with this situation is to have a spare phone with a spare sim card inserted in it and kept off almost all the time. The spare phone need not be any fancy device. It could be some old device lying at your uncle’s house, which hasn’t been used for ages. Have Google’s Find My Device installed in it along with some of your emergency phone contacts and bank branch numbers. Keep the phone buried deep in one of the bags in which you pack your clothes.

 

Having this phone in case of misplacement/theft of your other devices will allow you to track them, or worst have it blocked and erased. Living in peace considering your data is not going to be stolen is a huge consolation that will make you sigh with relief even under such a bleak scenario! The investment you need to make here is a data plan for the network on the spare phone which will cost you at the most rupees 2000 a year. This investment acts as an insurance against bank cards and electronic devices.

 

Find my device allows you to play a siren on your lost device that is going to alarm anyone who finds it. Even better, you can choose to display a message on the device lock screen that gives out your alternative number to be contacted if in case found.  Make sure that you do not turn off your location service so that you can have it tracked anytime the phone switches on.

One of the major reasons for people to deny helping you on the tour is the language barrier. There is one absolutely easy way to overcome this issue. Find a friendly localite who speaks the native language and also understands English. Have him write a letter for you in the local language that reads out what your intentions are and how you are going about with the same. For example, If your interests are to request food in a remote location or pitch a tent for the night, showing the letter that has it written helps.

4. Build a core team following you constantly

Have a few friends who are interested in following your travel and build a WhatsApp group with them. Update your location every evening. As trivial as it sounds, doing this helps in two ways:

A. It offers you the security that your friends and family are aware of where you are. This has to put you at psychological ease.

B. It also allows them to look for locations around the place of residence on the maps and provide valuable inputs on surrounding places to visit.

 

Set up the Emergency SOS settings on your phone. Having the right contacts updated in the settings will allow your to send a push notification with information containing the location, battery status, and previous call details.

 

Using the SOS settings, it is also possible to add medical information to the Lock Screen. Update your blood type, allergies, and the medications you are on so that emergency workers can quickly access them in case of need.

You are likely going to fall sick on the tour multiple times. Upset tummy and common cold are only a few among the many. The only way to be prepared for such a situation is to carry our medicines. For my trip, I have already listed down the medications I will be carrying. If you find there are some more specific medicines to be carried, feel free to add them to your list and also comment below.

 

Pro tip: