The Return of the Road Trip

The pattern recurs every summer: Britons are packing their cars ahead of their road-trip holiday, only to realise that their roofbox key is missing. With days to spare, they contact us via our key-cutting form, and manage to get a key in the nick of time.

We can cut keys for Thule, Halfords, Auto-plas, Karrite and Mont Blanc roof racks and roofboxes, as well as many more brands. On top of this, we can do the more obscure Cruzber/CRUZ keys.

But what’s different this year?

As mentioned, every summer we make a lot of roofbox keys. However, Summer 2020 is much busier on this front than usual. We’re churning out roof rack keys by the truckload.

The reason is obvious: due to covid-19, fewer people are spending their holidays abroad, favouring instead holidays in the UK. They’re going on road trips to the beach, to the countryside, to Wales, to the Scottish Highlands, to the South West, to everywhere. And this is amazing news!

A recent newspaper article in The Economist extols the virtues of the “underrated” domestic holiday:

“More often than not the hunt for authenticity abroad results in difference-splitting compromise or, worse, surrender to tourist traps. At home the scams are easier to spot. For people-watchers the daily human comedy is enriched when conducted in a language one understands. Sightseeing becomes an investigation of one’s own national story.”

I found the exact same thing on my recent first-time visit to Devon after living in the UK for 30 years (as a German, I don’t spend much time holidaying in the UK). You know nobody can take advantage of you because you speak the language, you know what Brits are like etc.

Furthermore, all the historic tourist sites – the country houses, the iron age forts, the war memorials – are all part of the British cultural fabric, something we can all relate to.

That’s why I’m so in favour of this return to domestic holidays. Britain is a handsome country, full of staggeringly beautiful countryside. I’m happy to be able to cut keys for British tourists’ roofboxes, because I know what’s in store for them, and it’s wonderful!