Travelling etiquettes

10 – It is Sunnah to say the following du’aa’ when leaving the house: Bismillaah, tawakkaltu ‘ala Allaah, wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa Billaah. Allaahumma inni a’oodhu bika min an adilla aw udalla aw azilla aw uzalla aw azlima aw uzlama aw ajhala aw yujhal ‘alayya (In the name of Allaah, I put my trust in Allaah and there is no power and no strength except with Allaah. O Allaah, I seek refuge with You lest I should stray or be led astray, or slip or be tripped, or do wrong or be wronged, or behave foolishly or be treated foolishly).”

12 – It is mustahabb to travel with a group of people, because of the hadeeth of 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "If the people knew what I know about being alone, no one would ever travel alone at night." Narrated by al-Bukhaari.

13 – It is mustahabb for the group to appoint the best and wisest of their number as their leader, and to obey him, because of the hadeeth of Abu Sa'eed and Abu Hurayrah who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When three people set out on a journey, let them appoint one of their number as their leader." A hasan hadeeth narrated by Abu Dawood with a hasan isnaad.

14 – It is mustahabb to set out at the end of the night , because of the hadeeth of Anas who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "You should travel at the end of the night (or throughout the night) because it is easier to cover a greater distance at night." This was narrated by Abu Dawood with a hasan hadeeth. It was also narrated by al-Haakim who said: it is saheeh according to the conditions of al-Bukhaari and Muslim.

16 – It is mustahabb for the traveller to say takbeer when going up a rise in the land and to say tasbeeh when going down into valleys and the like.

18 – It is mustahabb for him to make du’aa’ most of the time when travelling, because his du’aa’ will be answered.

From: Al-Majmoo’ (4/264-287) by Imam An-Nawawi. He mentions sixty-two points on the etiquette of travelling.