We are continuing in siman 3. The Chayei Adam writes that even when there are multiple legs to a person’s journey, they only recite tefillas haderech once per day. This limitation applies even when different modes of transportation will be employed throughout the day (e.g., car to plane).
However, if one stops at a certain destination, and then changes their mind and continues to a different destination, tefillas haderech does not cover the second leg of the trip, and they need to make a new bracha. This halacha is due to the concept of nimlach, a concept we learned about regarding food. When one makes a decision to stop eating, if they change their mind and wish to continue eating, they must make a new bracha rishona, because the duration of their previous bracha ended with their decision to stop eating (see more details in shiur 1159 and 1170). Similarly, regarding tefillas haderech, since the person had not planned to travel further, their original bracha only extended through their original itinerary.
The halacha will be different if one knows they have a long trip, and plans to travel a certain distance and stop for the night, but then changes their mind and decides to keep going,before they actually stopped. This case is different than the previous case, because in the previous case the person actually stopped, while in this case, the person has not yet stopped. If we were to compare this case to the halachos of a meal, they would not make a new bracha, because while a person is still eating, if they decide to eat more they do not make a new bracha. Therefore, in this case as well, a person would not recite tefillas haderech again.
Summary
- A person recites tefillas haderech once per day, even if they will employ different modes of transportation throughout their trip.
- If one stopped at a destination with the intent to stop travelling for the day, and then changed their mind and continued further, they would require a new tefillas haderech.
- If, while still en route, one decides to travel further than their original plan, they would not require a new tefillas haderech.
