What is Slow Travel?

Slow travel, or mindful travel, is like slow fashion (as opposed to fast fashion), slow food (vs. fast food), or #theartofslowliving .

Like many things, means that I feel like I ought to start with what it’s NOT:

“Fast” travel might be a round-the-world trip ticking off as many countries as possible. Or an all-inclusive resort experience on a distant island. Or a whirlwind weekend in a museum-rich city. There’s nothing inherently WRONG with any of these things, but they are not what I enjoy or encourage other to experience.

In my lifetime’s worth of travel around the world with family, friends, and solo, I have found that the most meaningful journeys had a few things in common:

1. PLAN AHEAD For me and my little brain, taking the guesswork out of a trip helps me to be much more present once I get there. When I am well prepared for what I’m walking into, I don’t have to be constantly assessing and reassessing my surroundings, worrying about whether I packed the right layers, or being anxious about my timeline. Pre-planning is part of my slow travel because it helps me build anticipation for the things that I’m about to go do - and then when I get there, I can relax and enjoy them. (If you want to give it a shot, I made you a free packing planner!)

2. RESET Having a string of adventures all jostling together like a pack of dogs on leashes is very exciting, but also a little distracting. It just reads in the memory as “TRAVEL” and may be more difficult to isolate particular moments. Although I like to leave the state at least once a month, I prefer to have a few weeks at home between trips. Pragmatically because I need to do laundry and hang out with the cat, but also because it’s important to take a while to process and internalize.

3. FOLLOW YOUR WALLET Travel is expensive, and that’s ok sometimes. It keeps us from tromping all over the globe in high-carbon-footprint airplanes, for one thing. Good trips, in my opinion are often the ones you save up for (and get to spend more time planning) and the ones where you work hard to find the best, most special options for lodging, food, and activities that meet your budget. I’m not super interested in lounging around on a hired catamaran ($$$) but I will gladly rent bicycles and find all the secret beaches. As luxurious as boutique hotels may be, I will usually opt for a farmstay instead. And as far as food goes, I’ve got two words: taco stand.

3b. THINK ABOUT YOUR IMPACT Regarding the high carbon footprint of travel: it is inherent. If you are in a car (unless it is electric, and even then the creation of the vehicle took enormous amounts of resources) you are creating a carbon footprint. If you are traveling by boat, train, or electric scooter, you are still creating a carbon footprint. Air travel is an enormous contributor to atmospheric CO2. So when you see these travel influencers jetting around every weekend, ticking off glamorous, remote destinations - know that it comes with a cost. I have started using a carbon offset programs as an effort to counteract my travel. (I’ll write more about this later!) If you can, travel using ground transportation. And if you cannot, consider either using an offset program or, and this choice sucks but sometimes it’s the right one, just don’t go. Again, more on this soon.

4. CULTURAL Often, the financial facet supports the social and cultural aspect - if you’re in a gated hotel, you’re probably not going to meet any locals. But if you’re staying on their farm, you might meet them, their extended family, and be invited to a church party. You might also be left totally alone and that’s ok too. But one of the great joys of slow travel is interpersonal connection. Going out of your way to meet the locals and participate in parts of the culture as invited is the kind of thing you’ll think about for years to come.

5. LOW TECH If at all possible, leave most of your screens at home. Take a book and a notebook and a disposable camera. Trick, cajole, and bribe your mind into presentness. Slow travel isn’t about doin’ it for the ‘gram (though you KNOW I’m gonna stand on the top of something and take a picture) for the instant gratification - it’s about sucking the marrow out of life and savoring everything.

Having some ground rules helps me stay on target - but there’s always room to change and grow!