Aimless wandering in Spello, Umbria, Italy

The Never Ending Voyage Slow Travel Manifesto

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Slow travel is about experiences over sights. It’s the participation in ordinary daily activities to learn how people live: their food, culture, language, the quirky details that make a place unique, and the similarities that weave a common thread through humanity.

Jetty near Kheng Hock Keong, Yangon, Burma

Slow travel is an in depth style of travel. It’s about getting to know one place well, focusing on quality rather than quantity, and connecting with a place and its people.

It’s about discovery. A new destination can be chaotic and confusing, but slow travel encourages you to see through the cultural haze and try to make sense of your surroundings; to develop an understanding of how things work, why they are the way they are.

It’s about taking the time to observe, to be in the moment and take pleasure from simple things.

It’s about pursuing personal growth and immersing yourself in new experiences; using travel to challenge yourself in the knowledge that the most uncomfortable encounters are often the most rewarding.

It’s about searching out the best of humanity—finding people who really care about what they do, are proud of their homes, their culture and their heritage.

It’s not that you can’t visit tourist attractions but go because you want to, not because you think you should. There are no such things as “must-sees”.

Who Is Slow Travel For?

Us taking part in the Yee Peng lantern festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Slow travel is for people who want to step out of the backpacker ghettos, chain hotels, and the well-worn trail of sights in order to discover their own paths. It doesn’t mean you have to visit a remote village in Burma; it can be done just as easily by strolling through a vegetable market in Rome or wandering down a random side street in Paris.

For digital nomads slow travel is essential. To really create and move your business forward, you need to slow down and have some semblance of a routine.

For long term travellers slow travel will preserve your energy. It’s too easy to get caught in the trap of trying to see everything there is to see; going through the motions but not really absorbing anything. Slow travel will keep things fresh and prevent the burnout that is inevitable when you are on the road for months.

But slow travel is for everyone, even if you only have a week’s holiday. We share some ideas below on how you can apply the slow travel philosophy to short trips.

Why Slow Travel?

Simon chatting to a local in Bagan, Burma

  • Meaningful Memories —you’ll likely remember these experiences longer than those where you visited the same tourist attractions as everyone else.
  • Personal Growth —by getting out of your comfort zone you’ll become a more confident person. You may well learn new skills like languages too.
  • Increased Awareness —by meeting people around the world and learning about new cultures you’ll be better able to challenge stereotypes.
  • Social Consciousness —it’s a more sustainable way to travel as you use transport less and support local businesses.
  • Save Money —it’s often possible to pay the same per night renting a comfortable apartment for a month as for a hostel room. Slow travel experiences are often free or cheap as well.

How to Slow Travel?

Simon toasting a successful Japanese cooking class

We’ve been travelling permanently for two years and eight months now and our pace has slowed dramatically but slow travel is not a measure of time, it’s a measure of impact.

Here are some things you can try on even the shortest trip.

  • Stay in one place rather than trying to see as much of the country as possible. A week renting an apartment in the Italian countryside could well be a more enjoyable experience than a whirlwind tour of Venice, Florence and Rome.
  • Visit local markets.
  • Eat street food.
  • Take a cooking class and try out the recipes afterwards.
  • Learn the language . Even a few phrases can go a long way.
  • Wander aimlessly. Turn down any side street that takes your fancy.
  • Spend a morning people-watching in a local cafe.
  • Have a picnic in a park.
  • Seek out a local restaurant with no English menu, maybe even no menu at all. Order something you don’t recognise.
  • Couchsurf or, if you don’t want to stay with strangers, attend a couchsurfing meetup.
  • House sit .
  • Take a course—painting, scuba diving , salsa dancing, whatever you are interested in.
  • See a local band.
  • Attend a gallery opening.
  • Visit a festival no one’s heard of.
  • Go to a football game (or the popular local sport).
  • Cycle around different neighbourhoods or through villages in the countryside .
  • Ask a local for their favourite restaurant.

Some of our favourite slow travel experiences this year have included:

  • Renting an apartment for a month just outside Montecarlo in Tuscany, a tiny village that even most Italians haven’t heard of, and stumbling upon random local festivals every Sunday.
  • The daily trip to the bakery through the hilly cobbled streets of Alfama during our month in Lisbon.

Our street in Alfama, Lisbon

  • Drinking passionfruit and mango smoothies from our favourite stand in Chiang Mai where we lived for five months (our longest stay yet).
  • Developing a routine of work in the morning, pool in the afternoon and sunset walks along the beach in Koh Lanta .
  • Regular visits to our favourite wine bar in the village of Spello in Umbria, discovering new cheeses and wines each time.

Read more of our favourite slow travel experiences.

Next time you are planning your travels—whether it’s a week in Spain or six months in Asia—consider the slow travel philosophy and think how you could include slow travel experiences to make your trip more rewarding.

75 Comments

You two are an inspiration, I just found your site and I love it!

Reply ↓

Aw, thank you Monique!

Hi Simon and Erin,

I agree with most of the statements you make in your well written manifesto, but at the same time ‘there is a time for everything in life’, I guess. Of course it is not in all circumstances the case that ‘to travel slow is better than to travel fast’. It all depends on the person, whether you travel alone or together or maybe with kids, the amount of time you have, if you work during your travels or not and the amount of lust for wandering and adventure you have. As for me, after 18 years of sitting behind an office desk there was nothing better than to travel insanely fast! For 11 months I never stayed longer in one place than three days, and I loved the feeling of freedom it gave me. And it definately did not feel like a superficial experience in any way. That was a few years ago. Right now I am travelling again and after 9 months of intense travel I finally feel the need to slow down. Until I feel the need for exploring growing again inside me that is… ;)

I agree that ‘must sees’ and ‘must do’s’ can spoil your trip. Travel is all about freedom and the ‘I have to…’ is killing that freedom. In my life I travelled for more than a year in India, without ever visiting the Taj Mahal. It is definately a ‘must see’ in the general opinion but it just does not interest me that much.

I am visiting your website since 2012 quite regularly and adore the way you people keep on leading the lifestyle you love. It is quite an achievement I think. Next year is your decade long nomadiversary is it not? You could celebrate it with some serious accelerated travel! :) Or not, of course. The best, Robert (Netherlands)

Yes I agree, there’s a time for everything. Our first backpacking trip when we were 19 involved 10 countries in 30 days (!) and we loved it!

And yes, it is our 10 year nomadiversary next March! We know we’ll be in New Zealand but not sure how we can suitably celebrate.

Just discovered your blog. Absolutely love slow travel. Like you my husband and I sold our home and everything we owned in 2014 and have travelled much of Europe, the Caribbean and Europe. The more we travel the more we want to see. Unlike you we are in our early 70s, retired teachers from the US. But we find that age is pretty meaningless in our travels. We love Airbnb because it allows us to live with locals. Look forward to reading more about your adventures. If you’re interested and have a chance check out my blog: Hendricksonadventure.com

Thanks Jane! It sound like you are on an amazing adventure! Happy travels!

Thanks for this story, great info. I’m inspired to do house-sitting in Europe next year.

You’re giving me some great ideas! I’m taking early retirement next summer, and the plan is to put everything in storage and just go for as long as money and health permit. I love the idea of spending a few months in one place to explore regionally instead of taking on the major cities to rush through another museum/cathedral/tourist site. I still have memories of my first trip to Paris and Florence, where after two weeks it was – oh yeah, another fountain – another statue – another painting. We were so burned out we couldn’t appreciate how fabulous everything was. This time, I want to take it all in a little at a time.

Joyce, you’ve articulated what most on-the-go travelers finally end up realizing: slow travel is, in fact, the most enjoyable and authentic of all travel experiences. And what better way to spend your years in retirement…? Hopefully, you’ll make your way to my country, India, too, where slow travel, fortunately, remains the norm, rather than the exception. Never Ending Voyage is serving a great purpose in bringing like-minded people from across the world together on a common platform to promote slow travel in different parts of the world.

Great article! Based on my own experiences, I totally agree!! 11 months ago I sold everything & left the U.S. to make a yearlong trip around the world & found myself wanting to stay longer & longer in each place. I just finished my 3rd house/dog sit – what a great way to slow down & really get to know a place. Where did you stay in Chang Mai? Did you rent an apartment? I spent a couple of months there but am headed back in a few weeks, hopefully for 3-6 months

We did rent an apartment in Chiang Mai (twice actually). We wrote about how we found our first one here: http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/the-search-for-an-apartment-in-chiang-mai/ and the 2nd one here: http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/find-apartments-around-world-part-3/

There will be lots more options since then though.

You might also find our Chiang Mai guide useful: http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/living-chiang-mai-guide/

Great. This is exactly how we travel. We stay 6 month at at a time in each places and move on. This way we got to live like locals and learn about a lot you might have missed if you stayed a week. Keep up the great work.

Greg, the description of your own slow travel is surely an inspiration to other travelers to opt for slow travel. Nothing is more envigorating mentally, spiritually and physically, than slow travel. Slow travel is a panacea for all present-day urban ills. Slow travel makes you so grateful, every day of your slow travel, for the precious gift of Life that you’ve been given. I’m grateful for this forum offered by Erin and Simon for the sharing of slow travel experiences, and for its promotion. Wish more visitors would stop by to share their views here.

I realize that I began thinking in many of the terms you describe in your “slow traveling” philosophy when I was five years old and looking at a picture book of the different kinds of houses people around the world lived in and wondering very deeply what their lives were like. When I began traveling in the 1970s (as a guest of the US Navy), I was in heaven. I soaked up every place I went. I would leave the ship (often alone) and walk inland from the waterfront until there were no more signs in English. Then I would find a place to eat that was simply a mystery. I have found it’s a great asset to have friends, acquaintances, or other personal contacts in the places I go. I have not spent long periods traveling, but quite a few shorter experiences. I always get off the beaten path. (If I see another American, I go the other way.) We will move to Thailand next year, and I am excited about the extensive travels we’ll pursue in and from our home in Chiang Mai.

Claire, for India you get visa on arrival now, but do check with the Indian Embassy/High Commission in your country for latest developments.

We’re just starting and plan to travel slowly but I’m getting really frustrated with visa issues.

How do you overcome these on the road?

Hi Claire, It really depends on the country. We tend to get a 3 months visa in a place and rarely stay longer than that. If we do we’ll either look into extending the visa or leave the country and come back again (some places allow that).

Slow travel is what I myself promote in India through eco cultural homestay tours on the outskirts of New Delhi. India is an IDEAL destination for slow travel (including slow modes of transport). Come, try it out! You’ll go back thrilled (in slow motion!).

I’m learning to apply this concept to my own travels as a new digital nomad. Routine is a MUST! It’s hard to buckle down for work when there are so many (fun!) distractions. Slowing down is the best of both worlds (working for yourself and enjoying your travels). Thanks for this post!

Great info! Do you have any suggestions on how to find out about local sports and venues while traveling? Thanks for sharing.

This is great. I often read articles that talk about slow travel, and by slow, they suggest 2 weeks! We have travelled ‘fast’ in the past, and now we like 2–3 months in a place. I’m starting to learn though, that some places won’t need that much time, and so I think making the call with respect to each destination is most sensible. I agree with your routine. Work out of the way in the morning and the afternoon to live! I will eventually head home and I’m hoping that I might still be able to keep the same routine!

Hi Simon and Erin, Neil and I are on our third house sit with one lined up for the spring. We love long stays. In fact, our short travel time will be a month in Bali and a month in Thailand. We have a lovely traditional home rented in Ubud for a month and two stretches in Thailand, a home stay in Chiang Mai and a funky beach stay in Koh Lanta. We are really enjoying your posts! Our site is beginning to develop more and you inspire us to write about more things. Happy Travels! Laurie

Hello! I´m from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I don´t know if you have been here already but I want to tell you are welcome to visit me, I can offer you a room with all the need only in change of some good storys you have to tell. I would love to meet you. My dream is to travel from here to Alaska :) I found your website really interesting. Good luck!

Thanks very much Camila. Buenos Aires was one of our first stops back in 2010- we loved it and definitely hope to return.

Your blog is awesome! Cheers to you both being able to travel the world together in all its beauty! Thailand, Japan, and India are def. places my beau and I would like to travel to as well. Have you all been to Cambodia? That would be my cultural background, and I sadly have not been yet – but will be in the future! Safe travels, and well wishes to you both!

We haven’t been to Cambodia yet but it’s definitely high on our list.

I’m all about seeing and understanding cultures instead of bragging about the # of countries I’ve seen. I think the norm. of measuring travel of # of countries is a horrible way to do it.

Just stumbled upon your blog, and I really love this manifesto! I haven’t traveled much, only a few countries since I began a yea ago, but I’ve become a huge fan of slow travel. Even though I’m the first of my family to travel, and I have the urge to see it all, I still have come to love being able to soak in a culture. I’ll be moving to Thailand to teach English, which I feel will be amaIng to slow travel through SE Asia.

Great tips at the end, thank you!

I love this. Observing is obviously a very important aspect of slow travel. Simply by taking in your new surroundings gives you a new outlook which other travellers and even locals miss. I would love it if you took the time to have a look at my personal travel blog. I started left my secure work to travel through Asia for a year and I never returned! Thanks guys…

http://www.dontworryjusttravel.com/

Hello! I’m considering becoming a slow traveler. I do not have expertise in digital design, so I would like to finance my way by teaching. I’m a certified English teacher in New Jersey (USA). I have over 15 years experience in rural, suburban and urban schools. I’ve worked in both middle and high school as well as in assessments, adult learning, and have consulted and provided professional development for teachers in the New York City Public School System. Is there any websites or organizations you can recommend for teaching abroad? Thanks so much!

As a certified teacher I’m sure you’ll have lots of options. I don’t know much about it I’m afraid. There are site’s like http://www.eslcafe.com/ but they are more aimed at people just with a TEFL certificate. I’m sure you’ll find something on google. Good luck!

That’s great. Really good advice. We’ll be trying to go by similar standards, as well as trying to fly as little as possible.

Great site. Hope you don’t mind my sharing with you a new initiative I’m lunching called ‘Tubespiration!’ – how to get brilliant ideas from the inspiration of the London Underground and am promoting ‘Thinking Thursdays’ – where just 1 day a week people don’t use their headphones or computer games on their way to work to free time to ‘Think’.

I love this – thank you for putting it so well :-) I’m trying to put together my own thoughts on slow travel for my website (about slow travel in China), and came across your site during my research. Very happy to hear that going slow is working for you both!

Wonderful manifesto guys. We’ve made Food & Travel | Slow & Low both the tag and the mantra of our trip. To us, pace and depth are the difference between vacation and travel. We spent our first month in Playa Samara, a beach village in Costa Rica, to set the slow & low tone, and can’t imagine having started the trip any other way. We’re currently in Panama and looking forward to reading your South America e-book—something tells me your favourites will become preferred places of ours too! Keep up the good work, and maybe our side street paths will cross.

Excellent mantra guys and enjoy Panama!

What you have written about here is my dream, but I never actually put the name “slow traveling” to it. I am about to graduate from college in May and want to take at least the summer to slow travel before I begin my job search in the fall. My question for you is: how do you fund this dream? You mentioned work in the morning. During your stays do you find temporary jobs? If so, how do you do this when staying for shorter periods of time? I am eager for feedback and commend you for doing what so many are afraid to do.

We work online as we travel. There are more details in this post: http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/how-we-fund-our-permanent-travels/

This is the advanced stage of travelling (:

I’ve always been a traveller without a map, wandering wherever the winds and my feet wanted to go, but when I was younger I was always on ffw-mode and I thought I was being so spontaneous running here-and-there. Now I realize I was just young and had a skewed perspective. Now I slow travel and explore. I’m fully immersed. I don’t ‘check places out’, I settle in them.

Slow travel is the best way to enjoy not only travel but the company of people. I have been out in the Philippines over 5 years but even going to the next town you find things are very different.

Great post guys and I’m totally with you on this. Have to say travelling with kids makes you into a slow travel convert and more power to that!

I’ve heard that and am not surprised.

As Ali mentioned, we are definitely embracing more and more the slower aspects of travel. Even years ago I took a week long trip to Italy in one city to learn Italian. It wasn’t a sightseeing tour, but living in apartments and it was great. We have done the speed trips too, but prefer the slower ones. Months in a place, here we come.

Isn’t Italy just the perfect place for slow travel? I’m looking forward to seeing you transition to even slower travel (although being an expat is about as slow as it gets :) )

We never intended to travel quite *this* slow, but it’s definitely cheaper. Not per city, but per month. It’s looking like we might end up with a total of one year in Mexico before we move on!

That is slow! It’s great you found a country you loved enough to stay so long though.

You of course are a king at this kind of travel :)

Hi. I love slow travel…in 2010 my hubby and I spent 2 months in northern Italy and another 2 months in France. In 2011 we spent 3 months in Venice, Italy. Renting an apartment by the week or by the month is definitely the way to go! People often ask–how can we afford to be away for so long each time…my hubby is a very talented singer and he busks in the streets in the different places we visit. This earns us enough to keep us going. So let me ask you (and your readers)…how do you finance long-term travel? An a non-EU national, I cannot legally work. Do you save up beforehand and travel until the money runs out? Do you work while traveling (legally or otherwise?)…please share your secrets! Thanks for the great article!

Hi Rosie, How cool that you can fund your travels by busking!

We are digital nomads so we work online doing web design, app development and running this website. We are registered in the UK but can work anywhere we have internet so it gives us a lot of freedom and we just enter countries on tourist visas as we aren’t working for clients in the countries we are in.

Beautiful post guys! Add more photos, make it into a book, sell it on Amazon. I’ve got at least 25 friends that need to read it. :) And, congrats on 1000 days. You are an inspiration!

Haha! Thanks for the support Jessica :)

Well done, a thoughtful post! I reckon I’ve always been a slow traveler by nature. ;) I really appreciate that more travelers are tuning into slow travel.

I love this! I actually have a post in my drafts about slow travel because I’ve realized just how much more enjoyable it is to slow down the pace when I’m traveling. You can’t relax and soak up the atmosphere if you’re running through 5 cities in a week. Wonderful advice and great reasons for trying slow travel!

Travel can be really stressful if you try to do everything can’t it? I think most travellers realise eventually that slower is more relaxing. I hope you’re able to try a month in a place soon!

Great post. When I need to try to travel more slowly. How long do you try to spend in one place. I usually try to spend one month at least in a country before moving on. But I am always zooming around the country trying to take in everything I can. I should try house sitting and stay in one city for a longer.

It really depends. We like to spend a month in one place, but in expensive cities like Rome we stay for a week. We’ve stayed in quite a few places for 2 months too and the longest was 5 months in Chiang Mai. It is tempting to see as much as you can in a country but we can’t keep up that pace anymore.

I’m not sure why more people who aren’t [officially] slow travelling but are spending an extended period in a region don’t apply these techniques to their everyday lives – ie Taking the time to really look and take in their idiosyncratic local culture, foods, people, as one does when one is officially on the road –

I think if we applied and did what you recommend on doing on a short trip but on our own home turf everyone’s lives would be so much the richer – How often do you stop to speak to a ‘local’ when you’re at home?

Sadly people seem to think they have to go somewhere else to embellish their lives with cultural richness that if you look around, surrounds us no matter where we are :)

That’s an excellent point Linda. Our lives would be so much richer if we applied the principles no matter where we are.

I’m not sure who, but someone told us that we have to been doing something all the time, we have to produce something or we are going to be nothing for the society, and I don’t know why most of people trust it, so if we stop just to see how some kids are playing, or to talk with a group of teenagers amoung smilins about the boys or girls they like, or whatever. People run and run and after read this letters from someone who is old and sik, that saids “If I would born again I would spent more time with people and I would tell them that I love them, bla, bla…” And I think “don’t sent this to me, just don’t wait to born again and do it, start to live and don’t think just about how much money have anybody to be your friends circle” The way you walk across the Street respecting the people with whom you cross, bearing them in mind or not, the form in which you travel, learning and sharing experiences and not trying to teach the others because your way of life is the correct one,… is the way you live your day by day. The people do not change only for taking a plane. In any case, thank you for sharing your experiences, I would like to have the possibility of travelling slow during much more time, even if for my every day it is a trip

This is great and I totally agree! We love to travel slow too, having spent 6 months out the last 10 in Mexico alone, gradually making our way around! We still have so much to see there too! Right now we’re back in Colombia for the second time and we are working hard on our online projects. We desperately need the routine after so much travel…even if it was slow! We intend to do some travelling here again…but we’re slowing down even more if you can imagine!

We are heading to Mexico tomorrow and I have a feeling we’ll be staying for many months too. Good luck with your online projects!

Which part of Mexico are you starting with? We are in San Miguel and Guanajuato this week and would love to get together.

We’re in Playa del Carmen for 2 months and then we’ll see. Enjoy your time in Mexico!

This is brilliant! We hope to meet you guys out there one of these days. Safe travels.

Thanks Mike. I hope we do cross paths one day.

Have to say I’m a slow travel convert :) Spent a year travelling Oz and a year travelling NZ. Now I’m tackling Thailand for three months rather than cramming in a host of SE Asian countries. So many of the reasons you mentioned are why – I need the time to process, both my experiences and my photos, and I find travelling slowly to be so much more rewarding :)

It can be so tempting in places like SE Asia to go everywhere but each country deserves so much time that we find it more rewarding to slow travel there. We’ve spent over a year there in total on two different trips and have only made it to Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Burma. It’s an excuse to keep going back!

Amen to everything you wrote here! Before we set off on our own long-term trip, we had all these grandiose plans of all the things we would see and the breakneck pace we would keep. It took us less than a month to realize that we couldn’t sustain that kind of travel, nor was it going to be most rewarding. It’s so much nicer to take your time and really connect with a place and the people around you. Because in the end, as much as it is nice to see the world, for us, the best part of traveling has been the people we have met… when you race through a place, it’s possible to have a good conversation or two, but it’s not the same as really getting to know people.

No long term traveller ever does everything they plan to do! Or else they do and drive themselves crazy (we’ve met some of those). Sounds like you are having a much more rewarding trip by taking your time.

Brilliant-this is how we have enjoyed Spain and Italy so much, we sit with some locals and pretend we live there; I even do it in England-loving food and drink helps with the old blending in!

Food is a major focus of our slow travels too. Italy and Spain are perfect for this kind of travel aren’t they?

This is actually a really inspiring article! I haven’t been in the travel game long but I have done two study abroad semesters and I think the outcomes can be really similar. I know that after even my 7 months in New Zealand I still felt like I hadn’t been able to soak up all that I wanted to and see all that I wanted to see. It’s intoxicating sometimes, but I like to leave places with the thought of mind that I feel as though I’ve conquered it to the extent that I want to and it’s time to move on to the next step.

Thanks for writing this piece! Touches home quite close!

Thanks Kelsey. We didn’t do a study abroad semester but that sounds like the perfect way to try out slow travel when you are a student.

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Home » Responsible Travel » The Art of Slow Travel (How to HACK Travel 2024)

The Art of Slow Travel (How to HACK Travel 2024)

I’m going to let you in on a secret. I don’t like bucket lists . I know, I know, I’m aware of the irony that a travel blogger doesn’t like a cornerstone of the travel industry.

The thing is, I feel like we go travelling and miss the entire point of travelling . Somewhere between seeing the fifth and seventh wonder of the world, the world stops seeming so wonderful.

So what do I like instead?

I like squatting in the corner of a kitchen in a far away country making the perfect tortillas with my Guatemalan neighbour. I like making flashcards for a language I don’t speak yet so that I can tell dirty jokes with my Portuguese work mates.

I want to take time to become neighbours and friends and familiar with the places I travel to.

I like to travel slowly. 

Slow travel is a way of structuring your travels so that you are completing quests and seeking meaning rather than ticking things off your itinerary. There’s also a near spiritual satisfaction when you know that you have earned your way in blood, sweat, and literal tears to make it to a destination.

It can be intimating to Marie Kondo the crap out of your itinerary that no longer serves you joy. But trust me, my dude, the sweet reward of slow travel is  so worth it.

Come with me as we dive into the world of letting go of where we need to be. Come learn about slow travel. 

backpacker drinking beer with locals in myanmar

Slow Travel Origins

Why should i travel slowly, how to slow travel, ultimate slow travel experiences, slow travel faqs, the slow travel finale.

Slow travel is actually a splendid offshoot of the slow food movement. The slow food movement arose in Italy during the 1980s as fast-food chains like McDonalds attempted to infiltrate and outcompete local businesses. 

Italy said, no – but in Italian (which is really just an overly-emphatic ‘no’ with wild hand gestures), and the slow food movement was born. It emphasises a connection to place and valuing local businesses and their high-quality products over cheap, mass-produced food.

Essentially, it’s a movement of quality over quantity . 

Slow travel , then, is a f*ck you to the vacuous Insta-famous travel bloggers and their fast food take on travel. It’s about throwing your caution to the wind and travelling without a phone.

You prioritise connection with local people over another selfie with the Eiffel Tower. It’s about sitting in a hole in the wall store on tiny plastic chairs and trying the best soup you’ve ever had in your life. As you look around, the smallest details create an imprint on your mind. So this is what travelling is about .

It’s about writing your own manifesto . Slow travel is the whole reason you hit the road in the first place.

Cycling on a biking tour in the mountains of Tajikistan

Skip Your Itinerary

For me, there’s a mindset shift that is crucial to slow travel. My rigid itinerary would have me up at 6 am to try Trip Advisor’s best croissant and then shuttle on to the top 10 places you have to see before you die. You then rinse and repeat for 12 exhausting days. It’s a life-changing experience and then we go back to clocking in and out of the 9 – 5.

My slow travel itinerary would have me impulsively buy a bus ticket to a town I’d vaguely heard of. It gives you time to scour local newspapers for some part-time work. There’s time to learn the recipes of my housemates; eat at local restaurants. It’s about getting under the skin and becoming part of the fabric of the town.

I let my travels genuinely change me.

A street vendor selling grilled corn/ street food in Istanbul, Turkey

But if we want our travel experiences to change us, we’ve got to let them in. When I found myself working on a sailboat, we ended up spending a lot of time in the Caribbean. Every Monday morning, the cruise ships come to St Thomas and every Monday evening the cruise ships leave.

The times we ended up sharing the island with twenty thousand cruise ship passengers, a strange sense of helplessness came over the crew and me. Here were all these people in such a rush , that they seemed to miss the entire point of their vacation. 

Not only did they not seem relaxed as they ran about the island, but they seemed to miss all the little details about the streets too. It was like travel knocked on the door and they said, go away I’m looking to go travelling. 

I thought it would be great if someone missed their cruise ship home. How much more interesting would they find this island if they worked in the bar for a few months and made friends with weirdo sailors like us. I wanted to show them through the backstreets and local buskers. 

I wanted them to travel slowly.

slow travel manifesto

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If the most simple way of describing slow travel is quality over quantity, then I think it becomes clear why you should do it – to enhance the quality of your travels!

How exactly does travelling slowly enhance the quality of your travelling? I think it prevents traveller burnout . You know the feeling: you get back from an exciting and jam-packed trip more tired than you left. You need a vacation from your vacation!

girl at rush lake backpacking in pakistan

By slowing down, you get back to the roots of what it means to take time out from your life. It’s not to see as much as you possibly can – it’s about restoring yourself and your energy levels. 

Slow travel is also far more sustainable, far less expensive, and far more enjoyable than a high-speed tourist chase of attractions.

Slow Travel and Sustainability

Yeah, look, the world can feel pretty f*cked. It’s on fire, it’s running out of water, plastic is choking turtles, Keeping Up With the Kardashians is in its 20th season… And yet even as we look on at this slow-moving asteroid of destruction, it can feel like we have very little in our power to change the course of action. 

We are too accustomed to next day shipping, international flights, and being able to buy travel experiences like we do new clothes. If I want to go see the Great Barrier Reef, provided I have the money, I can leave tomorrow and see the damn reef.  

So on the one hand, we know that in order for there to be a Great Barrier Reef in thirty years we need to take drastic action. On the other hand, that round the world ticket just went on sale…

Do you travel fast or travel slow? For the sake of being a responsible tourist , I think you should travel slowly.

The first step is to take this literally. If you set yourself on the quest to see the Great Barrier Reef, you understand that the journey is as enjoyable as the destination.

Consider how you will arrive at the reef? Will you fly into Cairns and take a boat tour one day, and a scuba diving trip the next, before flying to the Whitsundays and staying the night?

Solo female hitchhiker takes selfie as she waits for a ride in Japan.

Or will you hitchhike to Cooktown? Will you live the boat life and sail your way from Bundaberg through the Torres Strait? You could swap hotel chains for homestays, Couchsurfing, or Airbnb. A few weeks instead of a few days? There’s always local produce to eat – or even try your hand at spearfishing (where it’s permitted, of course). 

Not only do you cut your carbon emissions by flying less and eating local, but I would argue you see the ‘real’ Great Barrier Reef. Australians are known for being sarcastic, a little abrupt, but on the whole, decent people. If you’re just another tourist flying in and flying out, you’re going to get the bare minimum from the locals.

If you slow down – or do something a bit out of the ordinary like get seasonal work or hitchhike into town – you might get a few funny looks at first. “You wanted to see the reef, did you mate? So what, you had to stay for the season to do that, did ya?”

But underneath the bluntness, is an appreciation that someone slowed down and stayed . 

Slow Travel and Combating the Travel Blues

I think there is pressure these days to ‘see it all’. You might never come back! Quick, make sure you get a selfie and post it to Instagram – or you might as well have not come!

This need to travel glued to your phone and to tick off destinations keeps you in a constant state of stress. Now while the best travel pushes you, it shouldn’t leave you feeling like a pile of limp, wet noodles.

The fact of the matter is, you are never going to see it all. So you might as well make what you do see worthwhile. Going back to the Great Barrier Reef example: rather than going on one scuba diving trip before flying back to your soul-crushing 9 – 5, you could live in Cairns for a few months.

Two people taking a selfie whilst scuba diving.

Instead of being ushered onto the boat after two hours of splashing in the water, every morning at 7 am, you could swim with the fish before making your morning coffee. You’d get to freedive, snorkel, scuba dive, sail, and generally play water baby goodness as part of your daily routine.

Travel is supposed to be a step away from the grind culture. You should travel to offbeat locations to challenge yourself, sure. You should learn new skills, new languages, new ways of life. But there’s no need to attach KPIs to your regimented travel routine. You’re not going to “fail” travelling if you don’t see the best places in the worl d .

You’re going to beat the travel blues by slowing down; by living somewhere and making a morning routine out of what most people consider a mere bucket list item .

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Slow Travel IS Low Budget Travel

This ties into the next point. Slow travel is cheap. So while I could write an epic guide to broke backpacking , I could also just tell you to slow down . 

But that doesn’t make any sense? How does staying somewhere longer turn out to be cheaper?

The thing is, it’s not usually the place itself that is expensive – it’s getting there! The main expenses around travelling are:

  • The overland transport
  • The accommodation
  • The attractions

So it follows if you fly from Paris to Rome to Madrid and back to London over the course of two weeks – that’s going to add up!

Limiting your timeframe means you have fewer options and can’t keep an eye out for cheap flight deals, for example. You also take away the slower travel options of trains, buses, hitchhiking, or van life. When you HAVE to be somewhere, you pay for immediacy. 

Once you arrive in a place, the concept of slowness continues to save you hard-earned dosh. If you don’t have anywhere in particular to be, you can opt to scout out a sick local homestay. You could also try fly and swap vacations – the most authentic way to experience life as a local IMO.

pair of backpackers smiling with guesthouse owners in Nepali in front of lit Rangoli Tihar display

All of this cuts down on your accommodation costs. This leaves you a good chunk of coin for food and touristy attractions. 

If you really want to stretch your coins, you could learn to dumpster dive for your food. Even if you don’t fancy plating up discarded food, slow travel can lead to cheaper and higher quality meals. 

Slow Travel and Quality

Travelling slowly is simply more enjoyable. Quality is a bit of a sticky, and deceptively unknowable concept. It really asks, what is best?

The dominant cultural messaging for the last few generations was that you needed to see everything, do it all, be well rounded, but don’t lose your job! This led us to cram ourselves into these rigid little itineraries that leave no room for a regenerating planet – or self. 

Luckily, we’ve said ‘no, it’s not a phase, mom’. Slow travel simply feels better.

Like anything, there’s an art to doing slow travel well. But, also like anything, it’s better to get out there and start doing it – even if at first you are doing it imperfectly.

Remember, that above all slow travel is about connection . It’s about seeing life from a perspective other than your own. 

I feel like there isn’t a whole lot of point in giving you a prescriptive guide on travelling slow – it defeats the whole point. The point of opening up your travels to chance and spontaneity is to ignore travel bloggers like me and make your own adventure!

Buuuut, here are a few tips to get you started with travelling slowly:

  • Give up some “purpose” – i.e leave gaps in your itinerary!
  • Train, don’t plane.
  • Get a little lost.
  • Learn a new language .
  • Spend more time in one place . 

One way you can foster a genuine connection with a place while spending more time there is by volunteering. Giving back and getting involved in a local community is the core value of slowing down your travels. You get to sink your teeth into a new culture and learn more about the people there.

While I am quite comfortable turning up in a new town and checking the local notice boards for volunteering opportunities, I think there’s something to be said for organising a volunteer placement before you hit the road.

You can use a platform such as Workaway or, our personal favourite, Worldpackers ! It’s a review based platform specialising in connecting volunteers with meaningful projects all over the world.

The website is easy to use and you know exactly what to expect out of a program before you get there. And broke backpacker readers get a 20% discount on their subscription!

So now that you’re juiced up and inspired to slow down and perfect the art of meandering, what kind of epic travel experiences do you have to look forward to? 

You can start by exploring your hometown! Maybe there is a local farm to table restaurant that you’ve always wanted to try, or a pottery class that you’ve always wanted to attend! It pays to think of your own town as somewhere full of layers and hidden secrets, too.

When you do hit the road, and you want to do so sustainably, there are a few epic slow travel experiences that come to mind. 

Living the Vanlife

Your first foray into the world of travelling at a snail’s pace may involve getting yourself a little home on wheels. In the same way that a snail goes about life with their house on their back, living the van life means taking your home with you. 

Living out of your van encourages you to appreciate the journey between destinations. The road less travelled is usually bloody gorgeous – and has way less traffic. When you do arrive in a new town, you already have your accommodation sorted!

Vanlife is wonderful because your possessions are pared down, your pace of living is slow, and your appreciation of long term slowness is increased. Plus, it’s cosy!

van parked up on a beach in New Zealand

But you know what? Vanlife is also grotty, challenging, and hardly ever goes to plan.

I remember living out of my van and driving with my mate on a South Island road trip . Now, I knew that it was winter and I knew that New Zealand was prone to flooding and I had even checked the weather forecast and seen a hectic storm was on the way. But I (recklessly) said, fuck let’s keep driving.

We woke up to discover that we couldn’t drive onwards in the morning because the road was closed. Oh shit, no worries, we’ll just drive back to where we came from.

Except that road was closed too. We found ourselves stuck in a town, with no motel, in the middle of the largest flood in 10 years.

After getting us bogged, and then unbogged, and restarting our battery in torrential rain, I made the decision of any rational person: I said, well we can still go to the pub. Drinking in a local pub with the road closed in two directions is probably the best thing that could’ve happened to someone who decided to keep driving through a flood warning!

Anyway, a fair few drinks were shared. In the end, we had multiple offers for a place to stay until the roads were open again. Vanlife is not always easy and it’s not always pretty. But man, it certainly forces you to slow down and forge connections in the strangest of places!

The Dreamiest of All Slow Travel – Boat Life

Sailing takes slow travel and turns it into poetry. You rely on the wind and the currents to take you from A to B. Having the weather as your decision-maker forces you to think about your travel in terms of seasons.

Working so hard to reach a destination makes it that much sweeter – and the destinations are already pretty sweet. But after sailing across the Pacific for 30-odd days, the first sight of land touches the sublime. Earning your way to a destination in blood, sweat, and night watches is one way to ensure you have a deep and unending appreciation for a place!

The old salts live by the phrase, the best plans are written in the sand at high tide . You make a plan to spend a season sailing the Caribbean. But then, you realise that there is an excellent weather window to cross the Atlantic , and you heard that the wine over there is really quite nice.

slow travel manifesto

Provided your boat is in tip-top shape and your crew haven’t mutinied, you may find yourself somewhere in Portugal thinking, huh, this is nice . 

Sailing is also environmentally sustainable. The adventures you and your floating tin have really drive home this sense of responsibility for this pale, blue dot we call home. And that, more than anything, is the point of travelling slowly.

Hitchhiking

So this one time in Mexico, my pet chicken and I stood on the side of the road in the Yucatan and decided to hitchhike. 

My chicken ended up falling asleep because it was taking a while for someone to stop for us. I kept myself busy by spotting shapes in the clouds. It’s truly astounding how beautiful the world is when you’ve got nowhere to be. 

Eventually, someone pulled over and offered us a ride. Of course, we got to chatting. There is not much I like more than a good old fashioned chit chat with a stranger. The next thing I know, we had taken a turn from the main highway in order to find the best taco my new friend remembered having as a kid.

two friends on a beach in mexico holding a lizard that has a Sombrero on

The best tacos turned into sampling the best mezcal in town which somehow turned into karaoke in a small bar in rural Mexico. My chicken was given so much free food that she fell asleep in the middle of the blaring karaoke music!

When I started that morning, I had absolutely no idea where the day would take me. Perhaps I’d end up camping by another beautiful beach again. Perhaps I would make it closer to the border. But as it turned out, I made a good friend and was privileged to try the best tacos in the Yucatan. 

Hitchhiking is a special form of slow travel because it puts you right in the thick of it. This is what travel is about. You slowly, slowly make it somewhere. The where becomes less important. The when becomes almost irrelevant. The locals become your neighbours and the country becomes your home. 

What is slow travel?

Slow travel is about swapping a high-intensity itinerary full of 12 cities in as many days, for a leisurely stroll through the same town for the duration of your getaway. It’s about taking the train, eating local, and camping more often than you get on a shuttle bus to the nearest wonder of the world. It’s essentially about quality over quantity.

How do I start slow travelling?

You can start in your hometown! I think it starts with a sense of curiosity and openness to conversations with people you’ve never met. You leave gaps in your itinerary and deliberately get a little lost. You give yourself more time, rather than less time in a destination so that you can start to follow your curiosity more than your planner.

Why is slow travel the best?

I think it is a more enjoyable and restorative way to travel. You don’t come back from your holidays exhausted! But it’s also kinder to the planet, and better for local economies. There is no need to scale up your adventures and send you money to large travel chains. Instead, you can take tours run by local guides, stay for a couple of weeks in a local homestay, and enjoy the small things about the town you’ve found yourself exploring.

When you do hit the road, ask yourself this: Where do I have to be?

The world is big and life is short, sure. If you can’t ever see everything, then you should enjoy what you do see. By slowing your pace through the world you are able to let the world change you. 

Over the years that I have travelled the world, I have certainly seen some incredible landmarks. But a country has never felt ‘done’ to me. I’ve never completely seen or experienced everything a place has to teach me. I have lives and homes scattered across the globe.

There is also a mystical element to the unknown. And slow travel emphasises the element of chance. When you don’t have to be somewhere, you allow spontaneity to guide your travels.

When I didn’t have to cross the border by a certain date, I got to enjoy a night of karaoke in a small-town bar in rural Mexico. I got to make friends that I stay connected with to this day. 

This has been slow travel’s ultimate lesson to me. That my neighbours in Mexico have more in common with my friends in Germany than they have differences. We are united in the pursuit of a life in which we feel free. 

Next time you plan to hit the road, take your time and stop to chat with the fruit vendor, the bus driver, and the people at the park. You will enjoy throwing your itinerary out the window and allowing the world to change your perspective. I think you will enjoy travelling slowly.

man riding a motorbike slowly across a bridge in gilgit baltistan pakistan

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Love this! We spent last year slow traveling through Mexico and the Lesser Antilles and we can’t wait to get back & sail around the rest of the Caribbean. Im determined to slow travel at least 4 months a year. It’s the dream life.

Love this article!

Great write-up! We are currently slow-travelling the world and much prefer this way of travel to bouncing around from place to place. Slow travel allows you to immerse yourself more fully into a culture and make long-lasting friendships all over the world.

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TrekTangle

Savoring the Journey: The Philosophy of Slow Travel

In the symphony of the modern traveler’s itinerary, the gentle adagio often goes unheard. Yet, it is in this slower tempo that the melody of the landscape truly resonates. Slow travel isn’t just a mode of movement; it’s a philosophy. A deliberate choice to embrace each moment, savor each experience, and treasure each encounter. Let’s explore the transformative power of taking the slower road and how it can lead to the most memorable and enriching travel experiences.

Imagine traveling not just to see but to experience, to not just look but to understand. Slow travel is the space between the notes, the silence that makes the music. It’s about the immersive experience that allows us to absorb the subtleties and complexities of a culture. It is in this space that we find unexpected joys and a deeper sense of connection to the places we visit.

slow travel

Crafting Deeper Connections with Culture

Travel slowly allows us to transcend beyond the surface-level experiences and dive into the depth of local culture. By spending time in one place, we move beyond the facade of tourism and start to engage with the community. We share meals, participate in local traditions, and create friendships that can last a lifetime. This isn’t just travel; it’s a cultural exchange that enriches both the traveler and the host community.

Every choice is a conscious one. It’s about opting for the scenic train ride over the quick flight, choosing eco-friendly accommodations, or simply deciding to spend the day exploring a neighborhood on foot. These mindful movements allow us to consider our impact on the environment and local economies. Making us partners in conservation and community stewardship.

Every slow traveler is a storyteller, weaving a unique tapestry of tales from the threads of their experiences. These stories are born from the leisurely exploration of hidden alleys. The extended chats with local artisans, and the quiet afternoons spent in the embrace of nature. These narratives don’t just recount events; they breathe life into the very essence of the places visited.

slow travel

The Slow Traveler’s Manifesto

As a slow traveler, I pledge to tread lightly and with intention, to seek out the path less trodden, and to find the rhythm of each place I visit. I vow to listen more than I speak, to learn more than I teach, and to give back as much as I receive. Lets learn to say hello and thank you in the local tongue. Eat what’s in season and what’s on the local’s plate. Slow down and find joy in the dance. This manifesto isn’t just about travel; it’s about a way of life that celebrates diversity, embraces curiosity, and fosters sustainability .

Slow travel is more than just a way of moving through the world. It’s a path less traveled that promises richer, more meaningful experiences. It’s a journey that doesn’t just change our location but transforms our perspective. As we embrace the slow travel philosophy, we find that the path itself becomes a destination, one that leads us to a more connected and contemplative way of life.

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A simple man with a passion for two worlds: the exhilarating realm of investments and the boundless beauty of travel. While numbers and strategies ignite his analytical side, the open road calls out to his adventurous spirit. Balancing both, he journeys through life, finding wealth not just in portfolios, but in sunsets, cultures, and memories collected from every corner of the globe.

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  • Published September 25, 2018

Have you ever sat in the window seat on an airplane, watching the world below crawl by unassumingly, and wondered what it would be like to wander through those distant landscapes? If you answered yes, then you might just be a good candidate for practicing slow travel. Here’s everything you need to know about the travel philosophy that takes its time to get involved.  

What is Slow Travel?

Slow travel is a movement that seeks to decelerate the pace of modern travel. By consciously taking the slow road in order to experience the full scope of their journey, slow travelers fully engage with the locations they meander through. Living like a local, thinking about one’s impact, and making meaningful connections with both people and places are paramount elements of this philosophy. In part, a reaction to contemporary society’s fixation on what’s “fast,” slow travel substitutes speed and convenience for patience and engagement.

A post shared by #bikewander (@bikewander) on Aug 4, 2018 at 4:22am PDT
A post shared by Emma Vincent | Devon Girl 🌊 (@emmathedevongirl) on Apr 12, 2018 at 9:17am PDT

The philosophy has its origins in the slow-food movement, which was established in protest to the opening of a McDonald’s franchise in Rome during the 1980s. At the time, residents of the Italian capital saw the introduction of the fast-food chain as an affront to their city’s culinary scene. The slow-food movement champions sourcing ingredients from sustainable providers that are local to the region and preparing food using traditional methods. This is an attempt to preserve the connection that diners have with where their food comes from, the people making it, and those they enjoy it with.

Slow travel grew from this philosophy and, as such, has retained its focus on community, sustainability, and enjoyment.

A post shared by A Sunday Morning (@asundaymorningperrine) on Aug 6, 2018 at 2:05am PDT

The Slow-Travel Manifesto

A primary element of the slow-travel manifesto is engagement with the communities travelers come to exist within. Trading well-trod sights for lesser-seen parts of a city means putting yourself in a position where you are the odd one out — in doing so you’ll see the side of a place that isn’t shaped for tourists’ eyes. While there is much to be said for seeing renowned landmarks, slow travelers search for the life that buzzes beyond tourist traps. They spend time learning the rhythm of the places they visit, immersing themselves in the locale rather than rushing to the next thing on the “Top 10” list as soon as they’ve checked something off. When travelers engage with the local cultures and attempt to connect with the people who are the essence of a community, deeper relationships with host nations can be forged.

A post shared by UTracks (@utrackstravel) on Aug 5, 2018 at 4:40pm PDT
A post shared by UrbanBike City Tour (@urbanbike_city_tour_france_lr) on Aug 9, 2018 at 4:39am PDT

Another core tenet of slow travel is decreasing the environmental impact of one’s movements. All too often, the relative ease of air and motor travel makes us prone to forgetting about the energy it takes to build and fuel the engines of our vehicles. The rapidity of such forms of transportation has indeed been revolutionary in our daily lives, but that doesn’t mean that we should remain indifferent to the effects such a breakneck pace has on the dwindling resources our planet possesses. By easing our milage, we free up time to see the world we pass through with more clarity, rather than just whizzing by.

A post shared by #bikewander (@bikewander) on Aug 6, 2018 at 3:48am PDT

Above all, the slow-travel movement is about enjoying every aspect of your journey. Traveling from A to B as fast as possible means missing out on the beauty of the in between. Leaving the hustle and bustle of our busy lives behind and going off in search of the wonderful minutiae of the everyday can be just as, if not more, rewarding. Slow travel is meant to reshape how we perceive the intermediary time spent traveling, transforming it from a nuisance into a joy in its own right.

A post shared by Rail Europe (@raileurope) on Aug 1, 2018 at 5:55am PDT

How to Travel “Slowly”

Although slow travel may not appeal to those who yearn for a week spent on the sun-drenched shores of a country half a globe away from their home, it’s ideal for those who are looking to keep their travel local or, at the very least, bound to a nearby region. If you fall into the latter group, this could mean spending your time wandering the side streets of a small town or biking from place to place rather than driving. Essentially, what you’re looking to do is slow down and appreciate your surroundings, as well as the journey that took you there. This will compromise how much ground you’ll be able to cover, but it will also encourage you to better appreciate the area you do explore.

A post shared by A g a t h e 🙈 (@agt_8) on Aug 5, 2018 at 9:13pm PDT
A post shared by Explore Andalusia with us 💃🏽 (@simplyandalusia) on Aug 5, 2018 at 11:43pm PDT

Not needing to rush to the next stop on your itinerary will free up time and allow you to gain a sense of life in a place rather than simply seeing its “greatest” sights and moving on. That said, if you do have a few must-see locales on your list of things to do, then try walking between them rather than taking a bus, train, or car. Thinking locally is important, so perhaps instead of jetting off to another hemisphere, opt for hopping on a train and heading just a few stops down the line to explore somewhere you’ve never been before — odds are, you’ll be surprised at what a curious wanderer can find.

Ultimately, it is important that you remember to enjoy the journey. Slow travel is about the getting there, rather than the “been there, done that.” Allow yourself the opportunity to observe the charming details of the world you live in — details that are often lost in the blur of a view from a fast-moving vehicle. In the simplest terms, slow travel is a mindset, not a destination.

Header image by  Jacek Dylag

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Slow Travel Europe Making conscious choices

Welcome to slow travel europe.

We believe that we can add meaning to life by making things go faster. We have an idea that life is short - and that we must go fast to fit everything in. But life is long. The problem is that we don't know how to spend our time wisely. — Carlo Petrini, Founder of the Slow Food Movement

Robert Louis Stevenson and Freya Stark both travelled with donkeys. They were attentive to every turn of the road on their journeys through France and Arabia respectively. But us? We pack ourselves like sardines into fragile aluminium tubes and speed through the sky at hundreds of miles per hour. Come now! That is not real travel.

The anticipation of arrival undermines the pleasure of the journey as we make haste to get to this or that resort, conference or meeting. But it need not be so. We have slow food, slow cities and now is the time for more attention to slow travel.

The journey becomes a moment to relax, rather than it being a stressful interlude between home and destination. Of course slow travel is much more than just that. It is a whole way of looking at the world. Slow travellers explore communities along the way, dawdle and pause as the mood takes them and check out spots recommended by the locals. Slow travel is downbeat, eco-friendly and above all fun. Travel like it used to be, but without the donkeys.

“The art of living,” says Carlo Petrini, the charismatic founder of the Slow Food Movement, “is about learning to give time to each and every thing.” And that, most surely, should include travel.

By Nicky Gardner co-editor of hidden europe magazine .

A Manifesto for Slow Travel

Over the last few hundred years there has been a subtle shift in how we think about travel. Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead can be read as an intriguing piece of travel writing. Homer's Odyssey is an equally fabulous travel narrative. Yet travel has somehow slipped out of fashion. True, we fly hither and thither, but travel is rarely valued for its own sake. Instead it is recast as a minor inconvenience that somehow intervenes between our point of departure and our intended destination. The pleasure of the journey is eclipsed by anticipation of arrival. To get there fast is better than to travel slow.

Slow Travel Europe: Some Guiding Principles

It is not for us to prescribe how you should travel. But we offer some thoughts which might appeal to those interested in exploring slow travel options as they explore Europe. Here are our ten suggestions for slowing down.

The Spirit of Slow Travel

Had you realised that it is not compulsory to take the fast train? Comb the timetables, and you still find the lazy slowcoach of a train that dawdles from one country station to the next. Read excerpts of articles from hidden europe that capture the spirit of slow travel. Slow boats, slow trains and travel that engages with local communities.

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Complete guide to slow travel: why and how to practice it

The slow travel movement is taking the world by storm. But what exactly is slow travel, what's so great about it, and how can you practice it on your next trip?

slow travel manifesto

Rachael Let's Grow There

Sep 07, 2023

slow travel

If you've ever experienced travel burnout and have returned home from a trip completely exhausted, you probably didn't travel slowly enough! Travelers are often so excited to explore a new destination that they forget to pace themselves along the way. But there's a great answer to that: slow travel.

When you only have a short time to dedicate to your trip, you might try and fill your itinerary chock-full of exciting experiences you'll always remember. However, this style of traveling almost always leads to burnout, besides other negative consequences: it tends to be more expensive, have more negative impacts on the environment and leaves less space for good surprises.

Slow travel is the key to traveling better, smarter, and more passionately.  Pacing yourself and giving yourself time to live like a local in the city or country you're visiting is vital if you want a truly immersive, deeply moving travel experience .

What is slow travel?

But what is slow travel exactly?  A few other names you may recognize from the slow travel movement are sustainable travel, mindful travel, and low-impact travel.

To travel slowly is to reject conventional tourism and be more open to experiences that are unique and immersive. 

Rather than squeezing in a million activities into your busy travel schedule, slow travel is about adopting a mindset that focuses on connection . It reminds us of why we travel and helps us offset the travel fatigue that happens at the end of an exhausting trip.

When did the slow travel movement start?

We can trace the origins of slow travel to a similar movement in Italy, in the 1980's. The slow food movement took shape in Italy in response to the rise of fast food. 

Local food artisans, farmers, and chefs rallied together to protest a new McDonald's that was to be built in Rome. They refused to embrace the rise of fast food and instead supported regional cuisine and traditional food preparation as a means to preserve their culture. 

After all, food plays a big role in every country and is something natives pride themselves on. Simply put, food brings people together, and that's something particularly important for Italians. 

This sparked the beginning of the slow movement , which not only celebrates locally-grown and produced food, but applies to other areas of our lives, including the way we travel . You've likely come across slow food and wine tours, slow wilderness retreats, and other similar immersive tours. They are catching on all over the world! 

slow travel movement

What are the benefits of slow travel?

The benefits of slow travel are immense, and travelers are reaping those benefits more and more as they opt to support local businesses and slow travel. By doing so, travelers are taking part in more environmentally-friendly , sustainable experiences that have a positive impact on the world. 

If you're still not conviced, here are a few reasons to give slow travel a try:

1. More authentic cultural experiences

One of the main benefits of slow travel is the opportunity to immerse yourself in the local culture. Unlike rushed trips that only allow for superficial interactions, slow travel lets you to truly connect with the people and way of life of your destination. 

When your travel schedule is less packed with tourist attractions you have more time to learn some of the local language, try the local cuisine, and participate in cultural activities. 

2. Less stress

As I've mentioned before, fast-paced travel itineraries can be exhausting , leaving little time to relax and truly enjoy the experience. Travelers often come back from their vacations feeling even more tired than before.

Slow travel allows you to set a more relaxed pace, reducing stress and anxiety . You can take the time to be spontaneous, relax, and appreciate the beauty of each moment. This approach results in a more enjoyable travel experience.

3. Enhanced well-being

Taking it a step further, slow travel can have a positive impact on your physical and mental well-being. By traveling slower and choosing to engage in activities such as long walks, yoga, hiking, cycling or meditation, you'll probably feel great.

Additionally, if you take this chance to the reduce your screen time and connect with nature it can help you  reconnect with yourself .

practice slow travel

4. Deeper connections

Talk to any slow traveler and they'll probably tell you that the best thing about most places they visit is the people they meet there. Sharing stories, meals, and experiences with others can be much more rewarding than simply ticking things off from a travel itinerary. 

When you slow down and spend extended periods in one place, you have the chance to build meaningful connections with both locals and fellow travelers. These relationships can lead to lasting friendships, or at least some really nice memories to cherish. 

5. Deeper understanding of the world

Exploring a destination slowly also allows you to gain a more profound understanding of its history, politics, and social dynamics . You can visit local museums, attend lectures, and engage in conversations with residents to gain insights that you might miss on a whirlwind trip. 

With more time, you're also more likely to have time to reflect on what you learn, and maybe journal about it, or do further research on issues that spike your interest. This deeper knowledge can lead to a greater appreciation for the world's diversity and complexity.

6. Lower budget

Slow travel can be a budget-conscious traveler's dream. By spending more time in each destination, you can often find more affordable accommodation options , such as vacation rentals or guesthouses, or even volunteer in exchange for a free stay.

Additionally, you can take advantage of local markets and shops for groceries, reducing dining expenses by cooking your meals. 

Furthermore, slow travel often involves fewer transportation costs since you're not constantly moving between cities or countries. You'll also have more time to walk around or use public transportation, thus avoiding the high cost of taxi rides.

This allows you to allocate your budget to meaningful experiences and activities, making your money go further.

be a more conscious traveler

7. Go beyond your comfort zone

One of the most transformative aspects of slow travel is its ability to push you out of your comfort zone with enough time to allow for a less stressful adaptation. Staying in a place for an extended period makes it easier for you to adapt to new environments, cultures, and customs. 

You might find yourself communicating in a foreign language , navigating unfamiliar public transportation systems, or trying activities you've never considered before. These challenges can lead to personal growth and increased self-confidence.

8. Bring more meaning to your travels

In a world where quick snapshots and fleeting visits dominate travel, slow travel stands out for its ability to add profound meaning to your journeys in many ways.

When you spend more time in a place, you can also engage in volunteer work or contribute to local community projects through platforms like Worldpackers .

This hands-on involvement, as well as having the time to adapt to local culture and research about how to be a more respectful traveler there, allows you to leave a positive impact on the places you visit.

Slow travel also encourages introspection, giving you the time to reflect on your experiences and their significance in your life, fostering a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

9. Reduced environmental impact

Slow travel often involves choosing more sustainable transportation options , such as trains or buses, over carbon-intensive flights. By taking your time and minimizing the distance covered in a single trip, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.

Additionally, you're more likely to support local businesses , which can contribute to the economic sustainability of the community you're visiting. If you're worried about traveling sustainably , slow travel is a great way to go.

You might also like to read:

  • Exploring agriturismo Italy: a journey into rural life
  • California Wilderness Areas: the most amazing places to visit
  • What is cultural exchange and how to experience it?

travel more sustainably

How to embrace the slow travel mindset

There's no single way to practice slow travel, but there are some basic concepts that can direct your decisions from the travel planning to the trip itself. 

The slow travel mindset is one that will eventually help you learn how to choose experiences that immerse you as you explore the unknown. By slowing down, you are allowing those experiences to educate, inspire, and alter you. 

The first step is deciding that you want to live like a local instead of a tourist. Maintaining a balanced itinerary will give you the best of both worlds — a loose plan to see the sights that gives you room to pace yourself and make spontaneous decisions. 

Becoming a slow traveler is all about traveling with intention . Each decision is conscious and unscripted, opening the floodgates for unique and authentic experiences to fall right in your lap.

Instead of reaching for your phone to snap that Instagram-worthy photo, take a step back to understand the local customs and embrace cultural differences and the local community. Replace simply "seeing" the many different sights on your to-do list with "being" there instead. 

You'll connect much more easily to the world and the beautiful people in it this way, which will last longer than rushed sightseeing memories. Travel is one of the most rewarding, eye-opening, and challenging experiences available to us. That's why it's so important to not only see, but to discover and grow.

Slow travel encourages independence and values off-the-beaten-path experiences over touristy, heavily trafficked ones. When we are able to immerse in local culture and experience a country this way, we are gathering up meaningful, rich experiences as if they were precious treasures. Travel is more about your personal journey within a new area than it is about the destination itself.

When thinking of the slow travel experiences you'd like to have, quality matters over quantity. Don't race to get it all done, and know that it's okay to book another trip in the future if you decide you absolutely love it. Choose to wake up on some days without plans, allowing your path to be guided by the spirit of adventure.

how to practice slow travel

How to put slow travel into practice

Before booking that fast-paced 10-day guided tour through Europe, strive to make time to plan an itinerary that lets you linger . Pick a destination and choose to be there longer, experiencing the local culture, cuisine, music, and way of life firsthand.

Let your experience with a new country be your own rather than have it regurgitated to you by a tour guide.

Follow your nose through a street lined with food trucks as you venture to try the local delicacies. Meander through an art museum with purpose as you analyze and appreciate the influential art that surrounds you. 

Forge real connections with the friendly locals and they just might lead you to a hidden gem within their city. Wander through a national park as you connect with nature . 

Try something adventurous every so often to invigorate your senses and make you feel alive. 

Having a slow travel mindset will help you thrive in an unfamiliar country and give you the courage to be more involved in the local lifestyle.

Another great example of slow travel is taking road trips! You get to set your own pace, let your hair down, and enjoy the ride. This is a great way to see the sights like a local would and go wherever you set your heart on. 

Cultural home stays are another unique way to get to know the local community . The families you get the opportunity to stay with will most likely prepare you a deliciously authentic, home-cooked meal, tell exciting stories about their family and culture, and give you some helpful insights on how to experience their city.

A practical guide to slow travel

In order to travel slowly , be sure to:

  • Leave room in your itinerary for spontaneous, interesting travel experiences to fit into your day. This will help you learn to step out of your comfort zone .
  • Stay in your destination longer before moving on to a new area.
  • See the famous spots if you want, but ask yourself if you're really interested in them, or just feel like you should see them.
  • Try to  steer clear of tourist traps and find new ways to see a popular landmark whenever possible.
  • Be flexible with your itinerary to avoid the stress of racing to each activity.
  • Ask locals for travel recommendations . They have much better tips than any travel guide, and you never know what fun event you might be invited to!
  • Try different methods of transportation . Rather than taking a crowded bus tour through the city, hop on a bike or scooter or take a free walking tour to see more at your own speed.
  • Stay with locals . Booking your accommodation through Airbnb, Couchsurfing, and Worldpackers will be wildly cheaper and provide you with a better experience overall than if you were to stay at a boring, generic hotel. Meeting your host is sometimes one of the most beneficial parts of a trip!

volunteer and travel slower

Why you should slow travel with Worldpackers

Worldpackers  is a collaborative travel platform that connects travelers to hosts from all around the world who need a hand in all sorts of tasks. In exchange for a few hours of work, you'll get free accommodation and possibly other perks like meals and tours. 

However, it's about much more than simply saving money: the best part is connecting with the host and other volunteers while you live like a local and experience a much deeper cultural immersion than the average tourist. You'll also get the chance to develop your skills or find hidden talents.

Slow travel completely aligns with the platform's mission as it seeks to provide travelers with enriching experiences that benefit both parties involved. Worldpackers believes that this type of cultural immersion is what makes each corner of the world special and worth seeing. 

As you search through the wide array of Worldpackers work exchange , social impact , and eco programs , you'll notice that the time you'll spend helping your host each week is balanced out by all the extra time you'll have each day to explore that location more fully. 

You can volunteer in farm stays, eco villages, hostels, glamping sites, NGOs, home stays, permaculture projects, social projects, guest houses and even castles or boats , either near your home or on the other side of the world. 

Keep reading:

  • Voluntourism: a slow and responsible way to travel the world
  • Manifesto for a more conscientious and collective tourism

7 simple ways to become a mindful traveler

slow travel with worldpackers

There are hosts that accept travelers for just a few days, but Worldpackers opportunities are the perfect work and travel experiences to sign up for if you're planning to stay in your destination of choice for a long period of time. Free accommodation and meals will cut down on daily living expenses and will help better fund your travels.

By exchanging your skills with the locals and living with them for an extended stay, you are actively joining their community and doing your part to impact their lives in a positive way. 

Worldpackers  travel stimulates inner growth , cultivates a love of learning and support, and fuels the traveler's desire to keep volunteering around the world.  

be a slow  traveler

Ready to start enjoying all the benefits of slow travel? Browse through the Worldpackers website , set up your profile and start saving your favorite work exchange positions all around the world.

If you have any questions about slow travel or volunteering, ask us in the comments section!

Join the community!

Create a free Worldpackers account to discover volunteer experiences perfect for you and get access to exclusive travel discounts!

Rachael Grow

Let's Grow There

Over the past five years I have worn many hats as a creative freelancer and have been able to pursue adventures across the globe. To me, travel is more than checking a box or sitting on the perfect beach all day. Travel is about self-discovery, keeping an open mind, and learning through culture immersion. In 2017 I was chosen by one of my favorite travel bloggers, The Blonde Abroad, to attend her first ever blogging retreat in Bali with a handful of other inspiring bloggers. It was truly a dream that taught me so much more than I could imagine. Fast-forward to 2019 when I was given the role of one of the lead English writer for Worldpackers. My in-depth articles touched on subjects like volunteer work, overcoming post-travel blues, outdoorsy tips, and boldly adventuring. Inner growth is my jam.

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Aug 15, 2023

Great article

Aug 31, 2023

An interesting and engaging article on a new topic is something that not everyone can do. I appreciate your article.

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The perfect minimalist packing list

Responsible travel for the solo adventurer.

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How do Worldpackers trips work?

As a member, you can contact as many hosts and travel safely as many times as you want.

Choose your plan to travel with Worldpackers as many times as you like.

Complete your profile, watch the video lessons in the Academy, and earn certificates to stand out to hosts.

Apply to as many positions as you like, and get in contact with our verified hosts.

If a host thinks you’re a good fit for their position, they’ll pre-approve you.

Get your documents and tickets ready for your volunteer trip.

Confirm your trip to enjoy all of the safety of Worldpackers.

Have a transformative experience and make a positive impact on the world.

If anything doesn’t go as planned with a host, count on the WP Safeguard and our highly responsive support team!

After volunteering, you and your host exchange reviews.

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Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

Travel Better, Cheaper, Longer

A Traveler’s Manifesto: 30 Travel Rules to Live By

nomadic matt's manifesto black and white

As travelers of the world, we have a unique opportunity to break down barriers, foster cultural exchange, and create a positive impact on communities around the world. We can banish stereotypes of our own cultures, stimulate the local economy, and bring fresh ideas and perspectives.

Travel can be a life-changing experience — not only for the destination you are visiting but also for yourself. It helps us walk away a better version of ourselves and with a better understanding of the world.

Yet too often, travelers become the worst versions of themselves — throwing up on streets, being obnoxious to locals, demanding that places conform to their needs, contributing to waste and overtourism , and ignoring local customs.

Too many travelers treat destinations as their personal hedonistic plaything.

Therefore, in order to foster positive social exchange, get the most out of travel, and be awesome , I say that we travelers take the following pledge so we can be the kind of people other travelers want to know and locals don’t hate, as well as better for it:

1. I will read about where I’m going before I get there.

2. I will be respectful of local cultures and customs.

3. I will learn some phrases in the local language .

4. I will try one thing I’m afraid of.

5. I will not turn cheapness into a competition, since travel is not a race to the bottom.

6. I will eat the local food .

7. I will not haggle over less than a dollar.

8. I will not be a loud, obnoxious traveler that demands that locals conform to my values.

9. I will have patience.

10. I will be humble.

11. I will have no regrets about partying until dawn, but I will be respectful of my hostel dorm mates and their sleep.

12. I will learn to hold my liquor. If not, I will limit my intake.

13. I will understand that traveling is not an excuse to give up on personal hygiene.

14. I will not ask fellow travelers the same questions over and over again; instead, will get to know them beyond where they are going, where they’ve been, and how long they are traveling for.

15. I will not turn travel into a competition, since it is a personal experience .

16. I will not tell people how many places I’ve been – because no one cares.

17. I will not whine about how a destination was so much better ten years ago, nor will I listen to those who do. Because who cares? All you have is now. You can’t go back to the past.

18. I will not judge people on how often they return to a destination.

19. I will not be a smugly superior backpacker and judge others for how they travel .

20. I will not judge people for not packing light or eating comfort food when they feel homesick.

21. I will remember to get off Facebook, put my camera down, and enjoy the moment .

22. I will travel slow.

23. I will have no regrets about changing plans at the last minute.

24. I will go in any direction my heart desires and follow my wanderlust.

25. I will remember that this is a privilege .

26. I will not decide if I love or hate an entire country within a few hours of being there and interacting with a handful of people.

27. I will not drink and drive. Even on a motorbike. Even in Southeast Asia. Even if everyone else is doing it. Because I value my life and the lives of others and I’m not an idiot.

28. I will be respectful of the environment and limit my plastic consumption.

29. I will not ride animals nor visit an animal experience that involves petting or touching that exists solely for tourist purposes.

30. I will be grateful for every stupid, amazing, unexpected, breathtaking moment on the road and all the wonderful people who enrich my life.

We all have our own interests, preferences, and desires. But as we start the new year, let’s all make a commitment to be better travelers. Let’s be respectful, curious, and supportive. Let’s be the best versions of ourselves as we hit the road and experience everything this world has to offer.  

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner . It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld . If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

  • SafetyWing (best for everyone)
  • Insure My Trip (for those 70 and over)
  • Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals.

Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more.

Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.

Got a comment on this article? Join the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter and share your thoughts!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to keeping the site community supported and ad free.

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We’re on a mission to make slow travel more accessible.

We believe that slow travel is a strong force for change. Yet, planning slow travel adventures isn’t a piece of cake. It takes long evenings and many websites to plan trips.

Our goal is to create positive impact by making it easier for more people to go on slow travel adventures. Here's what it comes down to for us.

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💚 The long-term impact we envision

1. Create social connections

Slow travel creates positive social links between urban & rural areas, and create social interactions with mutual respect.

2. Support local businesses

Slow travel allows travellers to explore new regions, and contribute to the development of locally-owned businesses and communities.

3. Enable climate-neutral travels

Slow travel enables opportunities for reducing our carbon footprint and making a positive impact on what's surrounding us.

✍️ Our slow travel manifesto

Principle 1 Your journey starts at km 0, which is the moment you leave home.

Principle 2 Follow your curiosity and enjoy what and whom you encounter along your path. It’s about the journey, not the destination.

Principle 3 There's thousands of things to discover around you. Slow travel makes you get to places that you wouldn't discover otherwise.

Principle 4 Each journey consists of many small pieces coming together with you leading your own journey.

Principle 5 While good data is the road to slow travel, the use of open data and open-source software promotes the development of slow travel as a public good.

Principle 6 By combining different modes of sustainable transport, you can get nearly everywhere.

Principle 7 Less is more for slow travel. It makes you go back to the basics.

Principle 8 Slow travel makes you vulnerable which means that you can easily connect with others. There's (almost) always a solution behind the corner.

Principle 9 A community-based approach promotes participation, involvement and trust.

Principle 10 Everyone should be able to slow travel. Slow travellers pave the way for more people to join the movement.

👋 Meet our team

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"Slow travel is magic! I’m so excited that we can help people discover new places and things.”

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"I’ve learned so much by going on slow travel adventures. I’m now passionate about helping others.”

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"I love to work on the technology that enables fantastic experiences for people.”

🙌 Our way of working

1. Impact first

As a social enterprise, our primary goal is to achieve our mission. We want our success to be directly linked to the value created for travellers.

2. Dialogue with all different stakeholders

Slow travels consist of many small pieces coming together. That's why it's so important for us to be in a constant dialogue with all stakeholders.

3. Active and accessible information

To achieve our mission, we combine revenue-generating activities with not-for-profit activities. We actively communicate about our work, impact and finances.

4. Contributing to the open ecosystem

Good data and tools are the road to slow travel. While creating value on top of existing open data and tools, we also aim to actively contribute to the open ecosystem.

🤩 Discover our projects

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A network of citizens opening their gardens as free camping spots to slow travellers.

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A 3-day community event with 150 cycling enthusiasts in Belgium.

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Our award-winning film about cycling from Brussels to Tokyo.

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Visit Welcome To My Garden

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Made with 💚 by Manon, Dries & Thor

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The Slow Travel Manifesto

Rhea Baweja

Have you ever sat by the window onboard a flight, watching the world below whizz past unassumingly, and wondered what it would be like to explore those distant landscapes, wander past the flashing lights and walk down the roads that look like crossed wires from up in the air? If you emphatically nodded your head in agreement, then this one’s for you.

Slow travel is a philosophy that seeks to decelerate the pace of modern travel. By actively taking the ‘slow’ road, we’re able to fully engage with the spaces and places they meander through. Living like a local, thinking about our impact, and making meaningful connections with both, people and places are cardinal elements of this philosophy. In part, a reaction to contemporary society’s fixation on “fast,” slow travel substitutes speed and convenience for patience and engagement.

The idea of slow travel has its origins in the slow-food movement, which was established in protest to the opening of a McDonald’s franchise in Rome during the 1980s. At the time, residents of the Italian capital saw the introduction of the fast-food chain as an attack to their city’s culinary scene. Now, the slow-food movement champions sourcing ingredients from sustainable providers that are local to the region and preparing food using traditional methods. This is an attempt to preserve the connection that diners have with where their food comes from, the people making it, and those they enjoy it with. Slow travel grew from this philosophy and, as such, has retained its focus on community, sustainability, and enjoyment.

A primary element of the slow-travel manifesto is engagement with the communities travellers come to exist within. While there is much to be said for seeing renowned landmarks, slow travellers search for the life that buzzes beyond tourist traps. They spend time learning the rhythm of the places they visit, immersing themselves in the local rather than rushing to the next thing on the “Top 10” list as soon as they’ve checked something off.

slow travel manifesto

Above all, the slow-travel movement is about enjoying every aspect of your journey. Traveling from A to B as fast as possible means missing out on the beauty of the in between. Leaving the hustle and bustle of our busy lives behind and going off in search of the wonderful minutiae of the everyday can be just as, if not more, rewarding. Slow travel is meant to reshape how we perceive the intermediary time spent traveling, transforming it from a nuisance into a joy in its own right.

slow travel manifesto

Not needing to rush to the next stop on your itinerary will free up time and allow you to gain a sense of life in a place rather than simply seeing its “greatest” sights and moving on. That said, if you do have a few must-see locales on your list of things to do, then try walking between them rather than taking a bus, train, or car. Thinking locally is important, so perhaps instead of jetting off to another hemisphere, opt for hopping on a train and heading just a few stops down the line to explore somewhere you’ve never been before — odds are, you’ll be surprised at what a curious wanderer can find.

Written By Rhea Baweja

Week 1, 1st January 2021

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Go on a slow travel trip and rediscover the feeling of having time.

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Start at your nearest train station Get your secret trip in your inbox 3 days before you leave. Start from your train station. Sit back and get ready to explore!

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Explore new places by foot or bicycle Follow your unique itinerary and discover unknown places along your way. We've got you covered. The road is yours, enjoy!

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Camp in a garden or sleep inside ‍ Meet our fantastic Welcome To My Garden ambassadors or stay inside in slow travel-friendly places. Recharge for the next day!

How it works, your journey starts now. let's explain, plan your trip, get prepared, start exploring.

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Highly-curated slow travel trips

Planned in a few clicks, made possible by welcome to my garden ambassadors, travel stories, read the stories of slow travellers who already left on a secret trip..

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Our mission is to create positive societal impact through slow travel..

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A secret slow travel trip as you like it.

Slow travel made easy..

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Get your equipment and get ready to explore:

Personal day-by-day roadbook, nice hand-picked stops along your way, camp in a garden or sleep inside (new), direct personal contact with us, what we take care of: planning your unique slow travel experience.

  • You select your pieces of the puzzle and we put it all together. You receive a roadbook with your itinerary including curated points of interests.
  • With our fantastic ambassadors of Welcome To My Garden, we arrange a nice and safe spot for you to camp for the night. For each stay in a garden, a €5 donation goes to a positive impact initiative chosen by the WTMG ambassadors.
  • During your trip, you can always reach us via WhatsApp to ask a question or just share your excitement.

What you take care of with our support

  • You will be travelling with your own camping equipment & bicycle. Don't worry if you don't have everything, we'll give you the best tricks and tips to find them.
  • From your railway station, you can either start cycling or first take the train. If you want to take a train, we will suggest you what tickets you need and you can buy them directly at the station.

🎉 New: gift cards for secret trips!

Give a secret slow travel trip to your friends or family. (normally €150), unlimited access to.

  • Our full collection of highly-curated trips, with the possibility to easily find trips leaving from your nearest railway station.
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Early access to

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  • Members help us sustain and further develop Welcome To My Garden as a not-for-profit network.

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Slow travel is about making conscious choices, and not letting the anticipation of arrival undermine the pleasure of the journey. By choosing to travel slowly, we reshape our relationship with place and with the communities through which we pass on our journeys. In 2009 we launched our 'Manifesto for slow travel'. You can read the full text here.

O ver the last few hundred years there has been a subtle shift in how we think about travel. Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead can be read as an intriguing piece of travel writing. Homer's Odyssey is an equally fabulous travel narrative. Yet travel has somehow slipped out of fashion. True, we fly hither and thither, but travel is rarely valued for its own sake. Instead it is recast as a minor inconvenience that somehow intervenes between our point of departure and our intended destination. The pleasure of the journey is eclipsed by anticipation of arrival. To get there fast is better than to travel slow.

Yet where would travel be without all those slow journeys of yesteryear? Adventures like Patrick Leigh Fermor's long walk across Europe, Isabelle Eberhardt's remarkable wanderings through the Maghreb or Freya Stark's travels with a donkey through an Arabian winter.

Donkeys, it seems, are an indispensable asset to the would-be slow traveller. They are reportedly faster than a camel (if Freya Stark is to be believed), yet markedly slower than planes, trains and buses. If Robert Louis Stevenson managed perfectly okay travelling through the Cévennes area of France with a donkey, why don't we all eschew trains and take donkeys?

We have lost our sense of time. We believe that we can add meaning to life by making things go faster. We have an idea that life is short — and that we must go faster to fit everything in. But life is long. The problem is that we don’t know how to spend our time wisely. (Carlo Petrini, Founder of the Slow Food Movement, September 2008)

Modernity comes at a cost. Even in the mid-nineteenth century, the French travel writer Théophile Gautier was bemoaning how tiresome travel was becoming. Being tossed from side to side in a stagecoach, he averred, was not real travel at all. "You might as well stay at home," he wrote in Voyage en Espagne (1843). Two centuries later, millions of folk every day are packed like sardines into fragile aluminium tubes which then shoot through the sky at slightly less than the speed of sound - and all in the name of travel.

So perhaps it is time that we rediscovered our donkeys. Or at the very least considered the merits of slow travel.

It is not compulsory to jet from London to the Mediterranean in less time than it takes to enjoy a leisurely lunch. There is an alternative, and that is to take a slower route.

If we have slow food and slow cities, then why not slow travel? Canadian journalist Carl Honoré nicely criticised the cult of speed in his 2004 book In Praise of Slow . Yet although he surveyed the gamut of human activity from sex to the workplace, he had relatively little to say about travel.

Slow travel is about making conscious choices. It is about deceleration rather than speed. The journey becomes a moment to relax, rather than a stressful interlude imposed between home and destination. Slow travel re-engineers time, transforming it into a commodity of abundance rather than scarcity. And slow travel also reshapes our relationship with places, encouraging and allowing us to engage more intimately with the communities through which we travel.

The choice is not simply one of plane versus train. Some modern rail services are much too fast to afford any serious appreciation of passing landscape. One can streak through flattish Flanders on Eurostar and the experience is exhilarating.

Move to more complex topographies and high speed rail becomes disorientating. The fast trains on the new rail route that runs northwest from Frankfurt-am-Main slice determinedly through the wooded hills of the Taunus, defying the warp and weft of the landscape with moments of stroboscopic wonder, and depositing their distracted passengers in Cologne in little more than an hour. There are flashes of light between tunnels, angled glimpses of the sky and plenty of scope for headaches. It is a considerable technological feat, to be sure, but is being shot through the Taunus like a bullet actually better than sticking to the old rail route along the Rhine valley to Cologne? There the train follows the meandering course of the river, affording wonderful views of gabled villages, precipitous vineyards and romantic gorges. True, the old valley route takes twice or thrice as long as the new fast line, but the experience is incomparably better. Dedicated slow travel purists might even consider dispensing altogether with the train and instead using the boat for part of the journey.

During the twentieth century, speed was associated with success. The seductive allure of fast cars, jet planes and premium service trains sidetracked travellers. Now new priorities are emerging: low impact tourism, engaging with people, giving something back to the communities we visit, and being aware of our carbon footprints.

Slow travel is not about money or privilege. Slow travel is a state of mind. It is about having the courage not to go the way of the crowd. Popular wisdom may suggest that a first visit to Italy must necessarily include Venice, Florence and other ‘must-see’ spots. But in fact there are no ‘must-see’ destinations. The glossy travel magazines, tour operators and public relations agencies hype cities and regions, resorts and restaurants. And modern tourists progress from place to place, ticking off countries, cities and communities as staging posts in a pilgrimage of mass consumption.

The slow traveller does not play the same dangerous game. I forgo the false authenticity bred of shared chatter about ‘my Venice experience’ and instead take to the back streets, linger longer and try to understand what makes a community tick. I skip coffee at chains like Costas and Starbucks, and stick to locally owned cafés, eat good regional produce, use local buses and try to visit places cherished by the local community. These are not necessarily the same as the big tourist sights.

As a travel writer, I find the process of experiencing a place is essentially phenomenological. The city square was not designed as a place for tourists, but rather as the context for everyday lives. It deserves more than a casual glance — cityscapes are there to be studied and observed in detail. They are spurs to meditation, and only much later can words flow. And what is true of cities is equally true, often even more true, of rural communities. But this mode of approaching the world is not merely the prerogative of the travel writer, nor indeed can travel writers claim any ownership over the notion. These are ideas that have been part of the orchestra of geographic thought for decades. French geographers like Vidal de La Blache immersed themselves in the environments which they studied. Only now are these ideas being discovered by a wider public.

How do you really capture the essence of a region or a country? Will I understand the United States better if I spend a month in New York, make a whirlwind tour of all fifty state capitals (some of which are in quite improbably offbeat spots), or drive slowly from coast to coast taking the pulse of changing landscapes and communities along the route? Travellers are beginning to realise that they face real choices. A week in a village in rural Provence may tell more of France than a day spent in each of seven French cities. A full day's hike through Berlin’s suburbs, criss-crossing from east to west and back again, will surely afford better insights into everyday life in the German capital than a trek around the main tourist sights.

It is easy to practice slow travel. Start at home. Explore your immediate locality. Leave the car at home and take a local bus to a village or suburb that perhaps you have never visited. Plan expeditions that probe the jungles and traverse the deserts of your home neighbourhood. Visit a church, a community centre, a café, a library or a cinema that you have passed a thousand times but never entered.

Slow travel reinvigorates our habits of perception, taunting us to look more deeply into that we thought we already knew. And at its best it reintroduces a welcome measure of uncertainty into travel. Just as the moody donkey did for Freya Stark and Robert Louis Stevenson. When we jet from London to Lisbon by plane, we know roughly when we will arrive. But when we set out from Lisbon to return to London using only local buses, stopping trains and ferries, we have no very clear idea what may happen along the route, nor indeed when we shall reach London.

For some travellers, that very uncertainty is disquieting. Fast lives demand confirmed arrival times. Slow travellers delight in the magic of the unexpected. Théophile Gaultier, that nineteenth-century French travel writer whom we mentioned earlier, regretted that even in his day there was little adventure left in travel. The absence of the unexpected breeds only a numbing boredom which makes Moscow and Madrid seem indistinguishable. “What charm can there be in a journey,” asks Gautier, “when one is always sure to arrive and find horses ready, a downy bed, an excellent supper and all the comforts that one enjoys at home?”

Journeys are, as Alain de Botton aptly reminds us, the midwives of thought. A good thought, like a good donkey, is something to be nurtured. Neither likes to be rushed. So make a resolution for 2009. Think before you fly. Travel slow, explore byways, avoid the big tourist sights, and where once you might have thought of pausing merely overnight, stay instead for a few days. “The art of living,” says Carlo Petrini, the charismatic founder of the Slow Food Movement, “is about learning how to give time to each and every thing.” And that, most surely, should include travel.

Slow travel Europe: some guiding principles

It is not for us to prescribe how you should travel. But we offer some thoughts which might appeal to readers interested in exploring slow travel options as they explore Europe.

  • Start at home. The key to slow travel is a state of mind. That can be developed at home.
  • Travel slow. Avoid planes if at all possible, and instead enjoy ferries, local buses and slow trains. Speed destroys the connection with landscape. Slow travel restores it.
  • You may eagerly look forward to the arrival at your chosen destination, but don’t let that anticipation eclipse the pleasure of the journey.
  • Check out local markets and shops.
  • Savour café culture. Sitting in a café, you become part of the cityscape and not merely a passing observer.
  • Take time to get a feel for the languages and dialects of the areas you visit. Learn a few phrases, use a dictionary and buy a local newspaper.
  • Engage with communities at the right level. Choose accommodation and eating options that are appropriate to the area where you are travelling.
  • Do what the locals do, not only what the guidebooks say.
  • Savour the unexpected. Delayed trains or missed bus connections create new opportunities.
  • Think what you can give back to the communities you visit.

An Essex backwater: Discovering Harwich

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The old town of Harwich, a port in the county of Essex on England's North Sea coast, is tucked away on the end of a peninsula. Maritime connections have shaped the development of Harwich. It's a place for sea breezes, rock oysters and watching the ferries come and go.

At the water's edge: Germany's Wadden Sea

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Within just a few centuries, the geography of the Frisian region has been reshaped by storms and tides. Paul Scraton is a regular writer for hidden europe; here he explores Germany’s Wadden Sea coastline. It’s a tale that shows the power of the sea.

Editorial hidden europe 53

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TRAVEL SLOWLY

SLOW, CONSCIOUS AND SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL – A SLOW TRAVEL BLOG

Tag: donkeys

Donkey hiking. individual travel or guided day trip.

„Donkeys, it seems, are an indispensable asset to the would-be slow traveller“, writes Nicky Gardner in the Slow Travel Manifesto.[1] Donkeys as transportation unite the longing for speed of the 19th century and the desire for slowing down of the 21st century. Earlier adventurers preferred fast donkeys over camels to cross deserts. Today, donkeys are…

Slow Travel Manifesto

2009 travel writer Nicky Gardner formulated the Slow Travel Manifesto in English. Attached you find the German translation by TRAVEL SLOWLY. Ein Manifest für Slow Travel In den letzten 100 Jahren fand ein subtiler Wandel bezüglich unseres Verständnisses vom Reisen statt. Dantes Reise durch die drei Reiche der jenseitigen Welt kann als fesselnder Reisebericht gelesen…

Einstein's last message was a dire warning against nuclear war that's still relevant today. Here's what it said.

  •  Einstein urged Roosevelt to fund uranium research, fearing Germany would develop an atomic bomb .
  • After the war, the physicist expressed regret for his role in developing the bomb.
  • His final public act was to sign a manifesto warning that H-bombs could destroy humankind.

Insider Today

Shortly before his death in 1955, Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein signed a manifesto written by philosopher Bertrand Russell .

It was Einstein's last public act and would come to be named the Russell-Einstein Manifesto.

The document expressed fear that the public didn’t understand the power of newly developed hydrogen bombs, which are even more powerful than atomic ones.

In the manifesto, Russell warned, “that a war with H-bombs might possibly put an end to the human race."

Though the number has fluctuated over the decades, there are still around 12,500 nuclear weapons in nine countries today, so some of the scientists' fears communicated in the manifesto continue to be relevant today.

'The war is won, but the peace is not.'

In the years after the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many of the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project developing the weapons expressed remorse for their work.

They feared how similar bombs would be used in future wars .

Though he was never part of the Manhattan Project , Albert Einstein signed a letter to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, urging him to “speed up the experimental work” on uranium for potential use in atomic weapons.

Years later, the German physicist called the letter his "one great mistake."

A new Netflix docudrama, “ Einstein and the Bomb ,” uses footage and reenactments of the famous scientist and his shifting view of nuclear weapons.

It quotes his 1945 Nobel Prize address expressing concern over the future use of nuclear weapons , saying, “The war is won, but the peace is not.” 

By signing Russell's manifesto, Einstein hoped to warn the public about the dangers of these new weapons as his “final public act,” according to physicist Joseph Rotblat, who resigned from the Manhattan Project over moral objections.

Though this was decades before scientists proposed the theory of nuclear winter , the manifesto predicted the use of several H-bombs would lead to “ universal death ” by “a slow torture of disease and disintegration.”

Rotblat, Frederic Joliot-Curie, Linus Pauling, and other scientists signed the manifesto, which led to the establishment of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. The organization aims to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction. 

In 2013, Rotblat wrote that the manifesto’s statement "Remember your humanity, and forget the rest" was as relevant as the day Russell wrote it. 

Here's a full transcript of The Russell-Einstein Manifesto

9 July 1955

In the tragic situation which confronts humanity, we feel that scientists should assemble in conference to appraise the perils that have arisen as a result of the development of weapons of mass destruction, and to discuss a resolution in the spirit of the appended draft.

We are speaking on this occasion, not as members of this or that nation, continent or creed, but as human beings, members of the species Man, whose continued existence is in doubt. The world is full of conflicts; and, overshadowing all minor conflicts, the titanic struggle between Communism and anti-Communism.  

Almost everybody who is politically conscious has strong feelings about one or more of these issues; but we want you, if you can, to set aside such feelings and consider yourselves only as members of a biological species which has had a remarkable history, and whose disappearance none of us can desire.

We shall try to say no single word which should appeal to one group rather than to another. All, equally, are in peril, and, if the peril is understood, there is hope that they may collectively avert it.

We have to learn to think in a new way. We have to learn to ask ourselves, not what steps can be taken to give military victory to whatever group we prefer, for there no longer are such steps; the question we have to ask ourselves is: what steps can be taken to prevent a military contest of which the issue must be disastrous to all parties?

The general public, and even many men in positions of authority, have not realized what would be involved in a war with nuclear bombs. The general public still thinks in terms of the obliteration of cities. It is understood that the new bombs are more powerful than the old, and that, while one A-bomb could obliterate Hiroshima, one H-bomb could obliterate the largest cities, such as London, New York, and Moscow.

No doubt in an H-bomb war great cities would be obliterated. But this is one of the minor disasters that would have to be faced. If everybody in London, New York, and Moscow were exterminated the world might, in the course of a few centuries, recover from the blow. But we now know, especially since the Bikini test, that nuclear bombs can gradually spread destruction over a very much wider area than had been supposed.

It is stated on very good authority that a bomb can now be manufactured which will be 2,500 times as powerful as that which destroyed Hiroshima. Such a bomb, if exploded near the ground or under water, sends radio-active particles into the upper air. They sink gradually and reach the surface of the earth in the form of a deadly dust or rain. It was this dust which infected the Japanese fishermen and their catch of fish.

No one knows how widely such lethal radio-active particles might be diffused, but the best authorities are unanimous in saying that a war with H-bombs might quite possibly put an end to the human race. It is feared that if many H-bombs are used there will be universal death – sudden only for a minority, but for the majority a slow torture of disease and disintegration.

Many warnings have been uttered by eminent men of science and by authorities in military strategy. None of them will say that the worst results are certain. What they do say, is that these results are possible, and no one can be sure that they will not be realized. We have not yet found that the views of experts on this question depend in any degree upon their politics or prejudices. They depend only, so far as our researches have revealed, upon the extent of the particular expert’s knowledge. We have found that the men who know most are the most gloomy.

Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful, and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race: or shall mankind renounce war?1 People will not face this alternative because it is so difficult to abolish war.

The abolition of war will demand distasteful limitations of national sovereignty.2 But what perhaps impedes understanding of the situation more than anything else is that the term “mankind” feels vague and abstract. People scarcely realize in imagination that the danger is to themselves and their children and their grandchildren, and not only to a dimly apprehended humanity. They can scarcely bring themselves to grasp that they, individually, and those whom they love are in imminent danger of perishing agonizingly. And so they hope that perhaps war may be allowed to continue provided modern weapons are prohibited.

This hope is illusory. Whatever agreements not to use H-bombs had been reached in time of peace, they would no longer be considered binding in time of war, and both sides would set to work to manufacture H-bombs as soon as war broke out, for, if one side manufactured the bombs and the other did not, the side that manufactured them would inevitably be victorious.

Although an agreement to renounce nuclear weapons as part of a general reduction of armaments3 would not afford an ultimate solution, it would serve certain important purposes. First: any agreement between East and West is to the good in so far as it tends to diminish tension. Second: the abolition of thermo-nuclear weapons, if each side believed that the other had carried it out sincerely, would lessen the fear of a sudden attack in the style of Pearl Harbour, which at present keeps both sides in a state of nervous apprehension. We should therefore welcome such an agreement, though only as a first step.

Most of us are not neutral in feeling, but, as human beings, we have to remember that, if the issues between East and West are to be decided in any manner that can give any possible satisfaction to anybody, whether Communist or anti-Communist, whether Asian or European or American, whether White or Black, then these issues must not be decided by war. We should wish this to be understood both in the East and in the West.

There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal, as human beings, to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.

Resolution:

We invite this Congress, and through it the scientists of the world and the general public, to subscribe to the following resolution:

“In view of the fact that in any future world war nuclear weapons will certainly be employed, and that such weapons threaten the continued existence of mankind, we urge the governments of the world to realize, and to acknowledge publicly, that their purpose cannot be furthered by a world war, and we urge them, consequently, to find peaceful means for the settlement of all matters of dispute between them.”

Signatories:

Percy W. Bridgman

Albert Einstein

Leopold Infeld

Frederic Joliot-Curie

Herman J. Muller

Linus Pauling

Cecil F. Powell

Joseph Rotblat

Bertrand Russell

Hideki Yukawa

slow travel manifesto

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Even after snowstorm passes, sierra travel remained slow, tricky.

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Even with the weekend’s winter storm largely in the rearview, traffic conditions on Interstate 80 remained fluid Monday and roadways remained slick.

Interstate 80 reopened to traffic and trucks Monday, but portions of it closed again Monday night due to a jackknifed big rig and other concerns.

Prior to the partial closure, California Highway Patrol Ofc. Jason Lyman said that Monday had been a challenging day for crews, after an even more challenging weekend of severe winter weather.

“It has been a real mess,” Lyman said. “Please be patient. A lot of people have been waiting for several days to get up here.”

Lyman said one challenge crews were met with Monday was the influx of trucks ready to get back on the interstate. He urged all drivers to remember they must get off the roadway to install mandated chains.

“There are so many coming up at once. They’re running out of room to chain,” he said.

Reflecting on the weekend, Lyman praised the collaboration between the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans and other responding agencies. He said they all worked as hard as they could to ensure people were able to get off the freeway as quickly as possible as conditions deteriorated.

Those conditions left some drivers feeling cautious on Monday, including Nancy Daley.

“It’s beautiful,” Daley said. “We’ve just been taking it slow.”

Conditions also made for incredible conditions on the mountain, for those who could make it, Yugene Konnikov said.

“Great powder runs,” Konnikov said. “Knee-deep powder, waist-deep in some areas.”

Konnikov said after days of waiting, he and his friends finally made it to the Sugar Bowl to ride in the fresh powder.

While conditions had improved at the start of the week, officials urged drivers to continue using caution and checking for updated conditions on the interstate.

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IMAGES

  1. Travel Slow Manifesto

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  2. hidden europe

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  3. An Introduction To Slow Travel

    slow travel manifesto

  4. 10 Slow Travel Tips for Your Next Adventure

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  5. a manifesto for slow travel

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  6. Slow travel is our type of travel. And we're the slowest, as we walk

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  6. Manifesto

COMMENTS

  1. PDF a manifesto for slow travel

    a manifesto for slow travel. Over the last few hundred years there has been a subtle shift in how we think about travel. Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead can be read as an intriguing piece of travel writing. Homer's Odyssey is an equally fabulous travel narrative.

  2. hidden europe

    by Nicky Gardner. Slow travel is about making conscious choices, and not letting the anticipation of arrival undermine the pleasure of the journey. By choosing to travel slowly, we reshape our relationship with place and with the communities through which we pass on our journeys. In 2009 we launched our 'Manifesto for slow travel'.

  3. Slow Travel Manifesto

    Slow travel is about experiences over sights. It's the participation in ordinary daily activities to learn how people live: their food, culture, language, the quirky details that make a place unique, and the similarities that weave a common thread through humanity. Slow travel is an in depth style of travel. It's about getting to know one ...

  4. The Art of Slow Travel (How to HACK Travel 2024)

    It's about writing your own manifesto. Slow travel is the whole reason you hit the road in the first place. I'm on the slow road, bro! Image: Samantha Shea. Skip Your Itinerary. For me, there's a mindset shift that is crucial to slow travel. My rigid itinerary would have me up at 6 am to try Trip Advisor's best croissant and then ...

  5. Slow Travel Europe

    A Manifesto for Slow Travel. Over the last few hundred years there has been a subtle shift in how we think about travel. Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead can be read as an intriguing piece of travel writing. Homer's Odyssey is an equally fabulous travel narrative. Yet travel has somehow slipped out of fashion.

  6. A Manifesto for Slow Travel

    Why Slow Travel is good for the soul. An excellent article written in 2009 by Nicky Gardiner expressed all the reasons why I started Slow Tours in 2007. It is a beautifully written article 'A Manifesto for Slow Travel'. Take a few moments to read this small extract and you will understand our philosophy and why Slow Tours was founded.

  7. Savoring the Journey: The Philosophy of Slow Travel

    Slow travel is the space between the notes, the silence that makes the music. It's about the immersive experience that allows us to absorb the subtleties and complexities of a culture. ... The Slow Traveler's Manifesto. As a slow traveler, I pledge to tread lightly and with intention, to seek out the path less trodden, and to find the ...

  8. eftopia's guide to slow travel

    To the modern traveler, Constantine P. Cavafy's "Ithaca" serves as a guide—a poetic manifesto of slow travel. It beckons us to wander with intention, to relish each experience, and to find joy in the moments of stillness. As the philosopher Epicurus once said, *"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."*

  9. Slowby

    Where Covid-19 forced us to rethink the way we live, work and travel, it made many of us enjoy the beauty of a bicycle ride or hike nearby. Yet, making the move to slow and sustainable travels isn't a piece of cake. It takes long evenings and many websites to plan a trip. We have big ambitions to make slow travel planning easy and more ...

  10. Why Slow Travel is a More Responsible Way to Explore

    The benefits of going slow. Slow travel is good for us in other ways, too, calming our over-stimulated nervous systems, and giving us a break from the ongoing epidemic of busyness that infects our lives. It's a chance to press 'pause' and, hopefully, 'reset'. "The essence of holidays, and therefore travel, is to get what you don't ...

  11. Slow Travel: Taking a Step Back

    The Slow-Travel Manifesto. A primary element of the slow-travel manifesto is engagement with the communities travelers come to exist within. Trading well-trod sights for lesser-seen parts of a city means putting yourself in a position where you are the odd one out — in doing so you'll see the side of a place that isn't shaped for tourists' eyes.

  12. Slow Travel Europe

    A Manifesto for Slow Travel. Over the last few hundred years there has been a subtle shift in how we think about travel. Dante's journey through the three realms of the dead can be read as an intriguing piece of travel writing. Homer's Odyssey is an equally fabulous travel narrative. Yet travel has somehow slipped out of fashion.

  13. Complete guide to slow travel: why and how to practice it

    Slow travel allows you to set a more relaxed pace, reducing stress and anxiety. You can take the time to be spontaneous, relax, and appreciate the beauty of each moment. This approach results in a more enjoyable travel experience. 3. Enhanced well-being.

  14. Slow movement (culture)

    Aspects of slow travel, including some of the principles detailed in the "Manifesto for Slow Travel", are now increasingly featured in travel writing. The magazine Hidden Europe, which first published the "Manifesto for Slow Travel", has particularly showcased slow travel, featuring articles that focus on unhurried, low-impact journeys and ...

  15. A Traveler's Manifesto: 30 Travel Rules to Live By

    5. I will not turn cheapness into a competition, since travel is not a race to the bottom. 6. I will eat the local food. 7. I will not haggle over less than a dollar. 8. I will not be a loud, obnoxious traveler that demands that locals conform to my values. 9.

  16. Facebook

    ️ Our slow travel manifesto. Principle 1 Your journey starts at km 0, which is the moment you leave home. Principle 2 Follow your curiosity and enjoy what and whom you encounter along your path. It's about the journey, not the destination. Principle 3 There's thousands of things to discover around you. Slow travel makes you get to places ...

  17. The Slow Travel Manifesto

    The Slow Travel Manifesto. Nooks And Valleys. Follow. Jul 6, 2019 ...

  18. What is slow travel

    In a world perpetually rushing forward, where digital notifications punctuate every moment and destinations are often treated as mere checkboxes, there's a poetic call to pause, reflect, and ...

  19. Origin

    This constructions lead to a multiplicity of interpretations and formed the Slow Travel trend how it is lived individually today. From 2009, the authors of the British travel magazine Hidden Europe developed the Slow Travel term further. Travel writer and publisher Nicky Gardner wrote the Slow Travel Manifesto. It was published in the 26. issue ...

  20. The Slow Travel Manifesto

    The Slow Travel Manifesto. Rhea Baweja. Have you ever sat by the window onboard a flight, watching the world below whizz past unassumingly, and wondered what it would be like to explore those distant landscapes, wander past the flashing lights and walk down the roads that look like crossed wires from up in the air? If you emphatically nodded ...

  21. Slowby

    Go on a slow travel trip and rediscover the feeling of having time. Our cycling and hiking trips make it easy to spend time in nature and discover new places. Tested by 600+ travellers. ‍. New: Get access to our best 25+ multi-day cycling and hiking trips in Belgium with our Slow Travel Pass! Plan Your Trip. How it works.

  22. hidden europe

    Slow travel is about making conscious choices, and not letting the anticipation of arrival undermine the pleasure of the journey. By choosing to travel slowly, we reshape our relationship with place and with the communities through which we pass on our journeys. In 2009 we launched our 'Manifesto for slow travel'. You can read the full text here.

  23. donkeys

    „Donkeys, it seems, are an indispensable asset to the would-be slow traveller", writes Nicky Gardner in the Slow Travel Manifesto.[1] Donkeys as transportation unite the longing for speed of the 19th century and the desire for slowing down of the 21st century. Earlier adventurers preferred fast donkeys over camels to cross deserts.

  24. Here's a full transcript of The Russell-Einstein Manifesto

    By signing Russell's manifesto, Einstein hoped to warn the public about the dangers of these new weapons as his "final public act," according to physicist Joseph Rotblat, who resigned from the ...

  25. Even after snowstorm passes, Sierra travel remained slow, tricky

    Even with the weekend's winter storm largely in the rearview, traffic conditions on Interstate 80 remained fluid Monday and roadways remained slick.

  26. Fish crossing ahead for US 101 south of Forks

    Another fish project will affect travel on US 101 in Jefferson and Clallam counties this summer. The US 101/Northwest US 101 - Remove Fish Barriers project will replace outdated culverts at five locations. Initial work will begin mid-March for one of the sites on US 101 about 6 miles northeast of Ruby Beach.

  27. Air France, IAG Caution on Capacity Growth as Peak Travel Looms

    Air France-KLM and IAG SA cautioned that some capacity growth may slow this year as geopolitical tensions deter the flying public and corporate travel remains below pre-pandemic levels, suggesting ...