Slow travel: A new way of traveling the world

Imagine you’re on your holidays and everything is going great. You’re visiting as many places as possible and checking them off your list, you’re posting all the Instagram videos because if you don’t post it, did it even happen? you spend all the money on expensive hotspot destinations and you aren’t missing out on anything.

Once the holidays are over and you’re back home, you feel exhausted… The trip was tiring, you didn’t have any time to rest and overall it doesn’t really feel like you’re back from holidays.

That’s what most people are doing when traveling today. They leave their fast-paced lives in the city so that they can live a fast-paced life on an island in the Mediterranean. Is it a good choice? Sure, it is! Anyone can do what they like and makes them happy.

However, today we will talk about the concept of slow traveling. It’s a concept different than what we described above and it seems like more and more people are choosing it every single day.

What it is? How do I do it? What are the benefits? All these questions and more will be answered in this article so if you’re interested, stay tuned!

What is slow travel?

Slow travel is something different than the trending touristic ideologies. It’s not about fast airlines, multi-stop trips, and box-ticking travel. It’s about living in the moment. It’s about enjoying and exploring the place you visited as much as possible. It’s about slowing down.

The slow travel mindset supports a relaxed type of vacation and indicates that fast-paced living isn’t the only way.

There isn’t a specific guide that tells you how to slow travel. That is something you must do for yourself. we will let you in on a little secret though… If you want to grasp the full slow traveling experience, start living like a local when on your vacation. Their way of living will teach you many things.

Benefits of slow traveling

Slow travel has many benefits that can make your vacation better as well as your everyday life. Remember that the slow travel mindset doesn’t only apply when traveling. You can use it in your everyday life too. Anyway, let’s see some slow travel benefits:

Rest

That thing we described before… You go on your vacation with the intention of getting some rest and relaxing but in the end, you’re still tired.

That’s what tourism promotes our days.

With slow travel, however, you get free from that and you actually have a lot of time to rest and unwind. And we are not talking about sitting on the beach all day or at a coffee shop. We are talking about spending quality time, full of experiences and things you love.

It’s more affordable

Famous tourist attractions are usually the most expensive. When you avoid some of them, you’re really saving up money. Moreover, slow travelers tend to avoid big hotels and chain restaurants.

A better option is to look for a cheap Airbnb that has a kitchen. You can discover the best local ingredients and use them to make awesome meals at a very cheap price.

There are many ways to save money while slow traveling but the general idea is that if you avoid what everyone is doing, your vacation will cost you less.

Meet new people

As we previously said, meeting locals and following their advice is a great way to slow travel. At the same time, it’s also a great way to meet new people and make friends. With slow traveling, there are opportunities for meeting new people everywhere.

The only tip we will give you is that you should learn some local phrases or words before you go on vacation, just so you can have some kind of communication with the people there.

Tips for slow traveling

1. Do research

Even though slow travel is not about visiting many destinations, you can do your research and visit some of your best options.

How many places you visit depends on how much time you have. It’s really subjective… As long as you don’t feel tired and you are enjoying the moment, you can visit as many places as you want. Make sure to do your research before going so that you’re prepared for everything.

2. Forget about social media

Social media shouldn’t be on your mind all the time when traveling. Your mind will always be like “I have to make a story!” or “I need to take some photos”. Long story short, you won’t be able to live in the moment and enjoy yourself as much as you’d like.

You should focus on yourself and not your social media and how will others view your trip. Focus on you and your experiences while you’re visiting a beautiful place and doing new things.

3. Feel like a local

By now, we’ve talked a lot about this idea. Be with the locals, ask them for advice, learn from them, etc. But how do you actually do it? How do you get in touch with the locals and how do you learn to move like them?

First of all, learn to speak their language a little. In most cases, they will know how to speak English but speaking their language is a show of appreciation. Moreover, you should participate in local events and festivals. Locals usually advertise these kinds of events so we are sure you won’t miss out. Last but not least, learn about their cuisine. If you eat like a local, you’ll feel like a local… that’s guaranteed!

We hope you enjoyed learning about a new way of traveling, a much more relaxed and experience-based way, called slow travel. Slow travel lets you live in the moment and really enjoy whatever it is you’re doing on your vacation. If you think this ideology is something that fits your needs and desires, then you should definitely start using the slow-traveling tips we gave you on your next trip.