A growing trend in traveling is to travel slow, instead of fast. This kind of travel allows you to really understand a culture, soak in the vibe of a city, learn a new language and befriend locals. In some cases, it can even save you some money.
==> Slow Travel: An Overview
Traditionally, most travelers travel very quickly. You might spend three days in Paris, seeing all the museums and the Eiffel Tower. Then you hope over to Venice, explore the canals and the coffee shops for a couple days, then hop over to the next city.
Most people who’re backpacking, sightseeing or on family vacations don’t spend more than a couple days in any one city. They blitz through the tourist attractions and move on to the next.
Slow travel is the opposite. Instead of spending a few days in one place, you spend a week or more in each place.
==> The Slow Travel Mindset
The difference between fast travel and slow travel is in the mindset.
The fast travel mindset goes something like this: “Our vacation is limited in time and we need to see everything there is to see as quickly as possible.”
The slow travel mindset is more like this: “I’m going to really get to know this city and this culture. I’m going to take the time to really soak it in.”
Instead of looking for attractions and tourist destinations, slow travelers are often happy to just wander round a new country and see what happens. It’s more about letting the country in than seeking out the next popular attraction.
==> Why Travel Slow?
There are many reasons to travel slow instead of fast.
For one, it’s much less stressful. Trying to bounce from city to city every few days, with booking accommodations and transportation as well as planning action-packed days, can be incredibly stressful.
You’ll also learn more from each experience. How much can you really get by being in a city for three days? You’ll grow much more as a person if you spend two weeks there instead and get to know a different way of seeing the world.
You can also save a lot of money. Booking buses costs money. Visas between countries often cost money. Booking fees on hotel sites cost money. Also, booking hotels or hostels by the week instead of by the day is often significantly cheaper.
Finally, it can be a lot more enjoyable. Bouncing from city to city can be extremely fun, in kind of a surface level way. Being in one place for longer allows you to build deeper connections and really explore a culture.
Is slow travel for you? It really depends on who you are and what your style is. If you have the time and the inclination, traveling slow can be an incredibly rich new way to travel. If you’ve only traveled fast before, now might be the time to try this unique way of traveling.
Adryenn Ashley is a globetrotting social influencer out to change the world for the better. She loves Jozu’s mission to make travel safer for women and longs to visit Mecca, the Pyramids, and the Rain Forrest.