A Quick Look at Slow Travel
By Cheryl Harbour

Meander. Stroll. Pause. Amble. Gaze. Savor. Linger. Roam. Float. Coast.

Most of us never do any of these things - not in our day-to-day lives and unfortunately hardly ever on vacation either. We're more likely to dash. Devour. Race. Run. Charge. Move along. How else can we fit in as much as we want to do and see before we get back to work and other obligations?

There's something inside many of us that suspects all this rushing makes us miss important things. But how in the world...and where in the world...can we slow down? Most of the time we're on a direct flight - literally or metaphorically - to get wherever we're going in the shortest possible time.

A different approach to travel -- the "slow travel" concept -- is taking hold and growing in popularity.

For some people, slow travel means planting themselves in one spot for an entire vacation instead of hopping from place to place. The advantages of this approach include not having to unpack and repack constantly and having the opportunity to "melt" into the local culture, establish a routine (walk to the same cafe each morning?) and perhaps even connect with the locals.

Another option is doing an activity or tour that's designed to be leisurely. For example, walking or hiking the Appalachian Trail in the U.S. or one of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trails in Spain. Here are 10 destinations that lend themselves to slow travel as recommended by Fodor's, and 20 more listed by the U.K.’s Telegraph.

As we all know, sometimes “vacation” is more a state of mind than a specific location. Two people could visit the same place and do it differently. You could sign up for a different tour each day, hop on and off a bus, wait in lines, feverishly snap photos, line up dinner reservations, check your email, etc. OR you could turn off the technology, walk around the town, browse in shops, come upon a cafe, sip something cool while the people pass by, take a nap, then enjoy a leisurely slow food dinner.

The common thread among doing anything in a slow manner is a rejection of the fast-paced, back-to-back activity, constant motion lifestyle many people have acquired. If you like the idea, where else can you apply "slow”?

Slow food

The slow movement actually started with food when a chef in Italy used the term to counteract the opening of a fast food restaurant (McDonald's) in his hometown. Slow food means the use of natural local ingredients and respect for local culinary traditions.

Slow fashion

This applies to a vision of fashion as environmentally responsible and socially sustainable. In the world of fashion, the opposite of "slow" can mean over-consuming:  buying goods, barely using them, then buying more.

Slow cities 

These cities are the opposite of the hectic urban scene and still more of an ideal than a reality. Slow cities would be places where people get around mainly by foot or by bike or by scooter. (See our previous article on "Bird" electric scooters as an antidote to traffic congestion.)

Slow education is gearing the curriculum and expectations to the learning pace of individual students.

Similarly, slow parenting means resisting the urge to hasten children toward the next stage of development and accomplishment and not packing a child's days with organized activities.

These concepts are not brand new. But only in modern society, where everything happens at top speed, would they be considered unconventional. So, if this is the first we’ve heard of “slow” anything, why not pause and consider it for your next vacation.




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