slow travel afar

Slow Travel Guide: The Best Slow Travel Destinations

by Melissa Giroux | Last updated Feb 19, 2024 | Budget Travel , Travel Tips

By now, you have probably heard of the latest travel trend, slow traveling.

Many backpackers and budget travelers enjoy slow traveling – spending a month or two in each place before moving on. 

In the past few years, many travelers are now opting to travel to fewer destinations and stay in each one for longer.

So what exactly is slow traveling, how do you do it, and which countries should you do it in?

What Is Slow Travel?

Most backpackers typically seek to visit as many destinations as possible on a trip. Therefore, they choose to spend a few days in each place, seeing only the highlights before moving on.

By traveling in this way, you can visit around ten or so spots on a one-month trip, swiftly getting through your bucket list.  

A slow traveler typically spends longer in a destination than a traditional backpacker.

Slowing down your trip in this way allows you to experience each place on a deeper level, learn more about the culture, and even get involved in the community.

A slow traveler who spends one month in a particular city will have a completely different experience than a backpacker who passes through for a weekend.

Slow traveling allows you to get a greater sense of life in other parts of the world. By spending a few weeks to a few months somewhere, you may feel more like you temporarily live there rather than on vacation.

The additional time allows you to explore more of the city and the surrounding areas. You are also likely to do more ‘local’ activities than just the tourist attractions. 

How To Slow Travel

Slow travel is ideal for anyone who wants to travel for longer. However, it can seem that a one-year trip would be much more of a financial investment than a one-month vacation.

Therefore, many travelers worry that they will run out of money if they travel slowly like this.

However, there are ways that you can slow travel around the world without spending more money than you would on a shorter backpacking trip.

Here are five tactics you can use to travel slowly on a budget. 

Visit Destinations During Low Season

We slow travel to break away from the traditional tourist mindset.

Therefore, to see a destination differently and save money, I recommend planning your trip so that you visit each destination in the low season, or at least towards the end of the high season. 

As you know, hotels, tour operators, and even restaurants raise their prices at the beginning of the high season in anticipation of flocks of tourists.

However, as the season draws to a close and the crowds leave, prices come back down. So, arriving at this point is a brilliant idea if you want to travel on a budget. 

Not only will you get better deals everywhere in the off-season, but you will also experience a much more peaceful and relaxed atmosphere.

Without the tourist crowds, it’s much easier to see a city for what it truly is and integrate yourself into the community. 

However, the low season can mean extremely high temperatures in some parts of the world. Or, like in many tropical countries, the low season corresponds to the rainy season.

Even so, tropical rainstorms are usually short and heavy and don’t last all day. Therefore, you will still have plenty of opportunities to enjoy your time there. 

Spend (At Least) One Month In Each Place

I recommend staying in each place for one month. If you’re used to staying just a few days in each location, one month may seem very long.

But I promise you, it is not. Aside from slowing down and exploring at a leisurely pace, you can snap up great accommodation deals if you commit to staying for a month. 

You can usually get monthly discounts at hotels and Airbnbs. However, you might be able to rent a studio apartment for one month for even cheaper.

You’ll also be able to save money on car or scooter rentals. Usually, rental companies have better deals for long-term rentals.

Live Like A Local

To keep your day-to-day costs low, look at and copy how the locals live.

Although the western restaurants may feel familiar and comforting when you’re in a foreign land, the food in these restaurants is often 5 times the price of local eateries.

While it’s OK to treat yourself to home comforts once in a while, doing so daily will seriously dent your budget. 

Some local restaurants also aim more towards tourists than locals, so prices will be higher. An easy way to find a proper local restaurant is to look for where you see the most locals eating.

Unless you’re traveling in Asia or South America, where eating out is extremely cheap, you’ll probably want to cook your own meals too.

Visiting food markets and buying groceries is a brilliant way to experience local life and keep your daily spending under control simultaneously. 

PSSST. Want to get FREE accommodation in exchange for work?

Choose Land Travel Instead Of Flying

Traveling without any time restraints opens up the opportunity to travel via different (and cheaper) modes of transport.

Instead of flying, look into the possibilities of traveling between destinations via car, bus, or train.

Yes, the journeys will be much longer and less comfortable than taking a flight.

However, you could save a considerable amount of money. Plus, traveling by land allows you to see very rural parts of the country.

Volunteer In Exchange For Accommodation

One of the best ways to slow travel around the world on a budget is to volunteer in exchange for free accommodation and food.

For example, many hostels will let you stay for free if you spend a few hours each day cleaning the dorms and common areas.

While it’s not glamorous work by any means, the money it will save you could allow you to double the length of your trip!

Many other ‘ volunteer for accommodation ‘ options are available if you’re not a fan of the hostel environment. I recommend using a trusted platform like Worldpackers to find opportunities.

Worldpackers vet and verify all the ads posted so you can rest assured that the placements are legit and trustworthy. 

On Worldpackers, you can find community projects run by local organizations or NGOs. This is a fabulous way to get involved in the community and make a real difference during your time there.

Volunteering on these kinds of projects can bring real meaning and purpose to your trip, with the bonus of having free accommodation, meals, and other benefits. 

There are also work exchange placements in schools, where you will get to teach English to underprivileged children.

Or, if you want to get in touch with nature, you can volunteer on a farm, an eco-lodge, or a campsite.

Want to learn more? Read our Worldpackers review .

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Best Destinations For Slow Traveling On A Budget

Now, let’s talk about the best destinations for slow travelers.

United States

The great news is, if you’re based in the US, you don’t need to leave the country to travel.

The USA’s diverse states and landscapes make the country perfect for slow traveling.

What’s more, you can take scenic road trips from one destination to the next without having to splash out on any expensive flights. 

However, the downside of traveling in America is that it is generally more expensive than in other parts of the world. Even so, one way to significantly cut your costs is to volunteer for accommodation at each destination. 

Worldpackers has over 150 US volunteer programs on its platform, ranging from hostel work to homestays to farm work. Some unique opportunities you can get involved in in the USA include:

• Caring for abandoned and neglected horses in Reeds
• Working in a hostel bar in Lake Tahoe
• Volunteering on a yoga retreat in Hawaii
• Browse more opportunities here

South America

South America is a slow traveling paradise for those on a tight budget, dance lovers, and anyone looking to learn Spanish.

The continent is exceptionally cheap, both to travel around and for day-to-day expenses. Plus, South America is just as diverse as North America. 

Slow traveling in South America presents a wide range of potential opportunities.

For example, you can trek Machu Picchu, explore the Amazon, party in Rio de Janeiro, and learn to salsa in Cartagena.

With so much to do and see here, you’ll undoubtedly want to extend your stay. You will find many brilliant charity organizations working across the continent.

They are always keen to offer free accommodation and meals to anyone who helps them out. 

In fact, South America is one of the easiest parts of the world to find volunteering opportunities in.

For example, Worldpackers has over 1000 listings for volunteer placements in Brazil alone! You can:

• Learn about sustainable farming in Brazil, 
• Paint artwork in a hostel in Chile
• Help to build an Earthship inspired art studio in Argentina 
• Take care of the stray dogs in Peru’s Sacred Valley.

Asia is an incredible place to slow travel. You can take your time to experience the unique way of life in each Asian country and give some much-needed help to the communities.

Asia is also full of beauty, and short backpacking trips often miss out on so much. By slow traveling, you can get off the beaten path more and discover some of the hidden gems of this vibrant continent. 

If you’re a native English speaker, you will find hundreds of volunteer opportunities to teach English to underprivileged kids in Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and many more countries.

There is also plenty of charity and community work that you can get involved in where you will actively see your help making a difference.

Some cool and meaningful volunteer placements you can find on Worldpackers include:

• Working with Autistic children in Ha Noi, Vietnam
• Teaching yoga in the Philippines
• Caring for stray animals on Thai island
• Volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal
• Browse opportunities here

Australia is one of the most loved backpacking destinations worldwide. The country offers so much natural beauty, tons of adventure, and plenty of once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

However, traveling around Australia and taking trips to the Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands, and Uluru can quickly become costly. 

Many backpackers in Australia fall in love with a particular town or city and begin volunteering in hostels, enabling them to extend their stay.

It’s easy to find hostels that will let you volunteer in exchange for a bed in a dorm.

However, there are also other types of volunteering options available that offer a more authentic Aussie experience. 

For example, on Worldpackers , you will find opportunities to:

• Help on farms in Western Australia’s wine regions
• Care for llamas in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales
• Clean the campgrounds on the gorgeous South Stradbroke island

There are so many wonderful European countries worth visiting, all with their own unique heritage and charm.

There is so much to see, like the lush green English countryside, Portugal’s medieval cities, Italy’s beautiful wine regions , and the immense Swiss Alps.

Therefore, it is essential to travel slowly through Europe.

However, like the USA, Europe can be an expensive continent to travel around. Therefore, volunteering for accommodation is a helpful way to explore more places while controlling your expenditure. 

There are so many fun volunteer opportunities on offer in Europe. Many help the environment, too, such as rejuvenating a forest in Portugal.

Other unique European volunteer placements on Worldpackers include:

• Au pairing in France
• Leading pub crawls in Croatia
• Living and helping on a yacht in Montenegro
• Taking care of reindeer in Norway

Final Thoughts On Slow Travel

As the travel industry finds its feet again, many parts of the world choose to keep additional entry requirements in place.

Therefore, it’s the perfect time to travel slowly, spend longer at each destination, and volunteer for a good cause.

And to help you have the best slow travel experience, we’re giving you $10 off your next Worldpackers membership .

Want to learn more about volunteering abroad? Read one of the following blog posts:

• Hostel work
• Workaway vs Worldpackers
• Worldpackers promo code

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What Does Slow Travel Mean? (And How To Do It)

The first time I traveled on my own, I was 19 and studying abroad in the Netherlands. Every weekend was a mad dash to see a different city in 48 hours, and to experience as much of each city as possible — no museum, cathedral, park, or touristy attraction left unturned. 😵‍💫

“That breakneck speed, while a great tool to check destinations off a list, was no way to truly experience a destination.”

Spring break was the maddest dash of all, encompassing four cities in nine days and about half as much sleep as I should’ve gotten. Barcelona to Rome to Florence to Venice, then back in time for an 8 a.m. class on Monday.

I was beyond lucky to have had that experience, learning how to travel on my own, how to figure out a new city’s public transportation, and how to manage my time and budget. But that rapid pace began to set the tone for future trips I’d plan. A week in France? Make it two nights in every city. Three days to travel the whole of Ireland? No problem. 

That breakneck speed, while a great tool to check destinations off a list, was no way to truly experience a destination . During the weekdays while abroad in the Netherlands, I absorbed characteristics of the culture: The 10 a.m. coffee break everyone seemed to take, the food folks would eat for lunch, the way no one drew their shades at night. But the quick trips were something different. Sure, I checked Prague off my list — but I couldn’t even tell you how to say “thank you” in Czech, which sort of makes you question what the purpose of travel is in the first place.

“‘Slow travel’ presents an alternative to the see-every-country ethos.”

“Slow travel” presents an alternative to the see-every-country ethos. It tells us to accept that we won’t experience the entire world in one lifetime, and presents more sustainable travel options. 

What is slow travel?

Like slow living , slow travel comes from the mother of all “slow” movements: Italian political activist Carlo Petrini’s International Slow Food movement, founded in 1989. 

“At its core, I think slow travel is about intentionality and connection,” says Gi Shieh , a slow travel content creator. “It’s about spending more time at a destination to immerse yourself fully in the beauty and uniqueness of the land and its people.”

“Simply put, traveling slowly means staying for longer in one place.”

Simply put, traveling slowly means staying for longer in one place. Say you have nine days to travel — instead of hopping to three different cities or countries, consider spending all nine days at one destination, really getting to know the area.

Slow travel might also look like choosing destinations more off the beaten path, avoiding over-toured spots. According to CNN, some of 2023’s worst destinations for overtourism included Amsterdam, Phuket, and Venice, but some less traveled, alternative destinations might include the Netherlands’ Utrecht, Thailand’s Chiang Mai, or Italy’s Tuscan countryside.

Take the opportunity to connect with local people at your destinations. Stay in smaller bed-and-breakfasts, dine in small, locally owned restaurants, and chat with shop owners. 

“In general, move around less — and when you move, move slower.”

And when choosing transportation methods, you’ll want to think about the most sustainable options. When possible, replace planes with trains; or car rides with bikes and walks. In general, move around less — and when you move, move slower. It might take a few more hours to get from point A to point B, and that’s kind of the well, point. You’ll understand the landscape of a country from your train window, or the way the wind smells while you’re riding a bike. 

“Slow travel also means taking the time to note all the little details that make a place beautiful,” says Shieh, who also runs a blog on slow travel and sustainable fashion. “Like, how the Mediterranean sun hits the laundry drying on a balcony in the south of Italy or the specific cadence of honks of Vietnamese motorbikes during rush hour in Hanoi.”

What are the benefits of slow travel?

Besides lowering the carbon footprint of your trip, traveling slowly gives you a more mindful connection to the place you’re visiting. You likely won’t remember the time spent waiting in line to enter a popular sightseeing destination, but you will hang onto the conversation with a friendly local or the way you felt after a long, leisurely lunch.

“Traveling slowly gives you a more mindful connection to the place you’re visiting.”

Less time spent on planes or tour buses zipping around to new spots means more time (and money) to spend at restaurants that cook with local ingredients or wandering a town and picking up a handmade trinket that catches your eye. And when you choose less heavily toured destinations, it takes pressure off of over-toured spots with thinly stretched resources, like Hawaii or Bali.

Tips on traveling more slowly

1. plan to take some extra time..

“Unfortunately, in today’s society, it’s hard to step away for an extended period of time,” says Shieh, noting that travel itself is a luxury. “It’s important to acknowledge that slow travel is a huge privilege,” she says. “I feel so lucky to be able to experience the world at a slower, more intentional pace, and not everybody has the opportunity to do so!”

“If you only have a short travel window of a few days, use it to explore destinations closer to home that don’t require a flight.”

Not everyone has two weeks or more to spend leisurely roaming a foreign country, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still travel more slowly. Plan trips many months in advance and for as long as you feel comfortable — maybe a six-day trip becomes a nine-day one that you spend in just one place. And if you only have a short travel window of a few days, use it to explore destinations closer to home that don’t require a flight.

And while traveling, “don’t overpack your itinerary,” says Lauren Fremont, executive director of the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley , a small wine region known for slow travel and sustainable practices. “Leave room for unexpected delights and meaningful connections. That’s where the magic happens.”

2. Do your research.

“Think about going beyond the pictures you’ll take for social media.” – Matilda Reuter Engle, proprietor of Middleburg Hospitality

With a little extra time and planning, slow travel becomes a lot more feasible. Do your research on destinations, rather than just heading out where you’ve seen others go. Think about what you want to learn and experience during a trip, says Matilda Reuter Engle, proprietor of Middleburg Hospitality , which is focused on preserving historical traditions via hospitality in Virginia Piedmont. “Think about going beyond the pictures you’ll take for social media,” she says. “Identify the lifestyles, history, and ancestral traditions that ignite your curiosity.” 

If you’ve planned for a bit more time, consider stacking destinations relatively close to each other to make your travel more sustainable. For example, instead of spending a week in a European country this year and a week in a different European country next year, try doing the entire two-week trip in one go.

3. Stay at B&Bs or small hotels.

Once you have your destination, look for small business accommodations. Bed-and-breakfasts are fantastic — usually independently run, they pretty much hand you the opportunity to engage with the owners and the local community.

Choose small hotels over larger ones, especially all-inclusives that tend to use resources like food and water inefficiently. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule — some hotels have fantastic sustainability practices, but finding those involves, again, lots of time and research.

“If you go the Airbnb route, consider renting a room in house rather than an entire place to yourself.”

If you go the Airbnb route, consider renting a room in house rather than an entire place to yourself. Your host should have a wealth of information about exploring the area like a local, and staying with residents helps minimize your impact on the area’s housing stock.

4. Find ways to connect with the culture.

Along with accommodations that prioritize sustainability, Fremont looks for “experiences that showcase the region’s unique history, food, and traditions,” she says. “It’s about seeking authenticity and supporting businesses that share our ethos.”

“Maybe you join a fishing crew for the day and get to eat your catch, or your do a cheese tasting at the farm where it’s made.”

Read up on tours and activities that immerse you in the local culture — maybe you join a fishing crew for the day and get to eat your catch, or you do a cheese tasting right at the farm where it’s made, or you take a cycling tour from town to town.

“Go with the intention of honoring diverse ways of life, and stepping away from the fast-paced, technological world so many of us reside in on a daily basis,” says Engle. And if language is a barrier, Shieh offers that Facebook events and expat forums can be particularly helpful.

5. Ease yourself into it.

“Try not to put too much pressure on yourself to change your travel habits right off the bat,” says Shieh. If your travel history has looked anything like mine, that pedal-to-the-metal mindset won’t change overnight. 

“If your travel history has looked anything like mine, that pedal-to-the-metal mindset won’t change overnight.”

Maybe you start by bringing more intentionality into your domestic trips. If you’re traveling for a wedding, consider spending the week before or after exploring the area. Perhaps next year you spend a week somewhere you would’ve typically spent a few days, or you replace one or two flights with train rides. And then take it from there.

“We have an entire lifetime to travel.” – Gi Shieh, a slow travel content creator

“We often feel this pressure to see it all while we’re young,” says Shieh, “but actually we have an entire lifetime to travel.” Something that helped me feel better about doing and seeing less while traveling? No matter how fast you travel, you’ll never see, let alone experience, the entire world.

“By spacing your travels out over the course of a few years or even a few decades, it removes some of the pressure and allows you to fully settle into the experience that is happening right now,” says Shieh.

Make peace with not seeing the whole green earth, and it will allow you to make deeper connections in the places you do. 😌

Natalie Gale is a Boston-based freelance journalist. When she’s not writing about art, food, or sustainability, you can find her biking to the farmers’ market, baking, sewing, or planning her next Halloween costume. Say hi on Instagram !

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In an era where bucket lists dictate travel itineraries and tourists hop from one landmark to another, a contrasting philosophy emerges – Slow Travel. It's not just about reducing pace but immersing oneself in the experience, forming genuine connections, and embracing the nuances of the journey.

The Heart of Slow Travel At its core, slow travel is an invitation to become part of local life, weaving oneself into the fabric of a community, its culture, and its daily rhythms. It rejects the whirlwind trips that leave you exhausted, opting instead for a more profound connection.

Engaging in local festivities can be a mesmerizing experience, drawing one closer to the community's heart.

Living, Not Just Staying The essence of slow travel is to live in a place, not merely stay. Instead of fleeting hotel visits, slow travellers often opt for holiday rentals that range from quaint cottages in the UK to agriturismos in Italy. These accommodations, equipped with essential amenities, offer the comfort of a home, enabling travellers to cook, relax, and live like a local.

The beauty lies in the details: shopping for groceries, daily interactions at the local café, or even casual chats with neighbors. Such interactions weave a richer, more intimate tapestry of memories than any rushed sightseeing trip ever could.

Slow travel isn't confined to bustling towns. Tranquil rural settings or serene beaches offer their own unique charm.

Deep Dive Exploration True to its name, slow travel encourages a gradual exploration. Instead of ticking off tourist hotspots, travellers immerse themselves in the immediate surroundings. Initial explorations might be on foot, expanding to bike rides and eventually venturing further, perhaps by train or car.

By prioritizing conversations over checklists, slow travellers often uncover hidden gems, from local stories to lesser-known spots, that standard tourists might overlook.

Engaging in traditional practices can be an enriching experience, revealing layers of a culture.

Beyond Just Sightseeing A significant advantage of slow travel is the time and flexibility it allows. It opens doors to unique experiences, be it volunteering at a local school, learning a new skill, or engaging in wwoofing. The concept of "voluntourism" melds travel with volunteering, providing travellers a chance to offer their skills in aiding local communities, making the journey both fulfilling and transformative.

Destinations Embracing the Slow Travel Ethos Recognizing the profound impact and potential of slow travel, some destinations are curating experiences tailored to the slow traveller. Slow Islands, for instance, champion not just the ethos of slow travel but also the gourmet delights of slow food.

Conclusion Slow travel is more than a trend; it's a transformative experience. It beckons travellers to dive deeper, form authentic connections, and return not just with souvenirs but with enriched stories and lasting memories. As the world becomes increasingly hurried, slow travel stands as a testament to the age-old adage: "It's the journey, not the destination."

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Slow travel to discover true wanderlust. 

Slow travel is becoming more and more popular. We think it’s the future of travel. Our Ultimate Guide to Slow Travel is all about embracing this immersive travel trend. We’re not here to judge other ways of travelling. Heck, more people travelling is a good thing any way you can! But, if you’re curious about how to slow travel then our guide is just what you need.

Find the best activities for you on our map!

Trust us - travelling slowly is exactly what you need to do to fall in love with your next travel destination. We’re not about judging how people travel, only to show you that there’s another option! We’ve put together our Ultimate Guide to cut down all those myths about slow travel, tell you why we love it so much, and tell you how to slow travel to get you started!

Say bon voyage to the tourist crowds and join us on an in-depth journey. Keep reading to have all your questions answered, plus the best slow travel destinations recommendations and sustainable travel tips! Our ultimate guide is everything you need to begin your journey down the slow travel rabbit hole… 

The slow travel basics 

These are the questions we get all the time about slow travel; What is slow travel and how do I do it? The meaning of the word “slow travel” can seem obvious once you first see it, but we’re here to share all the info you need to really dig in and get your journey started. 

What is slow travel? 

Slow travel is a way of travelling that gets to the heart of why we love the journey. Go at your own pace to discover authentic experiences as you get off the beaten track and discover local gems. The slow traveler explores their dream destinations at their own pace, avoids the traps of mass tourism, and enjoys a rich travel experience. Keep reading to get all the info you need on the art of slow travel!

Where did slow travel come from? 

Slow travel is a branch of the slow movement. You’ve probably seen the slow fashion movement that pushes against mass production of clothes in fast fashion. Maybe our foodie friends know slow food restaurants, which focus on local and seasonal dishes for authentic experiences rather than mass produced meals. Slow travel originates from the “slow food movement”, which got its start in Italy as a protest against McDonald’s. 

Some define slow travel as public transport or taking months to explore one place. None of those definitions are exactly wrong, but they miss out on what makes slow travel so great. Whether you’re enjoying a 2 day city break or taking a road trip across Europe, any trip can become a slow travel trip as long as you stick to the intention and our top tips. 

Who goes slow traveling? 

You might have gone on a slow travel-like trip without even realising. Backpacking, camping, and hyper focused city trips all fall under the beautiful umbrella of slow travel. The slow travel movement is an accessible movement for all from students on a budget, luxury travellers, and retirees. No two slow travellers look alike! Slow travel has nothing to do with age or your income. It’s all about what experience you want out of traveling. 

Since you can really customise a slow travel trip and delve in deep to a local culture, we find that slow travel is the best option for many solo travellers and those interested in getting a full and authentic experience of their destination. 

Are slow travel and sustainable travel the same thing? 

Eco conscious travel or sustainable travel does have some overlap with slow travel. But they’re not exactly the same thing. By moving away from mass tourism and into more sustainable practices, slow travel is by its nature more eco-friendly than other trips. Unlike the usual sustainable travel tips though, slow travel has its own mentality. 

While sustainable travel focuses on the effect that trips have on the environment, slow travel looks more inward. All those busy trips, crowded places, and wanderlust social media posts can have a negative effect on our mental health. In slowing the pace and taking things one step at a time, slow travel is (in our opinion!) a better experience for all involved - you and the planet! 

Can slow travel be luxurious? 

You can absolutely make slow travel trips on a higher budget. We know there’s this myth that slow travel is all about backpacking and while that type of thing does fall under slow travel, that’s not all it's about. Taste local expensive food, stay at luxury Airbnbs, and discover the best of the local culture on a luxury budget that’s right for you. 

Our top 5 reasons to travel slowly! 

Now you know what slow travel is all about. But have we convinced you to plan your next trip in the slow travel way? We’ve got all the reasons why you should hop onto the slow travel movement right here to get you thinking. 

You support the local economy 

Hey, big spenders! There’s just something nice about going to your local market and actually meeting the sellers. Slow is that, but on an even bigger scale. Major travel companies do have a habit of pushing you to major tourist spots and always giving you popular itineraries. We’re not saying that’s a bad option if that’s what you want from your travels, but slow travel gives you a local and authentic option. 

By travelling slowly, you’ll probably be spending more time in one place. Dive in deep to the local scene to discover hidden gems, restaurants, and local events. You’ll be giving your hard-earned cash to smaller businesses and local artisans who need the money a fair bit more than your average top 100 travel company. 

Slow travel can keep your budget low

We all want to travel more often! Slow travel helps to keep your travel costs down by focusing on one place and its surrounding area. You don't need a bunch of flights or train tickets to get the most out of your journey. Of course, if you’ve got a higher budget there’s plenty of slow travel destinations, hotels, and things to do for you as well! 

Many digital nomads (those who work remotely while travelling) are often slow travellers. Taking a slower pace by spending more time in one area before moving onto your next destination keeps your transport costs much lower. And, of course, you get all the benefits of seeing the most of your next travel destination. 

Slow travel can help the environment

Slow travel trips can involve public transport or some other sustainable way of travelling. Public releases way less emissions than the average plane! Slow travel can be done via the plane too, so long as you take your time at the destination, search for hidden gems, and keep your focus on the local culture. 

You meet new people 

Yes, you will meet new people however you travel! But we’ve found the slow travel community to be super welcoming. As you join in on sustainable travel groups and hunt down the best local things to in your area, you’ll find yourself surrounded by people who share the same mindset. You’re not just one in a crowd of tourists - you become an explorer ready to find the next gem. 

Of course, if you’re hunting down authentic experiences there’s nothing better than getting tips from locals. Mass tourism might bring in the money, but it can have backlash. But you’re actually here for an authentic trip, in our experience, locals are way more friendly once you express that especially in places where tourism has had some downsides. 

Remember why you love to travel 

Have you ever been stuck in the airport wishing you were back in bed? Have you ever arrived at a destination you thought was beautiful on social media, but you arrive and there’s just a queue of people taking photos? 

Slow travel gets to the core of why we fell in love with travelling in the first place.

Not to sound like a boomer, but when you travel just for travel's sake then it loses a lot of its magic. The local food that just melts in your mouth. Discovering the amazing places and hidden gems no one tells you about. Relax in the forest, up a mountain, or even in the Roman ruins inside a city park! Slow travel is about having a truly immersive travel experience. Escape your normal life and totally immerse yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of a new place, of a new culture.  

Whatever you love about travelling, slow travel will dial it up to 11 . So what are the types of slow travel journeys and where should you go? Here are our top recommendations! 

The types of slow travel journeys 

Slow travel is more of a mindset than a pigeon hole category, but there are some holiday types that fall naturally into this type of travel. Road trips, backpacking, cycling journeys, and camping, can all be types of slow travel trips. 

So long as you’re seeking out authentic experiences and taking your time, you can make any journey into a slow travel one. But here are some of our favourite easy slow travel trip types to give you some ideas. 

Road trips 

Hop in your car and drive wherever you want! Road trips are an easy way of getting the group together and getting around to your dream destinations. Take a road trip across Europe, America, and more. Driving might not seem sustainable at first glance, but it’s better than taking the plane to each stop! Make sure to stop along the way at the best local places! Along the road, you’re sure to find a hidden gem or two. 

Backpacking 

Nothing is slower and more beautiful than getting around on foot. Take your time climbing to the mountain top and enjoy the view! Is there anything more authentic than Mother Nature? Feel the rocky cliffs and rivers beneath your feet on a slow travel backpacking trip. You can go backpacking almost anywhere. Some countries, like Thailand and Sri Lanka, have seen a major increase in the number of backpackers paying them a visit. We actually recommend visiting a less popular country for backpacking to avoid crowds and have the least touristy experience possible. 

A solid choice for any traveller! Pitch up a tent and sleep under the stars surrounded by nature. Camping is a great choice as sites tend to be not far off great slow travel attractions. It’s good to take it slow sometimes and just enjoy your time with family and friends! Use your tent as a starting point on your adventure as you make your way to the national parks or nearby cities. We actually think camping is an underrated option, especially when there’s more options than you’d expect in the camping world.  

Campsites are one of the most sustainable places to stay on your holiday, but to really max out those slow travel points we’ve found Pitchup to be super handy to find campsites in Europe that use renewable energy . 

Get on your bike and get peddling! Why wait for your flight or get stuck in the crowd, when you can peddle past them all? Explore your next destination on wheels. You’ll cycle through national parks, to castles, ruins, and make your way through the cities. Some countries are a lot better for cycling trips than others, so keep reading to find the best slow travel destinations! 

Train Trips 

Follow the tracks across the country, across continents even! On the train, you can travel affordably and sustainably across country borders. You’ll be literally travelling more slowly and taking more time to enjoy the journey as well as the destination. Europe is a super popular destination for train journeys. Check out our slow travel destinations below to get some ideas going… 

Our top slow travel destinations 

You can slow travel anywhere in the world. But at Live the World we absolutely love Europe for slow travel beginners. Here are our top slow travel destinations in Europe, plus the best things to do for each country. Take your pick! 

Netherlands 

Known for its windmills and tulips, the Netherlands is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. SUP your way across the canals of Amsterdam, hike the beaches of the less travelled but unique Frisian Islands, or even pick out plastic as you sail across the rivers. The Netherlands is the perfect destination for a cycling trip, a city day trip, and more. 

Amsterdam is the major tourist attraction, but other cities have great activities to offer too. Check out our map to find the best slow travel places to go! 

The heart of Europe! Belgium is an underrated destination full of hidden gems and gorgeous city trips. Belgium has some of the prettiest castles and nature reserves you’d never know if you didn’t see it for yourself. A perfect pick for a road trip through Europe and city breaks, Belgium is one of our top slow travel destinations. 

Follow our 2 day itinerary in Brussels for a slow travel experience in Belgium’s capital! 

Czech Republic 

Backpack in the Czech Republic to enjoy a central European location with gorgeous mountains on its border like Sněžka. Take a city break in Prague to uncover hidden gems in its castle, local markets, and so much more. Prague is the #1 stop in the Czech Republic, but there’s great places across the country too like the beautiful city of Czechy Krumlov. 

Our top tips on how to travel slowly 

After racking our brains and hunting down the top experts in the eco-travel field, we’ve got all the best slow travel tips just for you. From ditching the packed itineraries to bamboo cutlery, these are the top tips from experts. Read even more tips on how to travel sustainably here.

1. Buy local

This top tip came up no matter who we asked! So often, tourists will stroll by all the local and independent shops and gather at only the major centres. Of course, you’re helping out the locals this way. But you’re also keeping your carbon footprint low, by reducing all the miles goods have to travel when you shop locally. We’ve found some surprises at farmers markets, from gorgeous flowers in Prague to handmade wooden clogs in the Netherlands. Check out our map to find local trading posts! 

2. Do what you can, when you can

When you’re trying to do right by the environment and yourself, it’s easy to get a bit depressed about climate change. We spoke to Coren Munday, founder of bamboo cutlery company SeaForYourselfco , to get her perspective on slow travel. Coren, like so many of us travellers, was shocked by all the plastic she saw on the beach. When you’re in that situation, what can you do about it? Coren let us know that, in the true spirit of slow travel, it’s best to focus on the here and now. Do what you can! Whether that’s picking up some plastic bottles as you backpack, swapping to bamboo cutlery, or simply taking a bag with you when you travel so you don’t leave your rubbish  behind. Every little bit helps! 

3. Electric Detox 

OK, hear us out. We know how handy our gadgets can be when you’re in a whole new world. Our friends at IndieCampers let us know how important taking some time off can be, though. Take a break from your phone and social media! I actually tried this out on a recent trip to Nottingham. It was weird going without my laptop and phone most of the time, and sometimes I did have to use my phone just to get directions. If, like me, you’re not quite ready to go cold turkey then just turn off your notifications and enjoy a stress-free day without refreshing your email inbox! 

4. Give back

The mindset of slow travel doesn’t start and end with just one person. You can spread the mindset of slow travel by giving back as you go. We don’t just mean money, though supporting local artists and events does go a long way. We mean supporting the local culture and community. Whether that’s chatting to the locals in their language when you can, supporting local businesses, or volunteering on projects around the world, you can travel in a way that isn’t all take. Sometimes we need to give back too! 

5. Take it slow - literally 

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Slow travel doesn’t just mean sticking to the train. But! We’d be lying if we didn’t include this top tip. After all, public transport is one of the best ways to get around depending on where you go. 

The main thing is not to rush about from place to place. If you’re in a rush, then you’re not enjoying the journey. You could be in the most beautiful place in the world, but if you’ve been jostled about by the tourist crowd, honked at in traffic, and need to go to the next activity in an hour, then it doesn’t seem that pretty. It’s important to take things at your own pace, so you can really enjoy your experiences. 

Everything you need to pack for a slow travel journey 

Alright, you’ve picked your destination and you basically now have a degree in slow travel. You’re ready to go. But what are the essentials to pack for a slow travel trip? Of course, having an umbrella, jacket, and spare bag for waste, are always needed. We’ve put together a list of the best things to bring! 

While you’re out exploring, you’re sure to find beautiful places and hidden gems. Get your phone camera or DSLR ready for your best shot. Slow travel is all about taking your time and enjoying the moment. What’s more slow travel than capturing the moment forever on film? The big thing to remember is the intention. If you get caught up just taking photos to show people later, then you’re not enjoying the trip anymore. Use your camera to help you remember what you love later - don’t make the camera the star of the trip. 

2. Portable phone charger

Sometimes you’ll be out hiking and your phone will run out of battery and, next thing you know, you’re following a random sign to the nearest village in the hopes of getting directions. Don’t be like me. Learn from all the mistakes of trekkers before you and bring along a portable phone charger to save yourself the stress. Perfect too for group campaign trips and city day trips. You’ll never regret bringing one of these guys along. 

3. Cross body bag

Nearly every traveller under the sun has one of these for a reason. Keep an eye on your most important belongings without lugging around a massive bag as you go. Crossbody bags are a great pick for day trips in the city and hikes too (easy access to snacks!). You can get ‘em second hand, but sometimes you just want to splash out and get something nice. For a more luxury budget with a slow fashion heart, check out STOW .

4. A notepad

Here’s a tip from me. When you’re in the pub, you’re not going to remember all the recommendations locals give you. And they give you plenty. Use the note app on your phone or go back to basics with pen and paper, to keep track of the ever growing list of things to do in the local area. You can also double up your notepad as a travelling journal. Look back on those memories years from now!

5. A map or guide

Having an actual map or guide is handy if you have poor connection. But we don’t just mean that. Use our map and guide to find things to do near you that are recommended by locals. Dive in deep on your slow travel trip and find activities to fit your interests, not just the “top ten essentials to do” that you’ll find on every blog list. Keep reading to find our top things to do wherever you go for the best slow travel trip ever!  ‍

The best things to do on a slow travel trip 

So, you banished your former ideas about travel and you’ve got our travel guide at the ready. But what do slow travelers do on their trips? We’re finishing up our ultimate guide to slow travel with some ideas to get your trip planning started. 

1. Take a hike 

Hiking is booming and for good reason! Slow things down by travelling on foot. You never know what you’ll find. We’ve seen hikes marked by artsy sculptures, a walking trail through a witchy village, or go for a classic woodland trail. Whatever flavour of hike you pick, you’ll be enjoying the local nature and taking a breath of fresh air. 

Where to hike

You can always find a good hike at the nearest national park, but we recommend using our map to find the best hikes and tips to make your trek the best one yet. You can find some good walks not too far from the city too!

2. Explore the markets 

We will keep on banging this drum. There’s no point going to a city just to explore the major shops. Sure, you’ll find some goodies there but you’re not really picking up the local vibe. Head on down to the local market to meet the artisans, the farmers, and so much more. Blend in with the local crowd!

3. Find hidden gems 

A slow travel trip is best when it includes a hidden place or two. Keep your eyes peeled for those places by asking the locals and checking out hidden gems on our map in Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and more to come soon! What we love about hidden gems is that they can be anything from a 19th century castle in the Netherlands to an alleyway covered in amazing street art.

4. Taste it!

Don’t forget to taste the local food and try out the beer and wine. Take a brewery tour, book a wine tasting, and discover local spots on our map! We’ve found amazing local food trucks, rooftop bars, and even little wineries across our favourite destinations. 

Where to eat 

While you’ll always find plenty of cafes and restaurants in the city centre, they’re usually not the most authentic. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re tourist traps! Wander out a little further to find the best options in the city. 

5. Go sailing! 

OK, this one depends where you are but if you’re near a lake or river then you can’t go wrong by renting a boat. Sail out onto the waters and feel that sea - or river! - breeze. Want to be even more active? You can always go canoeing or grab a SUP board. SUP is basically stand-up paddle boarding! We’ve even found SUP rentals in the canals of the Netherlands.

6. Bring your bike

Join the locals on the wheels. Slow down your travels by taking yourself from place to place. Sustainable, convenient, and a great thing to do, biking is one activity you have to add to your slow travel checklist. Cycle your way across nature reserves, past the cities, or even follow along a local ice skating route.

Our slow travel book recs

Need further reading? Want some more inspiration? We’re not here to give you homework, but you don’t have to take our word for it on how great slow travel is. Delve in deeper into the slow travel movement and community alongside these writers, backpackers, trekkers, and more. Discover new destinations and tips in their pages, then go out and explore for yourself! 

The Art of Slow Travel by Bhavana Gesota

Read the true story and personal experiences of passionate slow traveller Bhavana Gesota. When I was reading this book, I was amazed by how deeply Gesota experienced each place she visited. But this book doesn’t just focus on the places. The Art of Slow Travel is one of the best travel books you can read as it actually goes into the internal journey we go on when we travel. 

Slow Travel: A Movement by Penny Watson 

This is your basic introduction to slow travel. Best for inspiration rather than a how-to guide, this book might not have all the answers you need to understand slow travel but it will pull you in and leave you wanting more. Discover beautiful places, tips, and tour company recommendations. We recommend Watson’s books for beginners to slow travel! Thanks to its fairly recent publication in 2019 and iconic photos, this book always ranks highly and our booklist would not be complete without it. 

The Idle Traveller: The Art of Slow Travel by Dan Kieran

This book is essentially a longish essay on why you should slow travel. Reflect on why we should travel and if we have lost that purpose… Keiran’s book is best for those interested in the mindset of slow travel and the philosophy behind it. Some of the best parts of the book are Keiran’s adventures and anecdotes from his travels across the UK and Europe. More limited in location than The Art of Slow Travel by Bhavana Gesota, but still an interesting read.

Fancy embracing the slow travel way on your next trip? Check out our map for 100s of local, authentic activities that’ll perfectly fit a slower style. Find the best activities for you on our map! Psst! Try selecting Green Horizons and Local Trading Posts for some of our slow travel faves… If your chosen slow travel destination isn’t there yet, don’t worry, we’re working on it! Follow our socials to be the first to know when we launch a new destination. In the meantime, happy (slow) travelling!

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| The Art of Living for Students of Life

10 Slow Travel Tips for Your Next Adventure

By Kyle Kowalski · 22 Comments

In the last post, I defined slow travel and outlined 3 slow travel myths.

If you’re ready to get started with slow travel, the tips in this post will put you on the right path.

Just like you don’t want to live a superficial life, don’t skim the surface of your travel. Live—and travel—intentionally. Go deep!

Get an appreciation for a different way of life (which some would argue is the whole point of travel in the first place). — Intrepid Travel¹

These slow travel tips are based on my own research and personal experience. I believe traveling this way is better for you, your wallet, local communities, and the environment.

1) Go into it with the mindset of living like you’re at home, or even better, living like a local: Traveling shouldn’t be an excuse to live unsustainably or in an unhealthy way. Your mindset will impact why and how you travel. And, good home habits should travel with you.

2) Do all your homework ahead of time:  My wife and I used to wing it when it came to travel. Ironically, we are buttoned up in our day-to-day lives, but travel planning always seemed to happen after the trip had already started. Once we started living intentionally, we realized that our time is the most important thing we have. And, time spent traveling is limited. So, now all the planning happens in advance through just-in-time learning . This is also helpful if something causes your initial plans to change at the last minute. You’ve already done all the homework and can adapt and be flexible in a more time-efficient way.

3) Know yourself and your top priority each day: Priority is intentionally singular. Know why you are traveling and plan what is best for your interests. For my wife and me, we like being active and sightseeing. We tend to avoid tourist traps, chain restaurants, boutique hotels, and things like that. One important fact that we all need to accept is that we can’t do everything: we can’t choose every path in life, we can’t learn everything, we can’t read every book, we can’t see every square foot of the Earth, and we can’t see and do every single thing when we travel. Intentionally pick the things that will make your final itinerary. Follow essentialism , the disciplined pursuit of less but better.

4) Balance your itinerary and leave open time to create space, margin, and spontaneity:  I’ve created a habit of time blocking my daily schedule. I follow the same approach for travel. Stick to scheduled times, but allow the rest to fall into place naturally with plenty of space and margin incorporated. You never know when you may discover something off the beaten path.

5) Do less to experience more: Reject FOMO! As people continue to pick  experiences over things , we can all learn how to have the best experiences possible. Just like the hedonic treadmill of lifestyle inflation and endless consumption, the same can apply to experiences if we aren’t careful. The concept of “less is more” isn’t just for your things. It also applies to your time. Having less is more. And, doing less is more. It will give you more time to deeply immerse yourself in the few experiences you decide to do. You’ll be able to savor the experiences instead of counting down to the next to-do or to-see on your list.

6) Connect with the world around you:  Instead of rushing through everything, stop often. My wife and I did a mountain biking trail in Lake Tahoe that takes the average person roughly 3 hours. It took us 5! We stopped a bunch, jumped in a lake to cool off, and found countless opportunities to savor the breathtaking views or take a picture. I’m all for taking photos and videos on trips. If you plan enough time in your schedule, you should have plenty of time to take pictures as well as actually soak in the natural splendor ( forest bathing , anyone?). Just follow digital minimalism and don’t live your trip through your lens. That’s the sign of a schedule that’s packed way too tightly.

7) Save money or spend locally:  Traveling also shouldn’t be an excuse to blow a bunch of money. We try to apply the principles of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) at home or on the road. But, it’s not just about saving money. It’s about you “voting” where your dollars go. When you spend, try to spend in a way that supports the local community.

8) Eat local, healthy food:  Inspired by the Blue Zones diet, we try to eat healthy, plant-based food. Or, you can apply the SLOW acronym of S ustainable, L ocal, O rganic, and W hole. Our process here is fairly simple. We use Yelp as a starting place to see our options in a location and then filter from there. We’re almost always able to find a local place to eat, and usually opt for organic, vegan, or vegetarian options. Depending on how long we’ll be in a location, we’ll also go to a grocery store to stock up on healthy food and save even more money.

9) Do everything at the right pace:  Just like slow living , not everything about slow travel is literally slow. Just ask my heart rate while hiking and mountain biking!

10) Find joy in the journey:  It’s about the journey, not the checkboxes on your sightseeing list. Always remember the story of the tourist and the fisherman . You can choose to be the fisherman.

Do you have any experience slow traveling? Please share in the comments!

• https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/slow-travel-movement/

About Kyle Kowalski

👋 Hi, I'm Kyle―the human behind Sloww . I'm an ex-marketing executive turned self-education entrepreneur after an existential crisis in 2015. In one sentence: my purpose is synthesizing lifelong learning that catalyzes deeper development . But, I’m not a professor, philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist, scientist, mystic, or guru. I’m an interconnector across all those humans and many more—an "independent, inquiring, interdisciplinary integrator" (in other words, it's just me over here, asking questions, crossing disciplines, and making connections). To keep it simple, you can just call me a "synthesizer." Sloww shares the art of living with students of life . Read my story.

Sloww participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. When you purchase a book through an Amazon link, Sloww earns a small percentage at no additional cost to you. This helps fund the costs to support the site and the ad-free experience.

Reader Interactions

September 24, 2018 at 5:06 AM

Thanks, for sharing 10 excellent tips for travel. I fully agree with this article. I seem when we traveling, we should download an offline version of the area you are in on Google Maps. I would love to credit my impeccable map reading skills, but in reality, I usually rely on Google Maps to determine my location. Whenever possible, Cameron and I download offline versions of these maps which let the app run smoothly without WiFi.

October 30, 2018 at 10:01 PM

Thank you, John. Good addition!

October 17, 2018 at 2:48 AM

Your post is very interesting to read. It’s very informative and helpful. Usually, I never comment on blogs but your article is so convincing that I never stop myself to say something about it. You’re doing a great job. Keep it up.

November 18, 2018 at 10:02 AM

Thanks so much, selena!

November 28, 2018 at 5:56 AM

Amazing article and tips guys. I’ve read it with such a big pleasure, and I felt each of them. I’ve traveled a bit, just 14 countries till now, but I can say you have an amazing list of tips. Keep up with the good work.

November 28, 2018 at 10:57 AM

Thank you, Smith. Hopefully you can apply some of the slow travel tips on your 15th country and beyond!

February 8, 2019 at 2:39 AM

Nice blog. I love traveling because it’s always fun with family and friends. Also, the more you travel the more you explore.

February 27, 2019 at 11:59 AM

Thank you! I agree. This is one of the few areas in life where more equals more 🙂

February 26, 2019 at 7:50 AM

Great tips! Eating local healthy food is a must for me – I love discovering new tastes and new foods.

February 27, 2019 at 11:57 AM

Thanks Jessica, and same here!

March 18, 2019 at 4:27 AM

Thanks for the information.

March 28, 2019 at 1:42 AM

You got it, Rohit.

March 18, 2019 at 4:28 AM

Good one, keep it up.

March 28, 2019 at 1:43 AM

Thank you, Varun!

March 26, 2019 at 1:01 PM

Thanks a ton. I love your no-nonsense approach to all this.

March 28, 2019 at 1:40 AM

Thank you, Huong.

July 18, 2019 at 1:50 AM

This is great post, I like it. Thanks for sharing helpful information. Your writing is very good, I really use full this post. thank you very much.

July 18, 2019 at 1:28 PM

You’re welcome!

November 12, 2019 at 8:16 AM

Totally agree. I love slow travelling. At times I chose the longer route, taking bus instead of the tube (london), and I ended up taking in more sights and just being present. Taking a spontaneous picnic when I see a beautiful park. Yes I get distracted from the route but it’s my vacation, time off anyway.

December 13, 2019 at 11:48 AM

That’s the spirit, Denise! Presence and spontaneity.

December 4, 2020 at 5:53 AM

Wonderful tips! My partner and I full time travel normally( not since Covid sadly )

He used ot be a chef so the first thing he does is go to a local store and gets only fresh ingredients. Then makes something locally inspired for us. It helps get us in the head space for a new adventure.

March 2, 2021 at 9:05 PM

Amazing, Maria! Having a chef in the relationship probably really spices things up (pun intended)!

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What Does the Phrase “Slow Travel” Actually Mean? 

By Sebastian Modak

This is part of a collection of stories on slow travel—read more here.

For about a decade, Paul Salopek, a Pulitzer-winning journalist, has been walking. By that, I don’t mean he’s consistently hit his 10,000 steps on daily constitutionals. In 2013, Salopek set out on the  Out of Eden Walk , a project to follow the 80,000-year-old footsteps of our forebears, following the 24,000-mile route of human migration from Ethiopia to the southern tip of South America —all on foot just as they had done. Salopek’s still-unfolding, extraordinary journey might be considered the ultimate experiment in so-called “slow travel,” a term that is being used more and more frequently to describe everything from backcountry bikepacking expeditions to mega-ship cruises. But when I reach Salopek on Zoom to ask him about it, he is in the Chinese province of Shaanxi and is audibly confused about what the term even means. “There’s been no other way  but  ‘slow travel’ for 99 percent of our history,” he says. “I guess in today’s world to premise anything on going slowly is revolutionary.”

It’s hard to pinpoint its exact beginnings but the slow travel revolution—an intentional move towards more mindful, more environmentally responsible, less purely convenient modes of getting around—organically emerged from another revolution. In 1986, a journalist named Carlo Petrini, in the most Italian protest ever conducted, handed out bowls of penne pasta to passersby and demonstrators who yelled, “We don’t want fast food. We want slow food!” The target? A McDonald’s, the first in Italy , set to open at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome. The McDonald’s did indeed open, and is still there, but by actively resisting the very concept of fast food, Petrini started what became known as the slow food movement, a culinary practice that emphasizes natural ingredients, traditional cooking methods, and long, languorous meals where food is relished rather than treated as fuel.

If slow food is defined, at least partially, by what it’s not, then the same can be said for slow travel. Slow travel can be best understood as a collective reaction to our post-industrial obsession with convenience, where time, and using as little of it as possible, is the biggest priority in getting from point A to point B. Some have tried to give slow travel a more concrete definition. In 2010, for example, a decade before the coronavirus pandemic saw  skyrocketing interest in  trekking, cycling, and domestic trips, two tourism researchers out of the UK, Janet Dickinson and Les Lumsdown,  wrote that slow travel was “an emerging conceptual framework which offers an alternative to air and car travel, where people travel to destinations more slowly overland, stay longer and travel less.” Seems simple enough. Take a train, a bike, kayak, or your own two feet instead of a plane and car and just like that, you’ve taken your vow of mindfulness; welcome to the church of slow travel? 

Of course, like any trend that starts with a kind of radical thoughtfulness, the definition of slow travel gets slippery with the more questions you ask. What if, on that train ride, you do nothing but scroll on TikTok? What if the place and the people you really want to get to know and learn from are just too difficult to reach without getting on a plane, because of other obligations, money, or a disability? Does that disqualify you? Run a Google search of slow travel and you won’t need to scroll long before you’re accosted with shiny images of beautiful people on pristine beaches and “must-have” checklists for worthwhile “slow travel” experiences.  What if you can’t afford the five-digit price tags associated with the two-week yacht trips, luxury train rides, and wilderness resorts that market themselves as the ultimate in slow travel indulgences? 

What emerges then is a far more complex definition of what it means to travel slowly. Traveling slowly can mean exploring your own backyard, avoiding environmentally damaging transportation when possible, spending a lot of time in one place instead of a little time in many—but it also is an internal process. It means tamping down our own built-in, conditioned obsessions with time and allowing the world to move just a little slower so that we can actually notice it. Slow travel is a mindset: you don’t need three weeks of vacation to slow down. A day spent strolling through an unfamiliar neighborhood without a crammed to-do list or exploring a state park with nothing but a route map and a bag of snacks could fall under the umbrella of slow travel. It comes down to how you engage with the world as you move through it.  

“It’s about taking the time to make a connection—to the land and each other,” says Chyanne Trenholm

“If slow travel is about stopping and taking the time to properly connect with a place and its people, then yes, it’s something I’m all for,” says Chyanne Trenholm, a member of the Homalco First Nation, and the assistant general manager of Vancouver Island-based  Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours . The Indigenous-owned company organizes visits to local communities, and Bute Inlet wildlife excursions. Trenholm says the idea of taking it slow and being present has been ingrained in her culture as a steward of the land. “Slow tourism is not the term we’ve used much, because it’s not just how we think of our brand—it’s who we are,” she says. She feels a certain sense of responsibility in instilling that kind of thinking in visitors who might arrive looking to get that one shot of a grizzly bear with a fish in its mouth and then leave. “It’s about taking the time to make a connection—to the land and each other,” she says. “I think humans in general can learn a lot from the act of making those connections.” 

Monisha Rajesh , the author of three books on long-distance train travel, thinks that moving slower gives our brains the time it needs to process our experiences. “On a plane, you lift out of one place and drop into the next without any awareness of the in-betweenness,” she says. “On a train, the journey starts the second you get on board. I don’t know who is going to enter my story and the surroundings are part of the adventure.” Instead of the time it takes to get from origin to destination being a kind of blank nothingness—a necessary, if somewhat annoying, component of travel—suddenly, it teems with possibility. 

When people hear about long, slow journeys—a cross-country  bike trip , a paddle down the Mississippi, a 10-year-and-counting walk in the footsteps of early Homo sapiens—the reaction is usually a mix of “you-did- what?”  shock and “I-could-never” envy. It’s a strange reaction considering our history as a species. Salopek tells me that he’s noticed something almost primeval about entering a community that is not your own by foot. “They see you coming from a distance. By the time you walk up to them and say hello there’s this ritual of greeting that you’re both prepared for,” he says. “We’ve been walking into each other’s viewsheds for 300,000 years and that’s why it feels so good.”

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My Five Acres

Make Travel Truly Transformational

15 Reasons to Travel Slowly + 10 Tips on How to Do It!

Do you want to travel slowly? Or are you just curious about what slow travel is? Fast travel can be stressful and exhausting, but slow travel has the power to transform . Read our slow travel guide to find out why you should try travelling slowly and get tips on how to do it.

What’s in our guide to travelling slowly?

As full-time travellers, sometimes we travel slowly, sometimes we travel fast. When Stephen’s yoga teaching schedule is in full swing, there are times when we have to be in a new city every weekend.

Fast travel is stressful, exhausting, and soul destroying.

That’s why, when our schedule is our own, we slow down as much as possible. We book a place and stay for a week or more. Or we rent bicycles and move from place to place at 15 km per hour.

Our days of leisurely travel remind us why we started travelling in the first place. These are the moments we live for — and the ones we will remember for the rest of our lives.

If you want travel to be truly transformational try travelling slowly.

If you want to become a slow traveler, read on for our top…

15 Reasons to Travel Slowly + 10 Slow Travel Tips

Get More from Your Travels Grab our 63 tips for a truly transformational trip , our guide to eco-travel and our tips on being a greener traveller .

What is Slow Travel?

Why people travel too fast.

We meet a lot of people when we travel and, naturally, the conversation turns towards where they’ve been and where they’re going during their travels.

It usually goes something like this:

Us: So, where were you before this? Traveller: Well, we started in Paris, then flew to Rome, Amsterdam, London, Venice, and now we’re here. Us: Oh wow, how long have you been travelling? Traveller: 10 days. Us: [Silence as we nod slowly, trying not to let the shock and dismay show on our faces.]

It’s no mystery as to why people do this to themselves. Many feel that this trip to Europe or Asia or America is once-in-a-lifetime. If they don’t see it ALL now, they never will.

First of all, that’s just not true. Most of us, as long as we make travel a priority in our lives, will get to see more of the world than we think.

Second, if it is your only chance to travel, do you really want to spend the whole time rushing from place to place, never really seeing anything? Do you want to be so focussed on the next destination, the next experience, that you forget to enjoy the moment you’re in?

One of my favourite novelists puts it this way:

We residents sometimes pity you poor tourists not a little—handed about like a parcel of goods from Venice to Florence, from Florence to Rome, living herded together in pensions or hotels, quite unconscious of anything that is outside Baedeker, their one anxiety to get ‘done’ or ‘through’ and go on somewhere else. The result is, they mix up towns, rivers, palaces in one inextricable whirl. E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

This style of travel, where tourists see everything but absorb nothing, is the antithesis of slow travel. And it’s becoming increasingly common.

In our Instagram world, most people only spend as long in a place as it takes to get the perfect shot, then it’s on to the next sight without ever stopping to appreciate or understand what they’ve just seen.

So what is slow travel?

There’s no single definition of slow travel — and you don’t need a long vacation to try it. You can travel slowly for a weekend, a week, or take years — it’s up to you.

More than anything, slow travel is a way of thinking about travel that prioritizes immersion and experience over sights and tourist attractions. It’s a preference for sinking your teeth into the culture, rather than following the guidebook blindly.

Slow travel gives you the chance to learn not only about the culture you’re visiting, but about yourself as well.

Done right, travelling slowly has the power to transform your life.

Why Travel Slowly?

1. travel slowly to save money.

Not only is slow travel better (at least we think so), it’s cheaper!

First, slow travel helps you save on transportation costs, often the biggest travel expense. Accommodation can also be cheaper because you can avoid booking big chain hotels that are usually right next touristy attractions. Instead, stay further out to experience more local life at cheaper prices.

Slow travel also helps you save on food. You’ll have time to explore local restaurants and avoid the tourist traps that charge more for less.

2. Travel Slowly to Save Time

If you just have a short break it might seem smart to travel faster, packing as many places in as you can. But the flipside is, whe you travel quickly, you waste a ton of time in the act of travelling. Transferring to and from the airport, sitting on trains and busses, checking in and out of hotels, queuing up for attractions and tickets…

All of this time could be spent relaxing and absorbing a new culture.

3. Travel Slowly to Save Energy

Have you ever needed a vacation from your vacation? We’ve been there, trust us!

If you pack every minute of your itinerary with a different activity or sight, you’ll be exhausted by the end of each day. Pile a week or two of busy days on top of each other and, by the time you get home, you’ll need a week off to recover.

Travelling slowly gives you time to sleep in, take a nap in the afternoon, or just sit sipping coffee while the world goes by.

Slow travel gives you time to relax — and isn’t that what a vacation is really for?

4. Travel Slowly to Save the Planet

Airplanes suck (and not just because they treat you like cattle). Planes are extremely destructive to the planet — and they’re my least favourite thing about our travel lifestyle.

If you can take a train or bus to reach your destination, definitely do it, even if it takes longer. And if you have to fly to get there, don’t compound the problem by taking a lot of short hop flights during your trip.

Overland travel, by bus or train, will help decrease the environmental impact of your trip.

Staying in homestays, apartments, or small hotels, which is easier if you are travelling slowly, also reduces your impact, since these places tend to be more eco-friendly and less wasteful than big hotel chains.

5. Slow Travel Helps you Avoid Tourist Crowds

One of the biggest bonuses of slowing down your travels is getting away from other tourists!

On a slow trip you’ll have time to explore off-the-beaten track places and destinations. And when you do choose to visit the big sights, like the Sistine Chapel or the Louvre, you can choose a day and time when crowds are thinner. You’ll avoid the queues and have more time to spend in a staring contest with the Mona Lisa!

6. Make a Bigger Impact

This is one of our favourite things about slow travel. Fast travellers book their hotels for proximity to the biggest sights, and these hotels usually belong to international conglomerates.

When you travel slowly, you are more likely to stay in independently owned accommodation, like a family Airbnb or an out-of-the-way homestay. This means your travel money makes its way directly into the local economy and benefits local people.

7. Connect with People

When you choose to stay in locally owned accommodation, you’ll have contact with locals (the hotel owners) from the second you arrive. We’ve had amazing, enlightening conversations over dinner or coffee with our hosts around the world.

They are also able to recommend independent drivers, restaurants, and other attractions — you might be the only tourist there! Locals are naturally curious about a tourist who manages to find their favourite haunts, so don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation and learn what it’s really like to live in a destination.

8. Connect with the Culture

You’ve heard the expression “going native”, right? OK, it probably has racist origins, and it can be used in a derogatory sense. But we’re not ashamed to adapt to foreign cultures.

Staying in one place a little longer lets us learn all the similarities and wonderful differences between our culture and the one we’re living in. We are happy to adopt aspects of the local culture that seem better than how we do it back home.

9. Connect with Yourself

Not every moment of your slow trip will be spent partying with the locals. Perhaps our very favourite aspect of slow travel is that it gives you time to absorb what you’ve experienced.

Instead of seeing a bunch of stuff back to back to back, you’ll have time in between experiences to consider them, contemplate, and decide what they mean to you. As you learn more about the world, these slow reflective moments will teach you more about yourself, too.

10. You’ll See More Travelling Slowly

This one sounds counter-intuitive. How will you see more if you’re moving around less? Well, what we mean is, you’ll see more of your destination and less of the airports, train stations, busses, trains, and taxis.

Travelling quickly often means taking long journeys between places — all you’ll remember is the tarmac flashing by outside your bus window. With slow travel, you might tick less off your bucket list, but can go deeper in one place, allowing yourself to follow the unexpected twists and turns of a slow journey.

11. Slow Travel is Where Adventure Lives

When you have time to follow intriguing pathways, duck down twisting alleyways, or say yes to unexpected offers, something incredible happens — your holiday turns into an adventure!

We’ve been invited into stranger’s homes for coffee, taken on hikes in incredible hidden places, and found beaches that only locals know about.

The world is full of hidden marvels and when you slow down you have a chance to discover them.

12. You’ll Make More Lasting Memories

Some itineraries are so jam-packed that there’s no time so sit back and absorb the experiences. When we don’t have time to think, our brains don’t have a chance to make permanent memories. One sight or city pushes the memories from the last place out of your mind.

(I think that’s why people take selfies at iconic places. It helps us remember places that we didn’t really experience at the time.)

When you get home after a period of fast travel, the trip might seem hazy, like a dream, each memory indistinct. When you slow down, you give your brain more time to form complete memories, and you’ll be able to call up the scents, colours, and feeling you had for years to come.

13. You’ll Learn to Live with Less

If you take a longer trip and travel slowly, you might just start to realize an important truth.

You don’t need all the gadgets, gizmos and tchotchkes you have at home. When you’re out in the world with just what you can fit in your suitcase, you start to realize that it is more than enough.

You might find a sudden urge to declutter, minimize, and downsize when you get back home.

14. Travel Slowly to be Happier

Modern life tends to prioritize being busy over being happy. We rush from here to there, every moment of the day scheduled to the last second, until we fall into bed, exhausted.

(That’s exactly how most people travel, too.)

Travelling slowly is a great way to prime you for living more slowly when you get back home. We hope you’ll realize that the most valuable moments on your trip were the slow, silent moments — and start to build those into your regular life, as well.

Once you do that, you’ll make room for happiness to grow.

15. Travel Slowly to Change Your Life

If we believed the glossy marketing in travel magazines and on billboards, it’s the grand (expensive) travel experiences that change you. We’ve found the opposite to be true. The big experiences and sights, shared with hundreds of other tourists, are interesting enough. But there’s nothing transformational about wrestling 100 other tourists for your chance to glimpse the Mona Lisa.

Wandering down a quite alleyway, sipping espresso in a cozy cafe, hiking up a peak, cycling the outskirts of a busy city… these moments make travel special.

The moments when it’s just you and your sense of adventure, are the moments that tug at your heart, feed your soul, and call on you to transform into the person you’ve always wanted to be.

How to Travel Slowly — 10 Tips to Change the Way you Travel

1. plan to not plan.

Whether you’ve got two weeks or two months, it’s easy to let travel planning take over your life. Before our big bike trip, I spent hours with a map, planning our exact route, what sights we would see, and where we would stay. It only took about 24 hours before the plan was shot and were winging it.

It’s hilarious when I think about it now, but what a waste of time!

Travelling slowly means leaving the moment-by-moment plan far behind and letting the world take you where it wants you to go.

So for your next trip, plan the bare outlines of your journey, and let the blanks fill themselves in as you travel.

2. Don’t Fly

Sure, you might need to fly to get to the country or region you want to visit (if you don’t need to, don’t!). But from there, use only ground transportation, preferably busses and trains.

You don’t usually have to book ground transport ahead of time, so it’s far easier to change your plans on the spur of the moment.

Ground transportation is also more efficient, better for the environment, and allows you to actually see the place you’ve come so far to visit.

3. Rent a Room in an Apartment

If you really want to become part of local life, rent a room in an Airbnb apartment. No, don’t rent a whole apartment — get a room in someone else’s house. If you find a good one, you’ll get a chance to chat with your host, or maybe even share a meal, and learn about what life is like from their point of view.

4. Try Housesitting

If you really want to “try on” somebody else’s life, housesitting is the perfect way to do it. We have experienced what it’s like to be an expat in Hanoi, Brno, Brighton, Casablanca, Riga, and lots of other places around the world. Housesitting is brilliant, too, because it’s free accommodation (woohoo!) and if you’re lucky, you’ll get a fluffy pet to keep you company.

We recommend TrustedHousesitters to find your next house sitting gig.

5. Make Time to do Nothing

For some of us, doing nothing sounds like heaven. For others, it’s the worst punishment ever. If you’re in the second category, I suggest you deliberately schedule “nothing” time into your travel calendar. But don’t worry about being bored. Doing nothing in a strange place is the quickest route to adventure that we’ve ever found.

6. Learn a Few Words in the Local Language

Since you’ll be travelling slowly, you can take a little time to learn a few words of the local language.

Start with “hello” and “thank you”. Then work you way up to “how are you?”, “what’s your name?”, and other phrases of small talk. Even if that’s all you can say, it’s worth it to see the expressions of delight on local’s faces when you actually adress them in their own language.

7. Get Lost

Wander wander wander. If we have one rule for slow travel, this is it. Put down your map, people, and just go!

The “do nothing” time you built in your schedule is the perfect time to wander. Keep your eyes open, observe the people, the buildings, and the life around you.

Once you’ve had enough wandering for the day, pull out your smart phone and use your favourite map app to get unlost.

8. Take a Tour

We used to think that tours were only for fast travellers or travellers who didn’t know what they were doing. Now, we realize that good tours are like your backstage pass to a destination!

A good guide will open doors that are usually not accessible to tourists. Of course, you want to avoid big group tours that chug you from place to place in a giant, smelly bus. Look for small group tours with companies who focus on independent-style travel. These types of tours can reveal facets of your destination that you would never experience on your own.

For independent and transformational small group tours, we love Intrepid .

9. Try a Cycle Tour

Cycle touring is not for everyone, obviously, but if you’ve ever felt the sheer joy of hopping on a bike, we highly encourage you to try a cycle tour.

If it’s your first time travelling by bike, we recommend joining a short multi-day tour. That way, everything is provided for you, you’ll have all the right gear, and a guide who can show you the ropes.

I don’t think it will take long for you to discover the indescribable joy of travelling by bike — our favourite method of slow travel.

If you want to get out on a bike anywhere in Asia, we recommend Grasshopper Adventures .

(Related: Read Jane’s post The Truth About Cycle Touring to see if it’s right for you) →

10. Book a Retreat

If you really want to make your slow travels transformational, a retreat is a good option. You can spend your entire trip on a retreat, or just dedicate a few days of a longer trip to a retreat.

Many retreats include yoga, others teach you about nutrition or cooking, while still others focus on your mental wellbeing and include lots of massages! Whatever style you choose, a retreat will give you vital time to slow down, peel away the busy-ness of life, and remember who you are and what makes you happy.

If you’re looking for a retreat, you’ll find a great selection on BookRetreats .

So, are you ready to try to travel slowly? Can you let go of your guidebook, your minute-by-minute plans, and your checklists and just let yourself slip into the local lifestyle? Where will you slow travel to next?

♥   Happy transformational travels, Jane & Stephen

We’re not going to lie, it takes a LOT of work to create travel guides like this. But it’s easy to help us out! If you book or buy something using one of our personal links in this post, we’ll earn a small fee at no extra cost to you. Of course, we would never recommend anything we didn’t 100% believe in! Huge thanks in advance! –S&J

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About Jane Mountain

Hi, I'm Jane, founder and chief blogger on My Five Acres. I've lived in six countries and have camped, biked, trekked, kayaked, and explored in 50! At My Five Acres, our mission is to inspire you to live your most adventurous life and help you to travel more and more mindfully.

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Eight years ago, we sold our house and quit our jobs. Now we travel full-time and help others transform through travel.

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Asia’s best slow travel destinations in 2023

By Sim Wie Boon

Sep 29, 2023

5 slow travel destinations in Asia

Slow travel , a rising trend, doesn’t prioritise speed but emphasises mindful, authentic exploration over the rush of modern travel. It encourages travellers to connect with landscapes and cultures, promoting environmentally-conscious itineraries and longer stays rather than hurried visits to numerous attractions . In celebration of The United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s annual recognition of tourism’s global significance, we look at some of Asia’s top slow travel destinations for 2023.

From Sri Lanka ’s breathtaking scenery, delicious food, and laid-back charm to Kyoto ’s cultural treasures, tranquil temples, and cherry blossoms, these locations are ideal for you to explore at your own pace and soak up its beauty in an unhurried fashion. Also in this week’s newsletter:

• Datuk Nicol David , Malaysia’s squash legend
• A recap of the Tatler GMT launch party in Malaysia

Acumen CEO Jacqueline Novogratz on moral leadership

• A peek into an elegant and minimal family home in KL

Cheers, Sim Wie Boon Digital Editor

Datuk Nicol David, the squash legend who dominated the sport for a decade

Datuk Nicol David may have retired from the sport, but is nurturing young minds and giving back through the Nicol David Foundation (Photo: Getty Images)

In the squash world, Datuk Nicol David is the first and only Asian woman to hold the world number-one ranking for an unprecedented 108 consecutive months. The veteran squash player retired in June 2019 after playing her last match at the British Open. Since then, she has put her time and energy into the Nicol David Foundation . Through the organisation’s Little Legends programme, she nurtures the values of positivity, confidence and respect via sports and education for young children.

Read story .

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Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur consultant endocrinologist Dr Saiful Kassim discusses advancements in local Diabetes care.

In Pictures: Tatler GMT launches in Malaysia

Alex Cheah, Raymond Tham, Ian Chong, Dato’ Sri Jeffrey Raymond, and Jack Wong (Photo: Daniel Adams)

Last month, Tatler GMT unveiled its inaugural issue with a vibrant party at W Kuala Lumpur, and it proved to be the finest hour (or three) when the world of luxury was embraced in all its glory. Held in partnership with Swiss Watch , our guests were treated to a display of luxury watches from the four major Bs in the industry: Bell & Ross, Bovet, Breitling, and Bremont. Featuring a special dialogue with collectors Dato’ Sri Jeffrey Raymond and Luo Yong Wen about their collecting experience, the evening marked the beginning of Tatler Asia’s re-energised horology platform .

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Malaysian fashion designer Alia Bastamam makes her mark in the city that never sleeps with a captivating presentation.

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POWER & PURPOSE

Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, Acumen Fund (Photo: Mark Shaw)

Jacqueline Novogratz founded Acumen in 2001, and it has gone on to invest around US$149 million of patient capital into 157 companies, with nearly US$243 million in assets under management, impacting 32 million people. Recognising the potential of social entrepreneurs to address the world’s most difficult issues , Acumen Academy was also founded to foster innovation grounded in moral leadership. The best-selling author talks to Tatler about her incredible journey and why she envisions a world made better by leaders who enrich the lives of others in society beyond just their own.

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What is sustainable investing and where do you start? Find out in this Wealth With Sophia column.

How are luxury brands supercharging for their seemingly ordinary products? Luxury expert Daniel Langer says its with good storytelling .

How this cosmetic company plans to fund US$15 million in breast cancer research for the next five years.

Home tour: An elegant minimalist family home in Kuala Lumpur

Box Design Studio’s elegant play on geometry makes this home perfect for a family in Kuala Lumpur (Photo: Lawrence Choo)

Take a tour through this home project aptly named “Un-fold”, which encapsulates how the whole residence is laid out coherently and articulately. Formulated by Lucas Fong of Box Design Studio , the intersecting planes and their resultant volumes make this building seem almost like origami executed on a large scale.

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Looking to start your own vintage Eames collection ? Here are 5 tips on what to look for—and what to avoid.

Explore Wangsa Maju with Datin Sri Joanne Yew and find out why the old school charm and modern innovation of this township makes it the ideal setting for MCL Land’s Sfera .

Here are some expert tips on how to achieve a speedy and lucrative luxury home sale .

AROUND ASIA

HONG KONG | The Hong Kong Palace Museum is now showcasing newly excavated treasures from Bronze Age China highlighting the sophisticated craftsmanship of the era.

SINGAPORE | For those across the causeway, here are three amazing musicals not to be missed in Singapore.

PHILIPPINES | Bench Fashion Week returns with a lineup of sartorial trailblazers rethinking and reshaping the local Filipino fashion scene.

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This Lesser-known Washington Peninsula Has Some of the Most Stunning Bioluminescence in the U.S. — Here's How I Planned My Trip

With artsy towns, tangible history, and around-the-clock nature, Washington’s Kitsap Peninsula glows in more ways than one.

Jacqueline Kehoe/Travel + Leisure

I rake my paddle across the water’s black surface, and electric-white fireworks erupt. Hood Canal’s bioluminescence wasn’t blue like I expected. It was more like the millions of stars we can no longer see had settled in the water — they just needed a bit of stirring up. 

“Tons of places have bioluminescence,” John Kuntz, owner of Olympic Outdoor Center, tells Travel + Leisure . “You just can’t see it because of the light pollution. Here, we’re lucky that it’s still dark.” 

We paddle on the Kitsap Peninsula National Water Trail, just beyond the lights of Port Gamble, Washington. Set between Seattle and the more well-known (and larger) Olympic Peninsula, Kitsap Peninsula is two hours from the Cascades and 90 minutes from the Olympics — and has spent nearly forever in the shadow of both. Bainbridge Island, the peninsula’s largest, is a well-known getaway for the Seattle elite, but it’s only recently that the rest of the world has discovered the rest of the peninsula — and how it glows.

Courtesy of John Knox, @johnknox206

Hood Canal wraps around Port Gamble, an old timber town that moonlights as a movie set. Modeled after East Machias, Maine, it’s all trim company homes, Victorian-esque architecture, colorful “Skittles” houses, and manicured lawns. (And, according to local lore, there's one ghost named Gustave Engelbrecht.)

This morning, I’m biking into Port Gamble Heritage Forest Park, just seconds behind the town’s main drag. While most of Port Gamble was cut down, this spot was largely spared. Today, it offers some of the peninsula’s best hiking and biking, with 60 miles of multi-use trails and even a mountain biking ride park. Certain sections drip with moss and claim trees the size of dining room tables; others are young — and yet are still being cut. (The county bought back the land and purchasing the timber rights is the next fight.)

Jacqueline Kehoe/Travel + Leisure

After a few rolling miles and plenty of stopping for photos, I bike back down to Butcher & Baker Provisions , one of my favorite Washington spots and one of my favorite cheesecake purveyors. Famous for their pimento cheese fried chicken sandwiches, amongst other things, I wait longer to eat than eating itself takes. But that’s no matter: it’s extra time to scan for Gustave.

I try to meditate (with a pastry) nearly everywhere I go. It forces me to slow down, notice the details around me, and concentrate on things like sweetness and beauty. With that in mind, my cheesecake and I head to Point No Point, a wild stretch of beach with long views across Puget Sound, to test our luck spotting orcas and sea glass. 

When it’s quiet, like today, Point No Point can feel a bit somber: this is where the S'Klallam, Chimakum, and Skokomish Nations signed the Point No Point Treaty and ceded their land. Though it’s silent and serene on the sand, the waves are crashing, the gulls are crying, and Mount Tahoma looms loudly in the distance. 

I munch, slowly, as is the only appropriate speed. The orcas never make an appearance, but the sea glass does, in shades of white, amber, and green.

From here, I head down the peninsula to Poulsbo, where Norwegian was the official language until 1947. Poulsbo sits on Liberty Bay, a sort of mini-fjord. Nicknamed "Little Norway," the downtown overflows with art galleries, high-end boutiques, and the iconic Sluys Bakery , where a line regularly flows out the door. I pop in for some smells, do some window shopping, and head over to Sogno di Vino , ready to mop up some olive oil. 

The cozy, fireplace-lit restaurant is next door to Hotel Scandi . It's the town’s oldest hotel, which is now reenvisioned as a freshly designed hotel-Airbnb hybrid. There are nine rooms and shared baths, and guests can book and access rooms on their own. It’s yet another historic spot tasked with balancing eras — much like Kitsap itself. 

I meet a couple of friends for lunch and a hike up Green Mountain. Though only rising to 1,700 feet, Green Mountain has 25 miles of trails and, at the top, provides its companions with views of both the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, the Seattle cityscape, and Mount Tahoma. My friends are Navy brats, and they tell me I need to check out the Navy town of Bremerton. “If Poulsbo is all about art galleries,” one says, “Bremerton is all about the art studios .”

Bremerton was and is a naval shipyard, with water whooshing in and out of all its crevices — a lower-rent town in a maze of high-dollar views. It’s one of those spots where serial entrepreneurs are opening boutiques and bakeries, thrift-store wine bars, and sticky arcades. It’s nerdy and artistic, gritty and creative. It’s got a spark that could go the way of Austin or Asheville, an underdog story awaiting its ending.

I start my night at Grumble & Wine with a half-pour of the house red and a tarot card reading. From there, I sit down to crabcakes at the bar of Hound + Bottle and meet another local, Erin, who kindly confirms all my suspicions. She tells me about locals rallying to buy the Roxy Theatre, the city’s majority-queer leadership, and the downtown’s recent push to become a capital-letter Creative District. Everyone here dreams in shades of elbow grease, it seems. As Erin puts it: “Bremerton is … not for the precious.” I thank her for the brilliant turn of phrase, pass on dessert, and resume my exploring. I peruse pink shelves of local-made goods at Life in Mauve where literally everything is, as the name suggests, mauve; I count bakeries, making a list for later; and I eye Cafe Corvo for the morning. I wander toward the water, which waves in black and gold from the lights of the harbor. Though I can’t tell from here, it almost certainly glows.

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Island destinations like Maui may be in high demand this year, but there are ample ways to get there stress-free.

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Has there ever been a more confusing time to plan a trip? Between skyrocketing flight prices and a mishmash of mask rules , we understand how overwhelming it can be. So, we’re giving you the tools you need to plan an amazing trip minus the stress and find the sweet relief that comes from being on the road again.

Here are 10 ways to be better prepared when you travel in 2022.

1. Book your trip at least two to three months in advance (more if you’re going abroad).

Most experts agree that booking a flight at least four weeks in advance—ideally six to eight weeks before travel—is key to getting a better deal and could save travelers as much as 51 percent, reports AFAR aviation correspondent Barbara Peterson . Use the calendar feature offered on search sites such as Google Flights ; this allows travelers to see the entire span of airfares and select dates when pricing is lowest. Traveling a day before or after your originally intended travel dates can often get you a cheaper fare, says Naomi Hahn, vice president of strategy for booking site Skyscanner .

Increased demand for outdoor travel (along with more flexible work schedules) have all but eliminated the shoulder and off-seasons in some popular destinations, reports AFAR’s Bailey Berg. “Top destinations are seeing a double-digit increase in hotel demand compared to prepandemic—spring shoulder season might be gone in some places,” says Nancy Lien, a public relations manager at Expedia Group, adding that it’s a trend we’ll likely see continue this fall. So once you know where you want to go, make a reservation. Cancellation policies are still fairly generous.

Low-cost carriers such as French Bee can get you to Europe for less.

Courtesy of French Bee

2. Set your expectations: Flights are expensive right now, but deals still exist.

Have you been on the receiving end of an $800 round-trip airfare between, say, New York and Orlando lately? You’re not alone: Thanks to rising fuel prices and increased travel demand, booking app Hopper predicts domestic airfares will average $360 round-trip by May, up from $235 at the start of 2022. International tickets will top out at $940 on average in June, up from $650 in January, Hopper says. And jet fuel prices, the airlines’ second highest expense after labor, are likely to stay high due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on energy supplies, reports Peterson.

But don’t be deterred. We recently broke down all the ways you can still find a good flight deal in 2022 . If you’re willing to take a chance on a new low-cost airline like Breeze and Avelo , they offer cheaper flights that usually undercut the going rate on major U.S. carriers. Expect to pay à la carte for bags, seat selection, etcetera. Pro tip: JetBlue has the biggest economy seats among domestic airlines, and La Compagnie offers business class for half the price between Newark and France.

3. Use a travel agent

If ever there was a time to find and use a trusted travel advisor, now is the time. Between frequently changing pandemic travel restrictions, possible last-minute changes and cancellations, and the fact that many of us have, er, kind of forgotten how to flex our travel muscles, a travel advisor will be your best ally.

So, where do you start? How do you find a good travel advisor? We may be a bit biased, but we think the travel specialists that make up AFAR’s Travel Advisory Council are some of the best in the biz. We reach out to them constantly for their expertise, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t either. Another great resource is Virtuoso , a consortium of luxury travel advisors and a network that can help you identify travel consultants who specialize in the destination or type of trip you are planning, whether it’s a family vacation , wellness escape, Europe trip or a safari in Africa.

Arches National Park in Utah has a new reservation system for 2022.

4. Make that national park/museum/dinner reservation ASAP.

We’re in a Type A planner’s world right now. If there are activities you’d be sad to miss during your travels—be it a museum or dinner reservation, a theme park or show—book them as soon as you have your flight confirmation. Restricted or timed entry began in popular spots like Barcelona and Venice before the pandemic, and it has become a way to limit the number of guests to a safe, comfortable level, including at some of the nation’s popular national parks .

Know that not all serendipity is lost. You might be able to score a day-of pass because of canceled reservations, if you’re willing to take the risk.

5. Pack a COVID test—or several—and talk through your “what if I get COVID abroad” plan.

If you go abroad, you risk getting stuck there for upwards of two weeks if you test positive for COVID. (As of April 21, the U.S. still requires a negative COVID test within one calendar day of entering the country.) Rather than stress about it, come up with a game plan. Make sure you know where you would stay during that additional time abroad were an unfortunate positive test to occur.

As for testing procedures, there are ample ways to get COVID tests for international travel . Some hotels will offer free COVID tests to guests, especially in popular tourist destinations such as Mexico, and some domestic and international airports (in Costa Rica and Germany among others) will run COVID tests onsite.

We recommend you pack at least two CDC-approved COVID self-tests per person in case you cannot find a testing location in a pinch.

6. Check your passport expiration date (and make sure you have a vaccine passport , too).

Remember that you still need at least six months of validity on your passport to enter or leave most countries. Thankfully, if you need to renew your passport, wait times have come way down from last year . We’ve created a handy guide for how to expedite your passport application if you find yourself in a rush. If you do need a new passport, the good news is you may score a cool new “Next Generation Passport” when you get one.

While traveling, you never know when you might be asked to show proof of vaccination status. Make sure to have the physical copy of your vaccine certificate , a photo of it handy on your mobile device, and a digital version just to cover all your bases. Also make sure to be up to the date on the latest vaccine requirements. Some destinations require that travelers be boosted if they received their one- or two-dose vaccine regimen more than nine months prior.

7. Buy travel insurance.

There are many reasons your trip can get derailed these days, and travel insurance can really help defer the added costs of changes and cancellations. Additionally, some countries actually require visitors to buy travel insurance before arriving. Travel credit cards may offer trip cancellation or rental car protection—here’s our guide to the cards with the best insurance . If you want the absolute gold standard in COVID-era coverage, Covac Global will evacuate and repatriate you if you have a positive PCR test and at least one symptom. We have also broken down how “ Cancel for Any Reason” travel insurance can (and can’t) help you on your travels. For some, it may very well be worth the added cost.

8. Pack added patience: staffing shortages remain an issue.

Labor shortages remain an issue at hotels, resorts, restaurants, and airlines throughout the world. What this means for travelers: It’s important to be respectful and patient, because the staff that remains is trying to meet sky-high demand. The lines might be longer at the airport and there could be ample delays. Take a deep breath and remember what a privilege it is to travel at all. Hospitality is a two-way street: If you expect staff to be good hosts, be a good guest as well.

9. Get TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or Clear.

Staffing shortages apply to airports and TSA, too—especially during a travel high season like spring break. Airports big and small aren’t immune; we’ve seen 60-minute waits at airport security everywhere from Newark Liberty International to Denver and New Orleans. We highly recommend that you get to airports earlier than normal (if your normal is two hours before flight time, good job!). Your other best bet is to apply for one of three tiers of security “fast pass”:

• TSA PreCheck: $85 for five years . Good if you mostly travel within the United States. Children age 12 and under can get through on a guardian’s PreCheck.
• Global Entry: $100 for five years . Worth the upgrade if you plan to go abroad at least once in the year. It includes PreCheck, speeds up your wait time at Customs, and is very easy to renew online. Note that if you travel with children, they’ll all need Global Entry as well.
• Clear: $179 annually. Gets you through security even faster than PreCheck. If your home airport is one of the dozens with Clear and you’re a frequent traveler, the program is worth signing up for on top of Global Entry and TSA PreCheck.

Read on for more about the differences between TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR.

10. If you’re nervous about the fluctuating mask mandates , play it safe and just wear a mask.

When in doubt, break out that N95 or KN95. We have compiled the best face masks for travel . Peace of mind can go a long way.

>>Next: How to Calm Your Travel Anxiety

How LGBTQ Travelers May Benefit From Global Entry

"What's that ?" a TSA officer barked, touching my shirt near the shoulder.

"My boobs ," I spat back.

I am queer and gender expansive, which means I don't think of myself as being female (my assigned gender) or male, but as gender-free. This has also meant I've been misgendered and subject to pat downs in airports from JFK to Seattle. At Newark Airport, I was forced to out myself to a TSA officer who demanded to know why my wife and I approached him at the same time when our passports indicated that we didn't share a last name.

Until 2022, airport body scanners coded travelers on binary gender . Each time I flew, the TSA screener operating the body scanner (technically, Advanced Imaging Technology) had a 50-50 chance of assigning me the wrong gender-which meant that I was immediately flagged for a physical pat down and potentially outed to fellow travelers.

The stress of anticipating whether I would "pass" the scanners causes extreme anxiety for me-and for many LGBTQ travelers . I felt trapped in a dysphoric and humiliating system with no way out. A software update and AI assist in 2023 claimed to make the scanning process genderless for travelers. But it was not perfect; trans and nonbinary travelers-or really, anyone whose body doesn't neatly fall into a "male" or female" figure-continue to fail body scans.

I applied for Global Entry, one of the TSA's Trusted Traveler Programs, in 2023. If approved, I'd also automatically qualify for TSA PreCheck, as I would be considered a "known traveler." Applying was a courageous choice given my dread of airport authorities; my screening interview would take place at JFK. The catalyst for my decision was a too-short layover at Miami International Airport while en route to Costa Rica with family. As a kid, I'd endured too many traumatic Florida vacations; I didn't want to risk missing our connecting flight and getting stuck in Miami-especially with the state's "Don't Say Gay" law in effect.

In the days before my Global Entry interview, I scoured Reddit for advice. What would I be asked by the officer in charge of approving my application? What if they misgendered me, or got suspicious about my 1099 income, or grilled me on what countries I'd visited to catch me in a lie? Could my application be denied?

The hardest part of getting Global Entry, it turned out, was navigating construction detours at JFK. I followed a maze of signs that promised to lead to the Terminal 4 Parking Lot but instead, routed me onto the Van Wyck Expressway. With our interview time fast approaching, I parked in a different lot. My wife and I raced through the terminals and checked in with minutes to spare.

We were called back one at a time. The agent asked me to confirm my home address. He directed me to look into the camera and took a photo. Then he handed me a document sleeve with information about Global Entry and said, "Have a good day."

I figured $20 a year was a fair price to pay to join the short VIP line every time I reentered the States-and as a bonus, through PreCheck, to leave my shoes on and liquids in my luggage. I never imagined the real impact being a Trusted Traveler would have on me.

En route to Costa Rica, we were ushered through metal detectors rather than the dreaded scanners (a TSA spokesperson confirmed that travelers with PreCheck are more likely to encounter metal detectors rather than Advanced Imaging Technology). Landing in Miami on our way home, I approached the Passport Control area with my passport and Global Entry card in hand. I scanned my passport, pressed my fingertips to the sensors, and looked up into the kiosk's camera. The machine beeped, verifying my identity.

"Lindsey?" an officer called out as I walked away. I turned, my body clenched. I was accustomed to having unpleasant interactions with airport officers and was readying myself for another.

He visually confirmed my identity, smiled, and said, "Welcome home."

I never used to be a nervous traveler. The invasive body scanners turned me into one by continually flagging my body as a threat. A system intended to safeguard air travelers left me tonguing naturopathic stress relief tablets and decompressing postscan with an overpriced airport beer. TSA screeners' blunt questions made me ashamed and critical of my gender expansive identity; why wouldn't I "dress like a girl" and avoid the harassment, like gender-conforming folks had been telling me to do my whole life?

Global Entry gave me a gift far more valuable than the price tag. It allowed me to travel on my terms, without needing to mask my identity for the screeners or engage in fawning behavior, smiling at officers so as to appear feminine and unthreatening.

It's counterintuitive to trust the agencies that interrogate us for presenting as our authentic selves, but thus far, it works. Since that Costa Rica trip, I've taken three domestic flights. Each time, there have been no body scanners, no pat downs, and no questions. In other words, my travels were blissfully uneventful.