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Who Needs a Whirlwind Trip When You Can Take It Slow?

The slow travel movement has come into its own during the pandemic, as many travelers contemplate the need for more thoughtful, sustainable forms of exploring.

By Elaine Glusac

For many travelers, the prepandemic pace of whirlwind getaways and bucket-list-skimming trips seems so 2019. Now, as destinations cautiously reopen, travelers who spent a year or more confronted by climate change, social activism and a lack of human connection are embracing slow motion as a sustainable speed for exploring the world.

Marguerite Hanley, a native Californian who lives in Amsterdam, is one of those travelers. “After a year of being forced to look inward, we have all realized the value and impact of our actions, both globally in terms of Covid, as humans infringing on habitat, and how we treat people in our community,” said Ms. Hanley, who recently decided to decelerate an ambitious honeymoon in Africa planned for next March. Instead of a whirlwind trip that included a Botswana safari, a visit to Cape Town and an exploration of South African wine country, she scaled down to concentrate on a few camps in Botswana that support conservation and local communities.

“It made sense to stay longer, bring our euros to a couple of communities and reduce our carbon footprint, too,” she said.

Slow travel grew out of the slow food movement, which emphasizes sustainable, local and organic food, and prizes artisanal traditions. It isn’t new — the appeal of walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain, for example, has endured for centuries. But it’s attracting more travelers now for a variety of reasons: as a salve to social distancing, a response to flight-shaming, a meditative breather or an exercise of pandemic-inspired caution. These more mindful trips involve visiting fewer places and sometimes transiting slower, whether by car, train, bike, foot or canoe.

“While typical travel is all about what you do, slow travel emphasizes how you do it,” Kyle Kowalski, the founder of Sloww , a website devoted to slow living, wrote in an email. “Instead of a jam-packed itinerary, slow travel is about intentionally choosing where you will do less in order to experience more. Instead of rushing from one thing to the next, slow travel is about balance and pace, leaving open time to create space and spontaneity.”

A pandemic-inspired pace

Whether they wanted to or not, many people have experienced a slower life during the pandemic, which has fed the slow travel movement.

The environmental gains witnessed during the pandemic as travel ebbed convinced Julia Douglas, a social media manager in Los Angeles, to walk whenever possible rather than order an Uber. On a recent trip from New York City to Buffalo, N.Y., she took an eight-hour train ride rather than fly as part of an effort “to make small changes that would prolong the improvement in pollution, which the world saw when traveling by plane almost completely stopped,” she said.

While commuter train ridership has suffered during the pandemic, long-distance train travel has shown signs of resurgence. Amtrak Vacations , a tour operator that bundles hotels, excursions and travel by train, said bookings were up 47 percent this year to date compared to 2019. In Europe, where 2021 has been designated the European Year of Rail by the European Union to highlight sustainable transportation, long-distance train travel has been revived. Night train networks have made a comeback and one start-up, Midnight Trains , plans to launch luxury sleeper cars on routes from Paris to more than 10 cities beginning in 2024.

Work-from-anywhere policies, born of the pandemic, enabled many to stretch their trips. Airbnb said its stays of 28 days or more had increased 10 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. Exclusive Resorts , a membership home rental service, said bookings of 21 days or more grew 550 percent in 2021 compared to 2019.

The time-consuming requirements of travel today, such as testing or applying for entry, also tend to slow things down.

“In the before times, it was common for travelers to pack in as many destinations and countries as possible, and a Southern Africa safari could include two, three or four countries,” said Jeremy Townsend, the marketing director for Next Adventures , based in Berkeley, Calif. “Today, with required Covid tests for entry and spotty flight connections, our clients are opting for single-country safaris to places like Kenya, Uganda or Zambia that offer a wide variety of experiences with the convenience of reliable international access.”

Getting a Covid-19 test 72 hours before returning to the United States from abroad, as required , is a natural brake.

“Traveling is complicated right now, and we’re recommending that clients add on a few days at the end of their vacation near to their departure point, in order to more easily deal with the requirements for testing before getting onto a flight home,” said Simon Scutt, the director of On Foot Holidays , which specializes in European walking tours.

Anti-checklist travel

But it’s not just practicalities pumping the brakes. There’s a calming appeal to travelers who may feel overwhelmed after more than a year of nervous coexistence with the coronavirus.

In anticipation of Norway’s recent opening to vaccinated American travelers, Up Norway , a bespoke travel company, began selling the concept of “ kos ,” a Norwegian term for peace, harmony and gratitude cultivated “when one takes their time traveling, soaking in the simple joys of culture and natural beauty,” according to a news release touting 28-day stays in remote areas of the country.

It’s a far cry from seeing Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Roman Colosseum — the package-trip hit parade — in a week.

“We used to book a lot of Europe and Asia where people just wanted to check spots off their list,” said Denise Ambrusko-Maida, a travel adviser and the owner of the travel agency Travel Brilliant in Buffalo, N.Y. “People are pulling away from tourist hot spots. They don’t want to be crammed in and shuffling along in lines.”

Rebecca Werner, a Chicago-based travel adviser with Protravel, recently booked a summer train trip to Glacier National Park for a Wisconsin family of four who are fans of the Netflix mini-series “The Queen’s Gambit.” It was a “good way to catch up with their kids and see some good scenery, plus play some chess on the train,” she said.

For these travelers, pursuing personal passions has supplanted the bucket list.

Working with the bespoke travel agency Untold Story Travel , David Demers of Naples, Fla., is organizing two nearly monthlong trips next year to Israel and the Mediterranean with ample time to pursue his interests in history, theater, food and art.

“In the past, travel was about packing in as much as you can, running around checking boxes, which becomes mechanical,” said Mr. Demers, who recently sold his health care company. “The pandemic taught us all that it’s OK to not go fast, to focus on what’s important.”

With that in mind, the travel company Sojrn recently launched monthlong trips staying in one destination, each with an educational theme such as philosophy in Athens, wine in Italy or Spanish language in Colombia. Travelers stay in local apartments and participate in weekly dinners and events, leaving lots of unstructured time to work and explore.

“I’m trying not to plan everything out to the minute like I have done in the past,” said Cara Wright, of Apple Valley, Minn., who plans to continue working for a nonprofit while in Italy in October with Sojrn.

A sustainable speed

For others, like Donna Hetrick, a potter based in Pittsburgh who is bound for Africa, slow travel is about reducing their environmental impact.

“I couldn’t justify a two-week safari,” said Ms. Hetrick, who instead plans to spend several months biking in Africa beginning in 2022 with TDA Global Cycling . In addition to amortizing her carbon footprint and seeing a place in depth, the long trip offers connection. “When you’re on a bicycle, you are accessible to people,” she said.

As a form of tourism that espouses treading lightly, going off the beaten path, connecting with community and patronizing locally owned businesses — all tenets of sustainable travel — slow tourism is also being championed as a correction to overtourism, the kind of overcrowding that plagued destinations such as Dubrovnik before the pandemic.

“Slow tourism is more sustainable because people tend to spend more time in a destination and spread out,” said Martha Honey, the former executive director of the Center for Responsible Travel and co-editor of the book “ Overtourism: Lessons for a Better Future .

She describes slow travel as a “win-win” for both the traveler, who engages more deeply in a destination, and the destination, which sees the benefits of travel dispersed, and credits the recent buy-local movement, forged in the pandemic as communities pulled together to keep local businesses afloat, for popularizing slow principles.

“It’s less disruptive and more economically beneficial,” Ms. Honey added.

As indicated by the popularity of destinations such as Alaska and Montana this summer, travelers continue to avoid densely populated places. In a recent survey of more than 800 travelers in five countries, including the United States, by Flywire , a payment-processing service, three-quarters said they would look for an uncrowded destination when they travel.

For eco-conscious explorers who cling to Phileas Fogg -like ambitions of circumnavigating the globe, but fret over their impact, the sustainable tour operator Responsible Travel recently introduced an 11-week trip — roughly 80 days — around the world by train and cargo ship, crossing Europe to Central Asia, following the Silk Road to China, then shipping out across the Pacific for North America.

“The journey becomes part of the travel experience rather than just a way of getting from A to B,” said Anna Rice, a manager at Responsible Travel who spent a year beginning in 2011 traveling around the world by train and ship, and discovering, among other things, that Vietnam, China, Russia and Poland all had a similar dumpling with a different name. “You become much more aware of your surroundings and how countries are connected in subtle ways in terms of culture and their environments.”

Moving at the speed of humans

For those to whom trains and freighters are too mechanized, human-powered travel, such as hiking, biking and paddling, allow for maximum exposure to nature and the small details blurred at higher speeds.

“You get to see things you don’t see in a car because you’re going slow,” said Kristi Growdon, a personal golf trainer based in Seattle who took a cycling trip to Utah in April with VBT Bicycling Vacations . The company has nearly sold out all domestic departures this year. At the Maine Island Trail Association , which manages a route across more than 200 undeveloped islands along the Maine coast, membership, which includes access to trail information, jumped 23 percent last year.

A sea kayak “takes you into a place other boats cannot go, the intertidal zone,” said Michael Daugherty, the co-owner of Sea Kayak Stonington , which offers boat rentals and guided trips to some of the islands on the trail. “There’s tide and swell and it’s dynamic, and you’re much more aware of that in a small boat.”

He runs the business with his wife, Rebecca Daugherty, an artist, and together they have paddled 625 miles along the Maine coast, producing the 2020 illustrated book “ Upwest & Downeast .”

“I’m a painter, and it takes a while to see a place,” Ms. Daugherty said. “I felt on that 55-day trip, it wasn’t slow enough.”

New ways to slow down

Where there’s a trend in travel, tour operators follow, as indicated by a new wave of relaxed vacation packages.

The active travel company Backroads , launched a division this year called Dolce Tempo , offering a less ambitious pace. Nearly all 2021 trips are sold out; in 2022, it plans to add 100 new Dolce Tempo departures at home and abroad, including Scandinavia, England and along the Danube River.

Motorists can drive from Denver to Moab, Utah, in about five and a half hours. But beginning in August, riders of the Rocky Mountaineer train can cover the route in two days on a scenic ride with an overnight stay in Glenwood Springs, Colo. The new Rockies to the Red Rocks route has been so popular the company has added capacity and extended its inaugural season to Nov. 19. Notably, there is no Wi-Fi onboard.

In southern Utah, the new Aquarius Trail Hut System stations five backcountry huts — fashioned from recycled shipping containers and powered by solar energy — across a 190-mile bicycling route from Brian Head Peak to the town of Escalante. Cyclists pedal in the Dixie National Forest through the hoodoos of Red Canyon and skirt Bryce Canyon National Park.

Jared Fisher, who owns the Las Vegas-based cycling outfitter Escape Adventures , developed the Aquarius Trail Hut System over five years to make “bike-packing” — or backpacking via bike — accessible by including food and bedding, which reduces the amount of gear and planning required. An avid bike-packer, Mr. Fisher has ridden across the United States three times.

“Personally, I enjoy the freedom and head space” of traveling by bike, he said. “I love to be out in nature and feel it, smell it, taste it.”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation.

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Why it's high time for slow travel in Gstaad, Switzerland

There’s something about soaring mountains, sparkling lakes and dense forests that can provide the perfect backdrop for a much-needed reset. Relax, recharge and lean into a more mindful summer getaway in the holiday region Gstaad.

Laid-back, low-key, leisurely, languorous. There are many ways to describe the summer lifestyle in Gstaad, a characterful village tucked away in the Bernese Alps that encourages visitors to come up and slow down. The region was once described as "the last paradise in a crazy world" by actress and honorary resident Julie Andrews, who has owned a home here for over 50 years. Indeed, it's a place that seems made for those looking to fine-tune the art of slow travel — a softer, more considered form of travel that's been growing in popularity in recent years. Slow travel requires a visitor to take time to appreciate the essence of a destination — choosing experiences that connect to its communities, and activities that allow immersion in its nature.

The village of Gstaad, in the heart of Switzerland’s picturesque Saanen region, is perfectly primed for these types of getaways. Here, summer haze drifts slowly over five finger-like valleys — formed by God’s handprint, as the local legend goes, with Gstaad in the palm. Snow-dusted mountaintops rise up to meet pure blue skies, and waterfalls spill down sheer granite cliffs into pastures scattered with flower-festooned chalets and old farmhouses.

Long renowned as a top wellness destination, Gstaad was an early favourite of British Alpinists, who were drawn in by the mountain air and outdoor lifestyle. Today, the village remains a choice spot for those seeking a much-needed mid-year pause, opting for slower, softer travel.

Begin by easing yourself into the area’s stunning natural surroundings with a gentle hike. Follow the Swiss cows up to the sun-warmed slopes, where a network of 185 miles of easily accessible trails and paths meander through lush green pastures and shady forests while, wherever you go, cowbells provide the soundtrack.

For a smoother journey, consider heading out on two wheels to explore the 95 miles of bike trails that loop around the region. Hiring an e-bike allows you to relax into the surroundings even on uphill tracks, the motor helping to ease effort levels. For the most scenic route, follow the trail from Gstaad to the traditional village of Lauenen and around its namesake lake, a wonderfully picturesque spot framed by forests. Stop to take a boat out, or wade in for a dip in its cool, calming waters. Indeed, being around ‘blue space’ has been known to have similar wellness benefits to ‘green space’, resulting in decreased feelings of stress and negativity.

A similarly restorative route takes in Lake Arnen, in the shadow of Les Diablerets. Spend some time fishing or stand-up paddleboarding, before pedalling on to the Rössli restaurant in nearby Feutersoey for a long and languorous meal in its flower-covered garden. Set within a centuries-old chalet, this family-run inn puts a gourmet spin on hearty classics such as wiener schnitzel and whole royal pigeon. Don’t miss the trout meunière, a recipe that’s been passed down through generations and is served with boiled potatoes and spinach.

A bright blue alpine lake with forested slopes surrounding it and mountains behind.

Continue your sojourn in the slow lane at one of Gstaad’s Alpine spas. Situated just off the cobbled, car-free promenade, the family-owned luxury hotel Le Grand Bellevue started life as a health spa in 1912. Guests still seek sanctuary in its vast wellness centre, which is the largest in the region. Whether staying in one of the hotel’s large, opulent rooms, or simply visiting for the day, opportunities abound to soak in a bubbling hot tub, cleanse yourself in the salt inhalation grotto and breathe in local botanicals in the herbal or hay sauna — before cooling off in the ice fountain.

However, while summer signals slower, sun-filled days for many, it’s all systems go for the region’s farmers. There are 340 working farms and around 11,000 cows in the region and, from late spring, the prized herds ascend to the high pastures to graze on grass and Alpine herbs. Traditionally the farmers sleep up here in their summer farmsteads, perched on the slopes, and make cheese from the grass-rich unpasteurised milk on a wood fire every morning. For the best taste of this lcoal speciality, head to one of the huge fondue caquelon (pots) that are dotted throughout the region, where you can feast on hot cheese thanks to a 'fondue backpack' from a local dairy. Or, amble along the one-hour Cheese Trail from Berghaus Wispile to Alp Bodme, where you can tour the cheese dairy, sample its produce and pet the animals in the neighbouring barn.

To taste this local produce in hearty regional dishes, visit one of Gstaad’s many low-key mountain restaurants. Top picks include Refuge l’Espace , a rustic hut on Glacier 3000 where visitors can take a seat on the large sun-splashed deck under the looming rock of the Quille du Diable, while keeping watch for bearded vultures. Graze on air-dried local meats and wafer-thin curls of the area’s traditional cheese, Berner Hobelkäse AOC, washed down with a glass of fresh and floral 'petite arvine'. Indeed, the fragrant wines of the area are one of Switzerland’s best-kept secrets.

Visit as summer draws to an end and you may witness the Gstaad Züglete, the annual August cattle drive, when the cows and bulls are resplendent with headdresses and huge cowbells as they are led back down to spend winter in the valley.

Three slow hikes in Gstaad

1. Wispile to Lake Lauenen Catch the cable car up to Wispile — a mountain just south of the village of Gstaad — then follow this rewarding three-hour trail along the ridge, through high meadows and down into shady forests, before finally reaching the gleaming shores of Lake Lauenen.

2. Horneggli Panorama Trail Incredible views of the jagged Bernese Alps await on this high-altitude hike. Start in Zweisimmen and take the cable car up the Rinderberg, then follow the trail signs to Hornberg along the Gandlouenen Ridge. Hop on the Horneggli chairlift back to Schönried, from which it’s less than 15 minutes on the bus back to Gstaad.

3. Lauenen to the Fondue Caquelon Armed with a fondue backpack kit from one of the many local dairies, follow the trail from sleepy Lauenen through the forest to an oversized caquelon (fondue pot) — essentially a pot-shaped table and bench — to fire up your kit. Feast on bubbling cheese as you gaze over the Geltenschutz and Tungelschutz waterfalls.

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'Slow Travel' Might Be The Key To A Better Vacation. Here's What It Is.

Senior Reporter, HuffPost Life

In the rush of day-to-day life, we don’t always have the opportunity to slow down and move at our own pace. Even on vacation, there’s an urge to visit, do and taste as many things as possible in a new destination or multiple destinations.

“I’ve heard countless times how exhausted people are when they come back from their vacation and feel like they ‘need a vacation from their vacation,’ and that’s because many times we pack so much into a very short amount of time,” said travel blogger Esther Susag . “We want to see everything, do everything, and not waste a minute.”

There is, however, another approach to globetrotting that many seasoned tourists recommend: slow travel. But what exactly is slow travel, and how do you take full advantage of this kind of trip? Below, travel experts break it down.

What exactly is slow travel?

“Slow travel is about quality over quantity,” said Phil Dengler, a co-founder of travel information site The Vacationer . “It is also about immersing yourself in the local culture. Traditional vacations often involve seeing as many things as possible in a short time. While there is nothing wrong with that, it can feel very superficial. It can also feel overwhelming and not like the ideal relaxing vacation.”

As the name suggests, slow travel generally entails slowing down and savoring each moment, rather than rushing to check off bucket list items.

“Slow travel may mean different things to different travelers, but I define it as staying in one place for longer and going deeper into the local culture,” said Paul Jacobs, general manager and vice president of Kayak North America. “It’s taking the time to make real connections with locals versus jam-packing a schedule full of tours. It’s staying in Kyoto at a Ryokan instead of city hopping throughout Asia.”

He believes slow travel is becoming increasingly popular and pointed to data that shows the length of hotel stays is already up 10% in 2023 compared to last year. Still, slow travel doesn’t necessarily require long stays in one place.

“For me, slow traveling isn’t necessarily about the number of days you are spending in a place,” said travel blogger Sean Lau . “You can slow travel with just a few days or with a few months ― it all depends on the level of connection you would like with your destination, allowing you to gain a deeper appreciation of the culture and understand the local environment better.”

For travel expert and author La Carmina , slow travel is a meditative approach to traveling that allows people to stop and smell the roses ― quite literally.

“It’s about being fully present in the moment and experiencing the sights, sounds and sensations around you without distraction ― letting the experience unfold at its own pace and without expectations,” she said. “To me, slow travel doesn’t have a strict definition or certain mandatory elements, such as using slower modes of transport or sticking to a single city or country for a certain amount of time, but rather is about the compassionate awareness one brings to being a visitor in a destination.”

Slow travel is a more mindful approach to tourism that fosters deeper connections.

What are the benefits of slow travel?

“When you travel at a slower pace and not so rushed, you naturally immerse yourself in the culture and place that you’re in and really try to get to know it on a more personal level,” Susag said.

“You talk with more locals and do more ‘off the beaten path’ activities, and not just things you see on Trip Advisor,” she added. “Also, when you do start to talk with the locals more, usually they want you to have the best experience and will show you some of their favorite spots which naturally leads to a more immersive and personal experience.”

Getting to know locals and their culture and lifestyle more intimately and authentically will create rewarding experiences and memories you can carry with you long after your return home. You may even make deep connections and friendships that lead you to return in the future.

“If you want to really unplug and relax without the stresses of traveling then slow travel may be for you,” said Mark Wolters, the creator of the popular YouTube travel channel Wolters World . “You get to unpack your suitcases less, take fewer planes, trains and automobiles and just relax in a destination.”

He noted that slow travel is excellent for practicing foreign language skills, as there are more opportunities for meaningful conversations with locals.

“If you are traveling with children, slow travel is a good way to introduce them to international travel and getting them to see the differences in cultures,” Wolters noted. “When your kids are playing at the local playground with other children they see that there are not too many differences between themselves and the kids in this new country you are visiting.”

He said his children have also learned how to make pupusas in El Salvador, pasta in Italy, and sandwiches in Portugal because the family likes to return to the same eateries and make connections with the people working there.

“There is nothing like going back to the same restaurant a few times and the waiters and owners start to see you as a friend instead of a tourist looking for a quick bite to eat,” Wolters said. “Slow travel also gives your family a chance to focus on spending time together doing tourist activities, but also just being together as a family instead of just trying to get in as many museums as possible.”

There are practical upsides to this approach to travel as well.

“I love slow traveling for its environmental benefits,” Lau said. “By staying in one location for longer periods of time, there are fewer carbon emissions associated with transportation such as flights and buses.”

In addition to less transit between destinations, slow travel also tends to entail fewer car rides within a single destination due to fewer activities. Travelers can also feel less rushed in getting one place to another and take public transit instead. You may opt to stay away from the touristy city center and save money on accommodations as well.

“Slow travel is often more cost-effective than traditional travel since you are not doing as many things as possible,” Dengler said. “It is also more relaxing since you are not always worrying about the next item on your itinerary.”

There are environmental and financial benefits to slow travel as well.

How can you maximize the slow travel experience?

There’s no one right way to engage in slow travel, but there are some helpful factors to keep in mind if you want to maximize the experience.

“Your to-do list should be very short or nonexistent,” Dengler said. “Either come with a plan to spend most of your time at only a few locations or take recommendations from locals on the fly. When visiting a spot or destination, you should aim to understand its meaning as opposed to just checking it off your list. In most cases, you will have to spend more time than usual, but you should come away with a much deeper understanding.”

Resist the temptation to see every sight and eat every dish in one or two days. It’s not about rushing around to check off the boxes of attractions.

“Spread out your tourist visits over a longer period of time,” Wolters said. “This way you can spend your morning at a café, then midday at a museum, then the afternoon and early evening at a park reading your favorite book, instead of seeing two museums in the morning and one in the afternoon and then a theater show at night with a ghost tour at midnight .”

His family frequently tries to take local cultural classes, like a painting or cooking class. In addition to learning more about the art or cuisine, you can ask the instructor additional questions and learn more about the area.

“In the era of remote work, it’s become easier to engage in slow travel,” noted Jessica van Dop DeJesus, the founder and editor of food and travel blog The Dining Traveler . “For example, spending more than a week in a destination and taking the time to walk around lesser-known neighborhoods, frequenting a cafe or restaurant several times, and attending a sporting or cultural event that’s important to those living in that location.”

Consider staying in an independent boutique hotel or vacation rental away from the typical touristy spots to get a sense of where locals live. Take advantage of the quiet and relaxation you can’t find in the typical crowded areas as well.

“One of my favorite ways to experience slow travel is by renting a villa by the beach,” La Carmina said, recalling a recent trip to Tulum . “Rather than being in a busy and commercial resort, I enjoyed peaceful days with only the sounds of the ocean near my doorstep. I had a fully stocked kitchen, so I could simply relax in my warm surroundings without feeling pressure to go out or sightsee. Some days were spent lounging in the modern villa’s pool, or meandering to the nearby beach.”

If you’re staying in a destination that lacks strong public transit infrastructure or you simply want to explore a little farther afield, renting a car can offer the opportunity to move at your own pace.

“Pull over and enjoy the scenic overlooks and don’t be afraid to take detours and stray off the beaten path when traveling,” said David Woody, country development and travel expert at SIXT .

You may even plan a leisurely paced road trip as a form of slow travel.

“Many travelers are now choosing to drive to destinations instead of flying as part of the slower travel movement, which offers them more flexibility to enjoy the journey as well as the destination,” Woody said. “We recommend mapping out your route and the legs you want to drive per day but only book the first two or three nights of accommodation to remain flexible should your route or timing change.”

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

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

Rachael Let's Grow There

Sep 07, 2023

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

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

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

What is slow travel?

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

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

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

When did the slow travel movement start?

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

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

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

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

What are the benefits of slow travel?

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

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

1. More authentic cultural experiences

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

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

2. Less stress

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

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

3. Enhanced well-being

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

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

4. Deeper connections

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

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

5. Deeper understanding of the world

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

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

6. Lower budget

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

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

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

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

7. Go beyond your comfort zone

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

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

8. Bring more meaning to your travels

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

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

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

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

9. Reduced environmental impact

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

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

How to embrace the slow travel mindset

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to put slow travel into practice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A practical guide to slow travel

In order to travel slowly , be sure to:

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

Why you should slow travel with Worldpackers

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

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

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

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

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

Keep reading:

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

7 simple ways to become a mindful traveler

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rachael Grow

Let's Grow There

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

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Aug 15, 2023

Great article

Aug 31, 2023

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

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What Does the Phrase “Slow Travel” Actually Mean?

By Sebastian Modak

Couple hiking and enjoying scenic majestic mountain view at sunset

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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Phoebe Smith at sunset in Tryfan in Eryri (Snowdonia) national park.

‘Time for dreaming’: five writers on the slow travel joys that bring them peace

Turning off the phone and focusing on wild camping, sailing, foraging, fishing or beachcombing puts our authors in a state of mindfulness

Wild camping

I was deep in the folds of the mountain of Tryfan when it first happened. When time seemed to stop ticking at the breakneck pace it always does when I’m sitting at laptop, working on a deadline. Instead of blue light from a screen, I was sitting at my tent door, basking in the purple glow of dusk as it crept into the Ogwen Valley, in Eryri/Snowdonia national park. The luscious green of the grass on the mountainside had turned a more muted shade and the blue of the Menai Strait in the distance had become barely distinguishable from the twilight sky.

I find the whole process of wild camping meditative – from packing my backpack before I leave, to planning a route on a map, slowly making my way to my chosen pitch, then methodically finding and creating my bed for the night. But it’s not until I have unfurled my camping mat and sit swaddled in my sleeping bag – warm but with the exhilarating chill on my face from the cool night air – that the true magic begins.

I often choose to sleep out because something is on my mind and I need the space to think it through. But once I’m there, I find that I think of nothing at all. I am present in the moment. Phoebe Smith

Sailing, sometimes, is slower than walking. Sometimes, in fact, you’re going backwards. Often, you’re pointing away from where you want to go. It’s a pace that suits me, though. Why rush, when the journey is all the destination you need?

Best of all is when I let my boat choose its own route. That’s what happened when I came to Greece. When beautiful Paxos was swarming with speedboats, we escaped and floated off to sea. I was unsure of our direction when it struck me: don’t choose one! Just go where the wind blows best. I set the sails to the light northerly and we slowly headed east. Gentle sailing, time for dreaming. I stared at shifting shades of sea and landscape. I watched hypnotised as a spinning jelly overtook us and marvelled at terns plunging like rockets. Free and happy, drifting in a slow-motion trance. A state of mindfulness out there on the water, achieved without trying.

As the sun started to sink, I saw a bay and headed in. We dropped anchor outside Aphrodite’s cave. What a reward! A splendid home for the night and a wonderful welcome to Greece. Susan Smillie

Foraging for blackberries satisfies a natural instinct.

It was after many years of foraging that I realised why, apart from the free food and the pleasant afternoons out, it had become such a central part of my life. It was this: every year my father would take the family on trips to pick blackberries and trips to gather cockles. I loved every minute of every one. These, I now understand, were the only childhood experiences that felt truly and entirely real.

I am guessing here, but I believe this is because foraging is something we do quite naturally, an instinct even. When we follow this instinct, nature rewards us, quite simply, with peace. Our minds clear in the single-minded pursuit of our quarry and we feel part of the world, not just someone walking through it.

I have seen this a thousand times in others who have accompanied me on my organised walks, where I merely encourage people to walk slowly, and to observe. I have even seen people in tears of joy, and, years ago, a man who had evidently been given the day as a gift he did not seem to want, told me quite flatly as we said our goodbyes, “I am happy.” He was. John Wright

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Andy Pietrasik fishing in the Lake District.

The best times to cast a line are at sunrise and sunset, breakfast and dinner for fish. Which is why I turned into something of a crepuscular creature when I took up fishing in my childhood. I’d set the alarm on Saturday and Sunday mornings, jump on my bike in the dark with my rod and tackle and head for the mill race down the road. Except that I would regularly spend 12 hours in freezing conditions, fishing on the riverbank. It never felt like a long time to be out, though my mum recently shared that she would drive by the spot and look through the hedge to make sure I was still there. My friends and I would stay well past dark, never wanting the day to end.

It has been that way for me ever since. I lose all sense of time when I’m on a river. Something about the sweet earthy smell and the constant movement of the current act as a hypnotic and clear my head. Looking for fish beneath the surface, I can become transfixed by a ribbon of weed dancing in the flow, only for the spell to be broken by the iridescent flash of kingfisher darting by. I can walk for miles in a day, hunting out the rises of feeding fish, but equally I can be surprised to discover that I’ve been casting to the same fish in the same spot for over three hours. It has never felt like time wasted.

In summer, when the sun eventually dips and the light begins to fade, swallows arrive and skim the surface for freshly hatched insects. The fish begin to feed again. And I never want the day to end. Andy Pietrasik

Beachcombing

In 1990, a couple walking along West Runton beach in Norfolk stumbled across the skeleton of a steppe mammoth – the largest and oldest fossilised elephant ever found in Britain. A family holiday to that same resort, 25 years later, happened to coincide with my six-year-old daughter’s “dinosaur phase”. I told her about the discovery and the rest of the week was spent scouring the beach for the remains of ancient creatures. We never found a woolly mammoth, but we did find several “sabre-tooth tiger teeth” (later revealed to be belemnites, an extinct, squid-like sea creature) and a new favourite pastime was born. These slow walks along the tideline have become part of the fabric of our trips to the seaside. All sense of time is lost as we inch along in companionable silence, eyes down, often ending up miles from our starting point.

The most intriguing finds are taken home and added to a large glass jar on the bathroom windowsill: ammonites from Whitby, sea glass from Brittany, a hag stone from Dungeness, and shards of patterned porcelain found on the estuary beaches of Southend. Scientists use these fossils and fragments to conjure up a picture of vanished landscapes – frozen tundra, inland seas, dense rainforests. In much the same way, we use them to conjure up memories of holidays past. My daughter is 14 now and no longer wishes to build sandcastles or play beach cricket, but she’s never tired of searching for the woolly mammoth. Joanne O’Connor

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Why You Should Consider Slow Travel for Your Next Trip

Traveling deeply rather than widely brings special pleasures — and fewer hassles.

couple at waterfront gazing at city during sunset

Gasping for breath, I painstakingly pedaled my bike up the steep, winding mountain road, elevation well over a mile above sea level. I was pushing hard to reach Logan Pass, the stunning high point of the famed Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. The sun beat down on my body, the breaths came short, my legs burned after 25 miles on the road, but I was almost there. Then a voice shouted: “Why ... are ... you ... doing ... this!?”

A woman leaning out the window of a passing car shouted her question, not unfriendly, just inquisitive, wondering why in the world I was working so hard when I could have just driven up to the pass. She had a valid point, one that gets at the very purpose of leisure travel: Is the goal of traveling to see as much as you can and to get from place to place as quickly as possible? Or should travel be more about appreciating the journey itself, and diving deep into the destination once you arrive?

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For those considering the latter, a slow travel trip may be right for you, particularly as this style of touring expands post-pandemic. “We’re seeing about triple the number of bookings (in 2023) over 2019,” said David Loy, CEO of the slow travel specialist culinary tour operator Epitourean, in an email to AARP.

What is slow travel?

Slow travel is an offshoot of the slow food movement that began in Italy in the late 1980s, a response to fast-food franchises running rampant in the country. The slow food philosophy encourages guests to relax and appreciate the overall experience of dining, rather than rushing through a restaurant to maximize calories and minimize time.

Similarly, with slow travel, the goal is not to quickly load up on passport stamps for bragging rights, or check off bucket list destinations like they were part of a drive-thru menu. Instead, slow travel encourages you to see more by moving less, seeking depth and breadth of experience rather than mileage. “We encourage our guests to slow down to truly see the world,” says John Lansdell, product development manager at Butterfield and Robinson, a Canada-based travel company specializing in slow travel, often by bike or on foot. “But it’s more than just moving slower,” he adds. “It’s about interacting with the place while you’re there.”

To that point, guided slow travel trips often include experiences like cooking or language lessons, with longer durations spent in one destination to allow for more in-depth activities. And most travelers are looking for those genuine experiences: 85 percent of respondents to the American Express 2023 Travel Trends Survey agree that they want to visit a place where they “can truly experience the local culture.”

You can also enjoy slow travel on your own, allowing time to meet locals in serendipitous moments as you stop and have a chat at a café or in a village square. “Anyone can carve themselves a slow travel itinerary no matter where they visit,” says Lori Sorrentino, 59, who lives in Naples, Florida, and writes a slow travel blog, travlinmad.com , with her husband, Angelo. According to Sorrentino, “It’s a mindset. Slow travel is a matter of resisting the temptation to explore an entire country in eight days, and immersing yourself in one place instead, getting to know the locals, talking about their families, their communities, their traditions.”

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Why slow travel is particularly appealing now

“Slow travel is an indication of the times we’re in,” says Misty Belles, vice president of public relations for the Virtuoso travel conglomerate, in an interview with AARP. “Before [the pandemic], it was a lot of collecting of passport stamps, but now people seem to have a desire to slow down and appreciate what’s around them more. Maybe it’s something people have learned while being tied close to home.”

These days, many travelers are choosing to drop anchor at a single location and explore it in depth, using a hub-and-spoke model like a home rental accompanied with multiple short regional excursions.

Recent information shows travelers are indeed lingering. Virtuoso says its network saw travelers increasing their average length of a single hotel stay by 63 percent in 2022 compared with 2020. When polled, nearly half of Virtuoso travelers said they plan to visit only one destination on their next trip.

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“Slower and more immersive experiences in travel have grown in popularity,” the Travel Edge advisory network reported in 2022. “Not only are trips of 21 days or more more common, but travelers also seek more purposeful experiences during these trips. As a result, slow travel influences physical destination behaviors,” with visitors seeking more immersive local experiences in alternative locations.

Tour operator Explore Worldwide cited slow travel in their 2022 industry trend report, saying “Travelers have shown greater interest in longer, more immersive holidays that avoid over-touristed spots, explore at a gentler pace and really get under the skin of a destination.”

Woman with hat sit on seashore in Antigua

How to slow travel

Choosing a slower mode of travel is usually the first step of slow travel — often a literal step as you take a leisurely walking tour at a destination. Biking , as my trip in Glacier Park demonstrated, is a great way to gain a visceral feel for the landscape (as long as you stop and savor experiences along the way), combining a feeling of accomplishment and understanding along with the view. “Slow travel is about more than just getting the photo op,” says Butterfield’s Lansdell. “It’s about getting an education about a place.”

Bike Odyssey, an Australia-based tour company, has added a historical spin to slow travel, with cyclists pedaling the route of European military campaigns ranging from Hannibal’s route through the Alps to Patton’s World War II march to the Rhine. “On a bike you can really feel the terrain,” says Sam Wood, the company’s founder and director. “ You appreciate the challenge of attacking through the Alps, or the strategic advantage of invading on flat roads.”

But slow travel doesn’t have to be about suffering your way through a long slog. “We know the expression ‘An army marches with its stomach,’ so we make sure our guests get the best food on the journey, with luxury lodging at night,” Wood says. “Plus, with our average guest age being in the early 60s, we’ve incorporated e-bikes into our fleet, making these trips accessible to anyone.”

Walking tours have long been a popular slow travel option. Monica Valeri, from northern Italy’s Emilia Romagna Tourist Board, touts strolls along some of that region’s 19 pilgrimage routes. Among the benefits: “meeting with locals and discovering their traditions — including the thousand different food and wine variations that vary from town to town.” These pilgrimage walks are "great for seniors who have an interest in gaining a deeper understanding of culture, art, history, food and wine.”

Sorrentino suggests road trips for slow travelers, “because you’re forced to travel through the small towns, and anything that catches your eye, you can stop and explore. You end up seeing things that even locals may not know about.”

Where to slow travel

While Italy has long been a hub for slow travel, many other destinations can provide a similar variety of unique food, history, nature and cultural experiences based within a small region. Tour operators are increasing their slow travel offerings across Europe in particular.

Sweden is an up-and-coming slow travel destination, with many immersive experiences doable on a single trip including land and sea, urban and rural locations. Epitourean launched culinary tours there in 2019 “to experience firsthand why Sweden is called the ‘Edible Country,’ ” says Loy, the company CEO. He cited slow-travel favorites of local dining, shopping in food markets, taking cooking classes, joining fishermen on a “seafood safari” in local waters, and most importantly, partaking in and understanding the Swedish tradition of “fika,” the coffee-and-a-pastry-with-friends leisurely snacking ritual that embodies the spirit of the slow food and slow travel experience.

The slow-travel philosophy also encourages visitors to go beyond the most popular, fast-paced destinations. For Sweden this means escaping the capital of Stockholm to base a trip around the “second city” of Gothenburg, which local tourism officer Petra Gamerdinger describes as “the relaxed cool little sister of Stockholm.”

The slow-travel angle for visiting a city like Gothenburg is to not only explore the city at leisure, by munching your way through the Lindholmen Street Food Market, strolling around the Gunnebo Gardens, and puttering by electric boat through the medieval moat and canals, but to use the city as a base for exploring in depth the variety of local regional experiences from “shoreline to timberline,” as Loy describes it.

At the end of a weeklong immersive itinerary around a European "second city" like Gothenburg, you'll return home with much more enriching experiences and interesting stories to share than those tourists who checked off eight countries in seven days and returned only with a vague memory of short stops at packed museums and city squares.

Destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean are also increasingly popular slow travel destinations. Virtuoso’s Belles says pandemic-era near-shore remote-work opportunities exposed travelers to the benefit of booking extended stays in traditional resort destinations. With that knowledge, now “people are going beyond the usual ‘fly and flop’ vacation — they want to explore more of the area while they’re there, to get away from the beach and do more.”

But really, the destination is not as important as your attitude, slow travel’s proponents say.

“Anyone can be a slow traveler anywhere, even in their own town or city,” says Jenny De Witt, 51, who started a slow travel blog, jennyintransit.com , from her home in Florida in 2016 and is now (slowly) exploring France. “The best way to slow travel in your own town is to take a walk,” she adds. “Choose a new neighborhood or one that you don’t normally visit and make a point of going to a local shop there. Ask questions.” Most important? “Turn your phone off and be present.”

Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 14, 2022. It has been updated to reflect new information.

Bill Fink is an award-winning travel writer who has covered cultural travel for Lonely Planet , Frommer’ s, the San Francisco Chronicle and many other outlets.

Tourists are taking things slow with the new 'slow travel' trend

Aug 6, 2018 • 2 min read

If you’re the type of traveller that enjoys the journey as much as the destination and prefers to experience every detail of their trip at a relaxed pace, then “slow travel” might be just the thing for you.

“We embrace the notion of slow,” is one of Original Travel’s mottos, and the London -based tour operating company is one of the leaders when it comes to slow travelling experiences, and their numbers confirm the popularity of this form of travel. “Enquiries about boating and walking holidays are already up 40% compared to 2017’s inquiries,” Original Travel told Lonely Planet.

It’s not just boating and walking, though. The tours include all kinds of transportation, as long as it allows guests to breathe and enjoy the slow pace of the journey. Some of their guest-favorites slow travel experiences include cruising down the Nile from Luxor to Aswan in Egypt and sailing around the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador ; enjoying a ride in a colonial-era train from Kandy to Ella in Sri Lanka and turn into Agatha Christie by rolling into Venice on the Simplon-Venice Orient Express; doing a horseback-riding safari in Kenya where 4x4 can’t reach or trot through the hills of Andalucia in Spain .

Travel News - Spanish castle on a hill above a village

If you’re more of a bike person you can choose a cycling tour of rural Japan along the shores of Lake Biwa, or pedal along the base of Uluru in Australia ; and for walkers, there’s a tour of Epiros and Meteora in Greece that will let you reach the Vikos Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world, or you can choose the Dagala Thousand Lakes adventure in Bhutan .

But why are slow travels gaining so much popularity? “With an ever-increasing pace in our daily lives, full of overflowing schedules, [we find] clients are wanting to slow down, relax and reconnect with travel,” Original Travel told Lonely Planet.

Travel News - Views of the Dzong in Phunaka, Bhutan

If you feel like you too need to relax and slow down, you can learn more about Original Travel’s tours on its official website here .

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What is Slow Travel? Benefits and How To Be a Slow Traveller

We hear people say slow travel is better than fast tourism, but do you know what is slow travel?

Slow tourism has gained popularity due to its alignment with the changing values and priorities of modern travellers. Embarking on an immersive travel experience offers a more sustainable, flexible, and mindful approach to exploring the world.

So, let’s learn about authentic travel, the benefits of slow travel, and, practical tips on travelling slower.

Slow travel helps travellers to disconnect and cut off from digital overload. Image of slow traveller by Cotoapaxi Ecuador.

What is slow travel?

Slow travel is a deliberate, unhurried approach to exploring destinations, emphasising meaningful experiences, and cultural immersion.

Travelers stay longer in one place, support local economies , and seek sustainable, mindful journeys that promote a deeper connection with people and environments, in contrast to traditional, fast-paced tourism.

Why slow tourism is becoming more popular?

Slow tourism has seen a surge in popularity for several reasons, including:

Rise since COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a re-evaluation of travel practices. Travellers, concerned about the safety and eager to avoid crowded places, turned to slower, less hectic tourism. Many preferred remote and less touristy destinations, fostering the growth of slow tourism.

More people working remotely

The increase in remote work has freed people from the constraints of traditional office jobs, allowing for greater flexibility in travel. Slow tourism complements this lifestyle, enabling travellers to work while exploring new places at a more relaxed pace.

Increased interest in sustainable living

As people become more environmentally conscious, they are drawn to travel options that align with sustainable living principles. Slow tourism often involves eco-friendly practices, supporting local communities, and reducing the carbon footprint.

Self-care and well-being

The pandemic underscored the importance of mental and physical well-being. Slow tourism provides opportunities for relaxation, mindfulness, and disconnecting from the stresses of daily life, contributing to personal self-care and rejuvenation.

What are the benefits of slow travel?

Slow travel reduces carbon footprint.

Staying longer in one place reduces the need for frequent travel , and supporting local businesses promotes sustainable practices. This approach aligns with environmental conservation efforts, mitigating the impact of traditional travel on the planet.

Fast travel with short-haul flights causes more emissions than public transport . Travelling slower allows time to prioritise more eco-friendly transportation options , such as trains or bicycles. For travellers who do not have the luxury of slow travel, it is still worth taking on board the more responsible and eco-friendly ways to travel .

Slow travel saves money

Many hotels or guest houses will offer better deals on accommodation for longer stays to guarantee their income, and to compete with the AirBnB market.

Not being in a hurry to get from A to B will help cut your transport costs . Having the luxury of hanging around until the cheap flight comes up or the next public bus goes really does help the wallet.

Slow travel helps disconnect

Slow tourism enables travellers to cut off from their busy lifestyles . Fast travel can be stressful in itself, rushing out of the office to your destination, squeezing in some downtime, and heading back home. Slow travel helps us break free from the daily grind.

Deep travel gives us time to truly connect with other travellers . Meeting new like-minded people is part of the adventure, getting to know their story, and even planning part of your journey together if you are heading in the same direction.

Slow travel helps travellers to cut off from digital overload . Whilst it is easy to get targeted with ‘bad news’ on online media, I found it good for the soul to remove myself from the daily negative news on TV for a longer period.

Slow travel helps burnout. The increase in wellness retreats and digital detox experiences demonstrates how we are crying out to disconnect to give our minds and bodies a chance to heal and reenergise. Whether you decide to spend time on a retreat or just time out of normal life, this truly helps with general weariness.

Slow travel alleviates travel fatigue by emphasising leisurely exploration over rushed itineraries. Travelers have time for rest, reflection, and acclimatisation, reducing the stress and exhaustion associated with rapid travel. The relaxed pace and mindful experiences of slow travel contribute to overall well-being and a more fulfilling travel experience.

Meet like-minded travellers when you slow travel

Slow travel is more immersive

Slow travel encourages engaging with the local community , fostering deeper cultural insights. Travelers learn about the lives of residents, their traditions, and daily routines. Getting involved in cultural festivals allows for first-hand experiences of local customs, traditions, and celebrations, contributing to a richer and more immersive travel experience.

Learning the regional language during slow travel promotes cultural understanding and meaningful interactions. Many backpackers will start their Latino trip with time in a Spanish School or living with a host family as I did in the Galapagos.

Engaging in volunteering while slow traveling enhances the journey’s meaningfulness. It allows travelers to give back to the community they visit, contribute positively, and create lasting impacts. This hands-on involvement provides a deeper understanding of local needs, fosters connections, and adds purpose to the travel experience, making it even more enriching and rewarding.

Slow travel is adventurous

Time gives us to travel to off-the-beaten-path destinations much easier. Exploring the lesser-visited places where transport is limited, or primitive, such as heading into the Darien jungle in Panama, or being about to journey down the Colombian Amazon instead of day trips from Leticia . Getting away from the obvious places to visit which suffer from mass tourism, opens our eyes to new cultures and intrepid experiences.

Benefits of slow travel. Spear Fishing on along trip down the Colombian Amazon.

Tips on how to be a slow travel ler

Stay longer in each place.

Extend your stay to immerse yourself in the culture of the destination. It’s hard to get the feel of a place when you are passing through.

Build in stop days. It is easy to get caught up in seeing ‘everything’. When creating your itinerary on your slow adventure, plan some down days to sit back, and avoid travel fatigue.

Be flexible

Overplanning can restrict opportunities that may arise along the way. There is always some random offer by a group of travellers that has a spare place for something exciting, or a festival you didn’t know was happening. Have a loose list of what you want to see in a destination but leave a bit of wiggle room for the unexpected.

Seek local recommendations

Don’t pre-book your trips with bigger online companies. Ask around when you arrive at a destination means the money is going directly to the families

Local people know the hidden gems to discover off-the-beaten-track authentic experiences. Make sure you ask more than one person too, each local will have different insider tips.

Eat like a local to get the best culinary delights possible. Find out where they eat, and what traditional dishes you should try.

Shop at local markets to support the community. In some countries such as Ecuador, locals would come down from the highlands with their home-grown produce. Ask to try their r egional fruits , and buy your favourites.

Buy local artisan products. Ask locally where the best market is to buy the ‘genuine’ handicrafts. For example, in San Cristobal de las Casas , I was made aware of which streets have imported cheaper products taking away from the real artisans of the community.

Stay at locally-owned guesthouses or homestays to foster cultural exchange and support local economies. I have stayed in many guesthouses on my travels that offer more authentic experiences with wonderful characters who know the area well.

Spread the spend

Explore lesser-visited areas to spread the economic impact whilst uncovering hidden gems.

Travel at off-peak times brings money to communities and allows you to stay longer as the cost per night will be more favourable.

Be informed of the transport options

Whilst slow travel means you are less concerned about time, it is best to familiarise yourself with the travel options, and factor in these considerations;

If you have landed in a remote location, local buses or transport may only go on certain days .
If you want a little comfort, sometimes shuttles can get booked up .
Depending on your country, buses and local transport can often take longer so if you are booked for a tour or hotel in the next destination
You may wish to avoid travelling at night for safety reasons so best to plan your route ahead of time.

Prepare for border crossings

Border crossing experiences can vary widely between countries and regions, so thorough research and preparation are crucial for a smooth and hassle-free transition from one country to another. Here are some essential steps to consider:

Research and Documentation: Understand the visa and entry requirements for both countries.

Understand the visa and entry requirements for both countries. Ensure you have the necessary visas, passports, and any required permits.
Check visa validity and make copies of important documents.
Keep track of entry and exit stamps or documents provided by border officials for visa extension or exit.
If driving, carry your vehicle’s registration, insurance, and any required permits.
Check if vaccinations or health certificates are required for entry. Carry necessary medications and health insurance.

Currency and Money: Think about what you might need money for on each side.

Exchange currency or carry enough local cash for border fees, transportation, and expenses upon entry.
Change your currency to the local one for easier transactions on the other side. It’s worth chatting with other backpackers in the hostel who may want to sell some currency from their last country.

Transportation: Plan your route and transportation method, and consider the availability of local transport on the other side of the border. Ensure your vehicle meets local requirements if you’re driving.

Border Timings: Borders may have specific operating hours; confirm the opening and closing times and plan your arrival accordingly.

Communication: Have a working phone with local SIM cards or international roaming to stay connected in case of emergencies. I use Airalo for these situations to avoid me feeling vulnerable as a solo female traveller.

Local Language: Carry a phrasebook or language app to help with communication, as border officials may not always speak English.

Stay safe with slow travel

Ensure you have comprehensive travel insurance covering medical emergencies, trip interruption, and lost or stolen belongings. Here are my tried-and-tested travel insurance options.

SafetyWing for Digital Nomads . Benefit from 24/7 assistance, comprehensive and medical cover including Covid-19. Buy insurance whilst you are travelling, with the option of global health insurance.
Get 5% off your travel insurance with IATI . Discover a range of policies from basic to premium, and multi-country trips for up to 3 months. IATI will cover countries where the FCDO advises against all travel. All include 24/7 Emergency Travel, Crisis, and Medical Assistance services.
Get 5% off your travel insurance with HeyMondo . Benefit from 24-hour medical assistance, 365 days a year with single, multi-trip, and long-stay insurance (up to 90 days), cover for COVID-19 and non-refundable expenses. The handy app makes this a simple process! They give a little back too by contributing to ‘Doctors Without Borders’.

PIN FOR YOUR SLOW TRAVEL ADVENTURE

What is slow travel? Reasons why you should slow travel

Disclosure : This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you click a link and purchase something that I’ve recommended. It comes at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.

I'm a content creator for She Wanders Miles ♡ Digital marketer, photographer, hiker, and nature lover ♡ Passion for slow, sustainable and responsible travel ♡ Join me in discovering our beautiful world across 7 continents.

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Absolutely 100% in agreement.

With each successive trip, my travel has become slower — and much more fulfilling and healing.

Totally agree. If you can afford the luxury of time to get to know a place better, slow travel becomes a more fulfilling experience.

The Art of Slow Travel: Things to Know First

A first-generation American with parents and grandparents hailing from five different countries, ...

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Are there merits to traveling slowly? It can be tempting to bounce quickly from destination to destination, but why not slow down and smell the roses?

You’ve likely been on a family vacation, or a school field trip, or taken the bus downtown, and you saw the sights, and you took some pictures, and it was pretty cool. Maybe you and the squad even went on a EuroTrip the summer after graduation, or you and your S/O spent a romantic weekend in Paris. That’s awesome!

We know it can be hard to make time to travel, and you made it happen. Success! But the moment has passed, and you have this nagging feeling that you didn’t get as much out of it as you intended.

Why yes, we are telling you to stop and smell the flowers!

You may have felt rushed, or set expectations about certain landmarks too high, or missed out on anything that felt authentic. You’re not the first, and certainly not the last person to feel this way. So what can you do differently? Many people have found the solution in the slow travel movement, which is rooted in the concept of traveling with intention. Keep reading to find out what makes slow travel different, why you should do it, and how to make it happen.

Let’s backtrack. What’s wrong with being a tourist, and what’s up with all this noise about “ meaningful travel ” anyway? There’s nothing wrong with being a tourist, but indulge us in quick exercise, would you?

Take a second to look into your mind’s eye. When you think “tourist,” what do you see?

If your mind functions anything like a Google image search, you saw someone holding a giant map that seemed to take up an entire sidewalk, or snapping selfies, or both. First off, there are tons of apps for downloadable offline maps so let’s all stop wasting paper (and announcing ourselves as foreigners to pickpockets, seriously). Now close your eyes and think “traveler,” (or consult Google, whatever works).

Suddenly we see the wonder of the world in all its glory: majestic mountains, stunning sunsets, awesome architecture, historical treasures—and someone we live vicariously through in the foreground taking it all in (the giant backpack optional). If you’re starting to feel inspired, good. That means you’re ready to transition from tourist to meaningful traveler!

So how can slow travel help you become a meaningful traveler?

People are picking up on the power of the slow travel movement. Slow traveling isn’t about sleeping in, sitting in a cafe for hours on end, or sunbathing at the beach all day (although there’s nothing wrong with indulging in any of these activities in moderation). Slow travel is about being mindful, expecting the unexpected, and not burning yourself out. It’s about getting to know the locals, and giving yourself the time to take their advice.

Ah, yes. It’s time to learn the art of slow travelling.

It’s about getting outside of capital cities, going to lesser-known locales, and not cramming your entire bucket list into one trip. We know you want to see everything the world has to offer—that’s why you’re here, and trust us, we get it. But rushing through your wishlist, following a rigid itinerary jam-packed with famous landmarks, and only eating at restaurants with the highest Trip Advisor ratings are surefire ways to fall into the tourist trap.

Tourists “do” destinations—meaningful travelers experience them, and have unique stories worth sharing with others. What’s the point in going to 20 countries in 30 days if you didn’t learn anything new about any of them, or connect with local people, or let life surprise you?

Remember that travel will cost ya, but Google image searches are free. Priceless are the moments that only came into being because you left something to chance—the moments you never expected and will never forget. These experiences live between the lines in the itinerary, and can only manifest themselves if you leave at least every other line blank.

Slow travel is about knowing that sometimes the famous landmarks aren’t worth the hype, but are made up for by the random detours that turned into the most magical times. Tourism can be fun, but meaningful travel is unforgettable.

What you need to know to slow travel

Whether you want to slow travel Spain, Italy, or anywhere on the planet, we can’t tell you exactly “how to” slow travel, because that defeats the whole point. The slow travel movement isn’t about following a particular set of steps, path or itinerary. It’s quite the opposite.

When it comes to picking a slow and meaningful travel experience, the world is your oyster. Literally. The big idea behind slow travel is intention: knowing what your “must-dos” are, versus your “maybe-dos unless more exciting opportunities pop up spontaneously.” That said, here’s what you should consider if you decide to try out slow traveling:

1. Your timeline

What’s the rush?

How much time do you need to slow travel? A common misconception is that if you want to travel slow, you need a lot of time to do it. Au contraire, mon frère/ma soeur. You can be a slow traveler whether you have a week, a month, or a lifetime to do it (what is this hypothetical jealousy we feel?). The way to make your slow travel successful is to set realistic goals and expectations.

No matter what kind of time frame you have, make a list of your priorities in order of importance, then remove the bottom half of that list. If you have seven days to travel, don’t plan on visiting four cities. You’ll only have a day in at least one of them, and that’s only if you’ve already factored out the travel days you’ll need to get there and back from homebase.

Keep in mind that getting from one place to another during your trip can also be time consuming. A two hour train ride can easily take up five hours of your day when you factor in packing, getting to the station early enough to figure out where to find your platform, getting to your next accommodation from the next station, checking in, settling in, etc. This is especially true when you’re traveling with another person or group, as you’ll need to factor in their needs and speeds.

Orienting yourself to each place is a process in itself. If you’re traveling from the U.S., don’t expect maps to resemble grids. It’s more than likely that the directions you’ve written down are way more confusing to follow than expected, and you’re going to go down the wrong winding road once or thrice. This is a good thing.

Chances are that when you make that wrong turn you’ll end up finding a gorgeous park, or an awesome art gallery, or the weirdest bar you’ve ever seen. Point being, if you only have seven days, plan on visiting one or two destinations, max.

All that being said, if you’re in a place in your life when can take a lot of time to travel, do it! You might not get another chance. If you’re already exhausted thinking about college after years of busting your butt in high school, consider taking a gap year . Was graduation another lifetime ago? We’ve got you covered. There are lots of sustainable ways to take a career break abroad .

L-I-N-G-E-R.

2. Your budget

How much money do you need to slow travel? This, too, is totally up to you! There are lots of techniques for reducing your travel expenses or even making money on the road. Taking advantage of opportunities like working , interning , or volunteering abroad is a fantastic way to travel slowly and meaningfully.

While you may sometimes find that these experiences leave you more in the company of other foreigners than locals, teaching abroad is an excellent way to engage with the community and have a more synergistic slow travel experience.

If you’d rather not settle down while you travel slow, consider saving cash by couchsurfing, researching less expensive hostels ahead of time, or choosing a destination where the cost of living is cheaper than at home.

You can even use tools like Skyscanner and Google Flights to search for the least expensive flights to anywhere in your allotted time frame, and let destiny pick your destination. So much about slow travel is about leaving things up to chance, so picking a place based on the price is right on brand.

3. Your destination

How do you find the best places “off the beaten path?” While researching ahead is definitely useful, the most tried and true travel hack is to talk to locals once you get there—a technique reliant on keeping your plans flexible. If the best restaurant in town is a “best kept secret,” you’re probably not going to find it listed online.

\The proprietors of your accommodation are bound to have great advice, but be sure to branch out more too. Locals can sometimes seem intimidating, but they can usually spot a tourist from a meaningful traveler , and are happy to talk to the latter.

If you are genuinely curious about who they are and how they live, they’ll usually want you to experience the parts of their home that makes them most proud, and send you on your way accordingly.

“Me time” has never felt so good <3

Traveling slowly is also how you make meaningful, long-lasting connections with others, and these types of connections often take some time to solidify.

When you take some of your wishlist off the table in the interest of not rushing through your trip, the friendships you make along the way can be great excuse to return later and do more (and maybe even save on accommodation).

These friends are the people who can take you to the tiny towns or secret sites that are difficult to reach on public transport, and are often a more authentic representation of a country than a big city.

Since home is where the heart is, making an effort to forge bonds while traveling slowly is the best way to get yourself a home-away-from-home abroad.

4. Your gameplan

How do you make the most of your time without planning ahead? While we definitely caution you against getting married to a jam-packed and rigid itinerary, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do the same amount of research beforehand as if you did commit.

It can be easy to conflate slow traveling with not making the most of your time, but the crux is in how you define “making the most.” If you’ve covered your must-do bases and an unplanned plan doesn’t present itself—or you’re not in the mood to walk around aimlessly in hopes that you may find one—you should absolutely have an idea of what else there is to do or see in the destination of your choice. Don’t confuse slow travel with lazy travel (A-types, we’re looking at you). Again, it’s all about your intention.

Still at a loss? Don’t panic...you may just need to check in with yourself. Are you burned out? This might be the perfect day to spend hours at a cafe reading a book, or bumming out on the beach. Are you lonely? There’s plenty of easy ways to make new friends abroad, you just need to know what they are .

Are you over the city or town you’re in, but feel too guilty to leave after a short period of time? Don’t be! This is YOUR trip. If you’re not vibing with your current location, you should feel no obligation to stay put there in the name of the slow travel movement or anything else. Remember that part of traveling slow means going with the flow, and sometimes the flow whisks you away to new and more exciting places.

It’s time to travel slow

Savor every moment, even the less-than-beautiful ones. That’s what meaningful slow travel is all about!

When it comes to the slow travel movement, less is more. Set an intention for your next trip abroad, and use it as your compass and mediator. “Tourist” shouldn’t sound like a dirty word, but there’s better ways to travel if you want your time abroad to be meaningful and memorable.

Think “loose” when you think “itinerary,” don’t be too shy, and check in with yourself if your experience isn’t matching up to your expectations. The amount of money or time you spend abroad doesn’t matter as long as you make time to expect the unexpected. After all, life is full of surprises, but only if you remember to live a little!

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| The Art of Aliveness for All

What is Slow Travel? (+ 3 Slow Travel Myths)

By Kyle Kowalski · 14 Comments

If you Google “slow travel,” you may be surprised by the lack of compelling information and resources you find. Unlike slow living, the slow movement , or slow food, slow travel doesn’t seem to be something as widely adopted or even discussed yet.

Traveling can be one of the most rewarding human experiences — opening your mind and worldview to new places, connecting with new people, and immersing yourself in local cultures. It can be meaningful, memorable, rejuvenating, and energizing.

Or, it can be the opposite. Slow travel ensures that you not only get the most benefit, but the local people and world around you do too. And, you won’t come back and need a “vacation from your vacation.”

So, what is it?

What is Slow Travel?

Maybe you’ve heard it described as mindful travel, sustainable tourism, or low-impact traveling. To me, slow travel is simply taking the principles of slow living and applying them to travel.

Slow travel is for you if you want a balanced itinerary where you can pace yourself and eliminate the stress of rushing around. It’s intentional and immersive — allowing you to go deeper on the things that matter most to you while traveling. It’s conscious and connected — connected with yourself, those around you, and the world.

Here were the best slow travel definitions I came across during my research:

Slow travel is a mindset that rejects traditional ideas of tourism and encourages you to soak in your environments and keep yourself open to new experiences. — The Art of Slow Travel¹ Slow travel is about the journey, not just the destination. Being excited about where you’re going, but being just as excited by how you get there, the people you meet, the sights you see and the experiences you have along the way. About slowing down to acknowledge that the journey you’re on allows, for the briefest moment, the chance to peer into someone else’s life and to share that moment in time with them. — The Travel Word² There’s an awful lot of clutter in modern life, and the only logical antidote to clutter is simplicity. Slow travel excels at simplicity. Freed from the pressure of ‘seeing everything’, you can actually relax a bit and enjoy your holiday. There’s a better chance you’ll meet local people, see a few sights off the traditional tourist path and get an appreciation for a different way of life (which some would argue is the whole point of travel in the first place). — Intrepid Travel³

3 Slow Travel Myths to Bust Before Your Next Trip

These slow travel myths are similar to slow living myths in general.

Myth #1: Slow travel has a minimum duration of one week. You don’t have to spend a certain amount of time in a place in order for it to qualify as slow travel. I’ve read a bunch of articles that state you must travel for a minimum of a week in order for it to be slow travel. But, slow travel is a mindset and approach that can be applied to any length of travel — even an afternoon outing in your hometown. If anything, slow traveling on your shorter trips is good practice for when you take a longer trip.

Myth #2: Slow travel means physically traveling as slowly as possible. It’s about traveling at the right speed. Pacing instead of rushing. Finding the right balance between too fast and too slow.

Myth #3: Slow travel is anti-technology. There’s a big difference between digital minimalism and being opposed to all technology. Digital minimalism simply advocates for technology to be used as a tool (instead of technology using us ). Technology can be a great tool while you travel — just don’t let it get in the way!

Check out the next post for 10 slow travel tips to try on your next adventure.

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

http://www.theartofslowtravel.com/what-is-slow-travel/
https://www.thetravelword.com/2012/02/07/what-is-slow-travel-heres-what-we-think/
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

July 17, 2019 at 2:43 AM

Your blog about slow travel educated me of the real sense of the meaning of the word. Thanks a lot for sharing this information on the www

July 17, 2019 at 8:14 AM

Sure thing, Tanisha!

September 12, 2019 at 10:06 PM

Thanks for your awesome guide on traveling. I am a passionate traveler and your guide inspired me to travel more.

September 19, 2019 at 12:04 PM

Amazing, thank you Tiana!

January 17, 2020 at 12:24 AM

Really love this post. I hate the box ticking mentality that so many people have developed. Social media has a lot to answer for. Last year, here in Scotland, the Outer Hebrides were promoting “InstaMaps.” I can’t think of anything worse.

January 29, 2020 at 8:43 PM

Thanks, Melanie! I haven’t heard of InstaMaps yet (maybe that’s a good thing). I do use digital tools like TripAdvisor, Yelp, AllTrails, etc to plan trips. But maybe that’s the key…it’s all pre -trip research. Now that I think about it, I don’t use my phone much during trips (no social, no taking photos/videos for social, etc). The box-ticking mentality is a surefire way to not check the box on the most important thing: actually being present!

March 27, 2020 at 1:59 AM

Whenever I read your blog, I learn a lot interesting points about the world. Keep writing.

April 10, 2020 at 3:38 PM

That’s wonderful to hear, Alexander. Plenty more writing coming your way!

August 26, 2020 at 2:54 PM

My partner and I love slow travel. It has changed the way we experience everything. It’s the small details that stick out to us and make us love the place even more! I wish more people knew and adopted this mentality, thanks for sharing.

August 30, 2020 at 1:35 PM

Thanks, Maria! Keep sharing the good word of slow travel.

February 9, 2021 at 5:40 AM

Thanks for writing this post! I start to understand why I always need to plan my own trips to feel I get what I want. I am a slow traveller without knowing it 😀 From the very beginning I started to travel I soon realized that the tour guides just didn’t like me. I was always the one asking to please stay a little longer because I was not done with exploring my surrounding. And they would always look at their watches saying – no we have another place to be in a short time. So, in the end, I totally gave up on all kind of travel booked through travel companies. Now it totally makes sense!

March 2, 2021 at 4:09 PM

Glad you enjoyed it, Cathrine!

June 4, 2022 at 4:53 PM

Thanks for your insights around slow travel Kyle! My husband and I love slow travel. We find it very rewarding to travel in a way where we contribute directly to the local community. Your article has also given me food for thought about more ways to incorporate it into our future travels.

July 29, 2022 at 7:09 PM

Wonderful, Hannah!

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How to Enjoy Slow Travel

Written by daisy valdes, adventure travel | outdoor travel | rv lifestyle | travel | travel tips.

Ever wanted to make the most out of vacation? Slow travel is about exploring new places and immersing yourself in the local cultures. Discover the benefits of traveling slowly and tips on how you can enjoy it!

Have you ever noticed how fast-paced your travels can be? It’s like racing to see everything, but you end up actually seeing nothing.

I’ll admit I was one of those travelers racing through cities, trying to see everything in a week. My travel plans looked like a marathon, and I was constantly stressed trying to plan the next best thing. In this rush, I realized I missed exploring the culture and locations that made the area unique.

Which is why I started to embrace slow travel.

Slow travel—also known as “meaningful travel,” “low impact,” and “sustainable travel”—offers a laid-back approach that values quality over quantity. By living more sustainably and being conscious of how you travel, you can improve your mental well-being and foster a sense of community, all while deeply exploring the world.

What's in This Article:

Tips for Enjoying Slow Travel

Slow travel is not about how many cities you can visit in a week but how deeply you can connect with the area and enjoy yourself.

It’s about enjoying your vacation to the fullest instead of chasing surface-level experiences.

So how can you slow travel and enjoy it?

Learn to Stay Longer in Fewer Places

When you learn to stay longer in fewer places, it starts to feel more like a home rather than a location to be crossed off on a list. So why not have more homes in every country?

Instead of staying one or two days in an area before moving on, consider spending 7 to 10 days there so you can explore everything there is to see and do!

Especially if you are a digital nomad , you can work virtually from anywhere. So you can rent out an entire apartment for a month as you explore new cities and destinations.

As you stay longer in fewer places, you can explore more and connect with the locals, all while making unforgettable memories.

Opt for Overland Travel

When traveling to places less than a day away, instead of flying, you can opt for overland transportation options such as taking a train or bus ride.

My favorite way of overland travel is by car, van, and RV , especially if you’re taking a road trip across the country. Imagine you’re taking a road trip through the mountains, and you see an elk eating on the side of the road! That is such an incredible sight you could not have seen if you were traveling fast by plane.

Elk on the side of the road during a road trip across North Carolina. Photo by Daisy Valdes

By opting for overland transportation, you can also take an amazing train ride across the Rocky Mountains . Where you can enjoy the beautiful countryside landscapes, experience unforgettable excursions, and even have a relaxing spa day before or after your train ride.

That sounds way more enjoyable than dealing with the stress of airport security and the anxiety that comes with flying.

So despite how you travel, try to opt into overland transportation so that you can enjoy yourself more and reduce your carbon emissions, all while traveling in style.

Plan Less, Explore More

While having a plan is great, you can easily get frustrated or upset when things don’t go as planned. Instead, embrace spontaneity and give yourself unplanned room to discover new adventures.

This is personally how I make the most out of my vacations. I plan the basics, such as transportation, accommodations, and a couple of main activities, but the rest of the trip is free to explore new activities based on local recommendations or adventures.

This is precisely what I did when I booked an adventure based on a local’s recommendation to go horseback riding through the Andorran mountains. I loved this activity, and it was such a fun and spontaneous experience!

Spontaneity can lead to the best experiences, such as horseback riding through the mountains of Andorra. Photo by Daisy Valdes

So, instead of scheduling your day with jam-packed activities, allow yourself the freedom to explore the area. You may even become more spontaneous as you decide to visit new places, take part in new adventures, and grow into a more confident traveler.

Connect with the Community

The best thing about traveling slowly is developing deep and meaningful connections with people.

When you’re not rushing across cities, you can invest time in exploring the local area. You can learn about the local language, people, traditions, and dance rhythms.

When I traveled to Kenya, I made it a point to learn a new Swahili phrase every day. I also took dancing lessons with the Maasai Tribe to learn their famous and traditional dance, Aumdu. This enhanced my experience while in Africa and bonded me with the locals as we had a mutual understanding and respect for one another. Plus, I learned awesome dance moves that I got to bring back home with me.

Daisy Valdes dancing with the Maasai tribe in Kenya. Photo by Daisy Valdes

So, as you travel slowly, you can enjoy the experience of connecting with the local communities and making new memories that will last a lifetime.

The Benefits of Slow Travel

As you begin the art of slow travel, you will discover many benefits.

You Can Explore More

You might assume by traveling slowly, you see less compared to traveling to multiple cities in one day. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. By staying in one area longer, you cut out the dead time spent in transit, and you can enjoy your vacation more!

Slow travel gives you a chance to explore more and still work on the road. Photo by Matthias Zeitler via Pixabay

Slow travel allows you to explore more and still work on the road. Photo by Matthias Zeitler via Pixabay

Slow travel is perfect for those who want to explore more and gain a deeper connection with the area’s culture.

It is especially ideal for digital nomads, as you can explore an area more while focusing on your work. Plus, traveling slowly increases your work productivity and improves your work-life balance since you’re not worried about rushing to the next destination.

Reduce Your Environmental Impact

The best part about traveling slowly is that you inherently travel more sustainably . The sustainable side of slow travel emphasizes the reduction of carbon emissions, support for local economies, and prevention of over-tourism.

For example, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint and environmental impact by staying longer in fewer places and choosing overland transportation. Plus, by choosing more environmentally friendly activities, you can explore the untouched areas of a country while experiencing its full beauty.

During one of my first vacations after I started practicing slow travel, I met up with a group of people and went mountain biking through the breathtaking mountains of Andorra. I could explore the local area, meet new friends, and participate in a fun, environmentally friendly activity!

Mountain biking in Andorra. Photo by Daisy Valdes

By traveling slowly, you can explore the world and positively impact both the environment and the communities you visit.

Slow Travel Improves Your Mental Well-being

The stress that comes with traveling is often a hidden topic that most people don’t talk about. Especially the anxiety that comes with rushing to the next location and never thoroughly enjoying the present moment.

But when you give yourself the luxury of time, you naturally feel more calm. This is true when you travel slowly.

So instead of rushing to do all the activities in a city in one day, try spending an entire week in an area so you can truly enjoy all that a place has to offer.

Not only will you naturally lower your stress and anxiety levels, but you will allow yourself to fully immerse yourself in the culture and live in the present moment at every place you travel.

It Reduces Your Financial Burdens

Traveling slowly is an excellent way for you to save money. When you don’t hop from place to place, you can spend less on high transportation costs and fees. Plus, if you stay longer in one spot, you can enjoy various “long-term stay” discounts on your hotel accommodations.

Also, when you’re not always on the go, you have more time to discover fun, low-cost activities in the area. Slow travel allows you to enjoy more while spending less, whether it’s a local park, a budget-friendly meal, or a free event.

Starting Your Slow Travel Journey

So, next time you plan a trip, ask yourself: Do you want to check places off a list, or do you want to truly experience it?

By choosing to travel slowly, you can truly experience a place, its culture, and its people. It’s not just about saving money or reducing stress; it’s about enriching your soul and travel experience.

Give slow travel a try, and let your journeys leave lasting imprints on your heart. We invite you to explore Wander With Wonder for more ideas on road trips and living the RV lifestyle .

Slow Travel FAQs

What is slow travel.

Slow travel is about connecting with those you meet and discovering the people, the culture, the food, and other aspects of daily life.

Why is Slow Travel the Best Way to Travel?

Slow travel encourages more eco-friendly experiences. You don’t try to go to as many different places; you choose public transportation and road trips over airline travel; you support the local economy.

What Makes Slow Travel Special?

Slow travel embraces the local communities you encounter. It fosters a connection with people rather than attempting to check something off your bucket list. It is about embracing the moment and digging deep to discover the heart of a destination.

Ever wanted to make the most out of vacation? Slow travel is about exploring new places and immersing yourself in the local cultures. Discover the benefits of traveling slowly and tips on how you can enjoy it!

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Hospitality Industry

What is Slow Tourism? The next big hospitality trend

August 16, 2021 •

4 min reading

The trend of “Slow Travel” has become increasingly popular over recent years, however through COVID19 it has accelerated immensely and has almost become a new norm without people even realising. Slow tourism is forecasted to continue to grow in popularity, becoming an alternative to more traditional holidays and is estimat ed to grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate . Now what is Slow travel, where did it come from and how could hoteliers adapt?

The trend of “Slow Travel” has become increasingly popular over the past years, however through COVID19 it accelerated immensely and has almost become a new norm without people even realising. The crazed race to visit as many places as possible, which was influenced through renowned books like “1000 Places to See Before You Die” or through movies such as “The Bucket List”, is slowly becoming less popular. Slow tourism is forecasted to continue to grow in popularity, becoming an alternative to more traditional holidays with an estimated 10% compound annual growth rate.

What is Slow Travel?

The online definition describes it as an approach to travel that emphasizes connection to local people, cultures, food and music. It relies on the idea that a trip is meant to educate and have an emotional impact, while remaining sustainable for local communities and the environment.

Where did Slow Tourism come from?

This trend or better yet movement has been evolving through time and is connected to the Slow food movement. Slow Food was started by Carlo Petrini and a group of activists in the 1980s to resist the opening of a McDonald's near the Spanish Steps in Rome, with the initial aim to defend regional traditions, good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life. The further popularity can be correlated with the growing focus on sustainability and self - care.

How can you travel “slower”?

Travelling slower involves transitioning from materialistic and consumerist luxury to wanting purposeful experiences and creating meaningful moments. People no longer want to have a schedule full of tours of classic sightseeing spots. They want to travel at their own pace while experiencing and tasting the local culture. A word used a lot when discussing Slow travel is “experience-based”. Experience-based travel can be accomplished in different ways, such as connecting with people, creating a community, experiencing local culture and making conscious decisions. These conscious decisions impact one’s own cultivation and regeneration as well as helping the environment by reducing your own global footprint.

“Slow tourism is characterized by reducing mobility and by taking time to explore local history and culture, while supporting the environment . The traveller’s main goals are relaxation, self-reflection, escape, novelty seeking, engagement and discovery.” - Journal of Travel Research

Prior to the pandemic global tourism hit record highs with 671 Million global international arrivals. Both the influence of the pandemic and these high numbers has motivated travellers to explore new destinations and lesser - known countries such as Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Georgia, Nepal and others.

How can hotels adapt to this movement?

There are simple approaches which both urban and rural hotels can adapt to enhance their guests experience through different hotel departments.

Food & Beverage: An already commonly practiced way is through F&B outlets, where the local culture can be easily incorporated by serving regional dishes with local and seasonal produce. A significant trend that many businesses have already adapted to is “going back to the roots”. The more we learn about food, nutrition and the planet, the more it’s understood that natural is best. Taking food back to its roots pays homage to local herbs, vegetables and as well as cooking practices. Teaching these cooking practices to guests also offers a way for guests to delve deeper into the local culture.
Wellness & Wellbeing: As everyday life continues to become more technology-driven, there is a strong desire for down-to-earth therapy and spa practices that use traditional foods, plant-based medicines, oils and ancient rituals.
Experiences & Activities: Transformational travel inspires travellers to disconnect from their busy day to day life, this includes learning new skills which will be a motivating force for future travellers. Experiences can allow guests to engage with the local community and interact with others to expand their cultural knowledge and understanding.
Off - Grid: Along with the movement of Slow travelling came the trend of Off - Grid travel, which is made possible by modern technologies. An example being solar power providing electricity anywhere, such as in mountain cabins, a boat or other remote locations. Both urban and rural hotels can adapt to travellers trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of their daily life, by offering digital detox experiences, which are becoming increasingly more popular.
Transportation: With sustainability being a priority for slow travellers, hotels should offer or organise different means of transportation to their guests. Bike rentals, walking tours or excursions by train are all attractive options for today’s traveller.

To conclude, slow tourism is most likely the way our industry will cautiously but surely start to recover as soon as global travel is fully encouraged again.

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Slow Travel: Embracing a More Mindful Journey

Slow travel is a great way to explore. Check out this guide on the benefits of slow travel and learn more about different ways to slow travel the world.

Ever since the advent of mass travel, people have pondered how to get more out of their travel experiences. Being able to hop on a plane or train to get to a new city or new country saved people a lot of time since they were able to get to their destination faster. It also took away some of the things that make travel so special and life-changing. Individuals were able to travel more frequently but generally stayed for shorter periods. They could travel across a continent in a few hours but missed out on all of the local cultural exchanges in between.

This, combined with the obvious issue of sustainability and environmental degradation, has made the idea of slow travel become much more appealing to many people. This approach to travel has an emphasis on connecting with people and local cultures while immersing yourself in the everyday life of the destination. It’s a much more sustainable way of traveling, and it puts much less pressure on limited resources than other forms of travel.

Slow it down with Let’s Roam .

Here at Let’s Roam, we welcome every opportunity to slow things down a bit and enjoy the precious time we have with friends and family. We hope that everyone has the opportunity to do the same. To help, we’ve compiled a collection of fantastic resources to help you turn every ordinary day into something extraordinary. With hundreds of app-based scavenger hunts , virtual games, and travel guides on the Let’s Roam Explorer blog , we’ve got everything you need for a fantastic adventure!

Learning the Art of Slow Travel

Perfecting the art of slow travel can help you have a richer travel experience than you ever thought possible. It can give you a deeper understanding of the world around you and the role that you play in it. To help you get started on this journey, we’ve compiled a list of burning questions regarding the slow travel movement.

Disclaimer : I’ve been a digital nomad/slow traveler for the past two and a half years, and I was freelancing for the first year and a half. For the last year, I’ve been holding a full-time job, working as a freelance writer, and traveling full-time. This includes both slow travel and a faster form of travel depending on the destinations I was visiting. This article incorporates both my slow travel experiences as well as those of my friends who have followed a similar path.

What is slow travel?

In its simplest form, slow travel just means staying in each place for longer periods. This is often considered upwards of ten days. The more complex definition describes slow travel as something that “emphasizes connection to local people, cultures, food, and music. It relies on the idea that a trip is meant to educate and have an emotional impact, while remaining sustainable for local communities and the environment.” According to the Journal of Travel Research , during slow travel, “the traveler’s main goals are relaxation, self-reflection, escape, novelty seeking, engagement, and discovery.”

Slow travelers usually visit fewer destinations and spend more time in each one focusing on experience-based activities. Cultural interactions and outdoor activities tend to be more important to them than sightseeing and to-do lists full of tourist attractions. There is also a genuine desire to understand the nuances of each destination and make conscious decisions about their travel experience. In a nutshell, it is valuing quality over quantity when it comes to travel. It’s the polar opposite of organized tours that pack in a full schedule of sightseeing as you zoom from place to place. As the name suggests, it means traveling at a slower pace and absorbing the sounds, smells, and tastes all around you.

The slow travel movement is often connected with the slow food movement which began in Italy back in the 1980s when a group of activists came together to protest a McDonald’s opening near the Spanish Steps—one of Rome’s most popular heritage sites. The purpose of the movement was to protect regional traditions and values. It also put emphasis on quality food over fast food and the slower pace of life that Italians are proud of. It has also become synonymous with sustainability, wellness, and self-care.

Is the slow travel movement a new “trend”?

Absolutely not. Slow travel is actually where we started! Before the invention of planes, trains, and automobiles, people mostly traveled on foot or with the aid of animals for thousands of years. The trend for fast travel is actually a recent phenomenon. To put it into perspective, cross-country road trips were still being done in covered wagons 150 years ago. This meant that their journeys were much, much slower, taking months or even years to cross continents rather than a matter of hours.

In saying that, there’s been a renewed interest in traveling slowly in order to attain a richer travel experience. While much of the current slow travel trend is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been an emerging movement to a kinder approach to travel for many years in terms of the environment and local communities.

The biggest change is actually the number of people that could travel slowly increased exponentially when remote working became more widely available. Many people jumped at the chance to go back to some of their favorite countries and learn more about them. Sadly, as more and more companies are expecting their employees to work in the office, the number of people from the United States that are currently traveling may decrease. Without a doubt though, this “new” form of travel is definitely here to stay!

What are the benefits of slow travel?

To be honest, the list is endless! On a personal level, slow travel is much, much easier to do long-term. As great as it sounds to travel full time, there is always a risk of getting burnout. Think about how exhausted you feel after a two-week vacation where you’re hopping from place to place. Now multiply that feeling by like 100. Only then can you can get an idea of how tiring it is to do this long-term while working remotely.

It can also save you a lot of money. When you travel slowly, you generally cut down significantly on transportation costs as you are flying, bussing, and driving much less. You’re also usually able to get better deals on accommodation if you’re willing to commit to staying for at least a week. The prices drop even more if you plan on staying a month. Many digital nomads choose to stay in destinations for at least a month at a time because of this.

On a broader level, slow travel is so much better for the environment. As many of us already know, the environmental impacts of travel are substantial. Much of this is due to air travel and single-use plastic consumption at a destination. When you travel slowly, you usually reduce the number of flights that you take. You also often rely more on going to grocery stores and cooking at home than say, grabbing a quick meal at McDonald’s, which also helps reduce the amount of non-recyclable garbage that you produce.

Slow travel also tends to help the local economy much more than staying in places for a short time. Slow travelers generally spend more money at local shops, restaurants, homestays, and guest houses. They also spend less at international fast-food chains or branded hotels. Rather than going into the coffers of a big international corporation, it will instead end up in the bank accounts of local people.

What are the cons of slow travel?

One of the biggest problems with traveling slowly is that it can get lonely sometimes, especially if you’re a solo traveler. Imagine moving to a new city every few weeks and trying to develop a social life. You sit in cafes and restaurants watching other people with their friends and family, and you may find yourself second-guessing your travel choices.

Traveling quickly can often make it easy to forget that you are lonely as you’re focused on getting from place to place, organizing your travel plans, etc. When you travel slowly, you have a lot more downtime to reflect. You may find yourself feeling a bit out of your comfort zone if it’s your first time traveling alone for an extended period of time. You really need to be comfortable being by yourself or with just one or two other people.

What are the different types of slow travel?

Slow tourism is traveling at your own pace in a way that is meaningful to you.

Just like the fact that people travel for a wide array of reasons, people also do slow travel for different reasons. Some of the most common reasons that people may choose to do slow travel include spiritual tourism, culinary tourism, volunteer tourism , or simply remote work options.

Different budgets impact the way that people travel. People who are traveling on a shoestring may choose to volunteer in hostels in exchange for free accommodation or rent inexpensive Airbnbs or vacation rentals. They also tend to go to free events or find ways to make their money stretch as long as possible while still enjoying cultural experiences. People with a larger budget can choose to stay in better quality accommodation or even to use a hotel as their home base. They also tend to take advantage of the services offered by tour operators. These local experts can facilitate unique activities that may be off-limits to others.

Is slow travel the same as digital nomading?

In many cases, yes. Every digital nomad has a slightly different lifestyle based on the way that they earn money, the passport that they hold, and their own preferences. However, by and large, most digital nomads are also slow travelers. They live in apartments, go grocery shopping, attend cultural events, and generally live a pretty similar lifestyle to many of their local counterparts.

I personally straddle the gap between extreme travelers and digital nomads. I will often travel to off-the-beaten-path countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, etc. for a few weeks. Then I relax a bit, get caught up on work, and try to be as stress-free as possible for a while. This was the pattern that I followed for several months in 2021 and 2022. During this time, Istanbul and Cairo as bases between trips. This was a very different experience than someone slow traveling through Mexico or digital nomading in Bali. However, it shows just how versatile this lifestyle is.

Meanwhile, I am friends with travel bloggers and vloggers who will rent a place for a month and get as much work done as possible. They will then spend a few weeks traveling through a country. I also know people who will stay in destinations for months at a time. They’ll fully immerse themselves in the culture by taking language classes and attending local Couchsurfing or Meet-Up events. The great thing about slow traveling is that you can shape it however works best for you!

Is slow travel the same as sustainable travel?

Yes and no. There’s definitely a lot of overlap between slow travel and sustainable travel. They aren’t always the same, though. Slow travelers and sustainable travels tend to place value on the same things. While slow travel is almost always sustainable, sustainable travel isn’t always slow.

What type of slow travel is best?

This really depends on you and what you want to get out of your slow travel experience. If you’re traveling for a short amount of time (less than a month), you may want to base yourself in a few different cities across Europe or Asia. This gives you time to get to know your local cafes and bars. You may even start to recognize the people who work at your local grocery store. If you stay a little bit longer, you may even be able to know exactly where everything you need is located in the grocery store which is a big win!

If you’re planning on slow traveling for a few months and aren’t going to be working at the same time, you may want to consider joining a volunteer project or taking cooking or language classes. In certain destinations, you can even take part in spiritual retreats, yoga teacher training courses, and dance classes. Doing an activity allows you to meet more local people as well as other foreigners. In turn, this gives you more of a chance to develop more of a social life and a routine in destinations. By the end of it, you may find that you’ve learned an incredible amount about everyday life in a particular destination. This is particularly true when you think about what you would have experienced otherwise.

Is this possible to do long term?

Definitely! Many people have been doing it for years! If you’re able to work remotely and have a lot of time on your hands, you can always slow travel and combine it with short trips. This could mean basing yourself in Bangkok for three months, then taking advantage of the multitude of cheap flights on offer around Southeast Asia.

If you’re planning to hop between destinations, make sure to download the Let’s Roam app before you go! Here, you can access hundreds of scavenger hunts, art walks, ghost hunts, and pub crawls for destinations worldwide. This is a great way to get to know a new place and have a great time doing it!

I did this for four years while I was based in Hong Kong. I feel like I kind of got the best of both worlds. I got an in-depth look at life in Hong Kong and China. Meanwhile, I got a taste of Japan, South Korea, and many Southeast Asian countries. While I was definitely considered an ex-pat instead of a slow traveler, the same strategy is used by many long-term slow travelers. They can work their way around the world one region at a time. In a way, it’s kind of like being back in college. You have your major. Then you have all your electives that help you shape your education into exactly what you want.

Where can I find more information on slow travel?

Tons of social media channels provide insight into what it’s really like to slow travel and what new experiences lie in store for you. These may be influencers, travel bloggers, van lifers, conscious travelers, travel companies, or really anyone who has an interest in the slow travel movement. They can help you mentally unpack the art of slow travel and decide whether or not it is right for you. This will give you a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of slow travel. It can also show how to make slow travel a reality for you based on your unique circumstances.

Is this the end to bucket list travel?

It doesn’t have to be! Bucket list travel has been a driving force behind people rushing to certain destinations. However, the slow travel movement is certainly not the end of it. There just needs to be a slight change in focus. Rather than having a long list of tourist attractions, restaurants, or shops that you want to visit because you saw a photo of them on Instagram, try to prioritize having authentic experiences. Instead of going to the top-ranked places on Trip Advisor, go to the local food joint around the corner from your Airbnb. Skip the fancy clubs and go to the dive bars full of old men wearing sweater vests. After two decades of travel, I guarantee you these experiences are the things that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.

Are you ready to roam?

We hope that this article on slow travel has shown you the benefits of traveling more slowly and sustainably and that it has inspired you to try it for yourself on your next trip. As always, we would love to hear your feedback, and please let us know if there’s anything we may have missed!

If you want to read more information on slow travel, digital nomading , or any of the destinations listed above, make sure to head over to the Let’s Roam Explorer blog . This blog features hundreds of destination guides, must-see lists, and travel articles that can help you make travel planning much easier. Our team writes all of our blogs, and they’re full of first-hand travel tips that can save you time and money. Before you head out the door, make sure to download the Let’s Roam app . Here, you’ll have access to all of our fun-filled, app-based scavenger as well as great user-generated information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Slow travel simply means spending a lot of time in one place while immersing yourself in cultural experiences and everyday life. It’s generally more sustainable and fulfilling than other types of travel.

Many digital nomads are slow traveling their way across continents. They often spend one time getting to know a country or region before moving on to the next one.

You can slow travel even if you only have ten vacation days a year . You simply need to pick a destination that you really want to get to know. Check out the Let’s Roam Explorer blog for inspiration!

Honestly, there isn’t much of a difference! Slow travel and digital nomading are actually very similar. Most digital nomads are also considered slow travelers.

If you want to learn more information, check out the Let’s Roam Explorer blog . Here, you can find hundreds of areas on different forms of travel, interesting destinations, and much, much more!

Culture Trip's Top 12 Slow Travel Destinations

Travelling by train through the mountains in Ella, Sri Lanka, gives you the chance to take in forests, rivers and tea plantations

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Slow travel allows us to experience different destinations in a way that is both relaxing and enriching. It’s all about forgoing hectic city itineraries and whistlestop tours of never-seen-before destinations in favour of taking the time to actually get to know them – embracing the local culture and different ways of life . From road trips in California to exploring Kyoto by bike, here’s our pick.

Slow travel doesn’t have to be in an exotic destination; it could be as simple as visiting your nearest seaside town or national park, or even taking the scenic but slightly longer route to your nearest train station. The point is to appreciate what makes a place unique, and make the most of the time you have there. When travelling abroad, that means staying local wherever – and whenever – possible.

California, USA

California is a spectacular location to visit for any number of reasons, but how to make the most of a trip to this vast state on the west coast of America? There’s the obvious glitz and glamour of Hollywood in Los Angeles , but the vibrant Downtown district offers a much more laid-back experience. Street food is a major draw here and there’s arguably no better way to discover the City of Stars than by hopping from one food vendor to the next.

To explore the rest of the state, you could take things slow with a road trip on some of the famous highways that run between destinations such as San Diego and San Francisco . There’s no need to rush, and these seven outstanding sustainable hotels provide a great selection of places to stay right across the state.

A road trip on the Pacific Coast Highway is a great way to take in California’s dramatic coastline

Isle of Skye, Scotland

A popular film location , the Isle of Skye certainly feels cinematic when you first lay eyes on it. The largest island of the Scottish Inner Hebrides, Skye boasts a spectacular mountainous landscape that wouldn’t look out of place in The Lord of the Rings . You can catch a ferry to the port of Armadale and there’s a small airfield for private use, but by far the easiest way to reach this destination is via the Skye Bridge. If you don’t hire a car, you can take either the bus or train from mainland cities Glasgow and Inverness .

The Talisker Distillery is a popular attraction on Skye. We recommend visiting to warm your cockles with a single malt whisky before setting off on a ramble around this unspoiled Scottish gem . For resting tired limbs, we recommend a stay at one of these boutique boltholes .

Travel has never been anything but slow in Sri Lanka . This large Indian Ocean island nation was once part of the maritime Silk Route – an ancient trading route that connected China and Roman-controlled ports in Egypt – and in modern times it has emerged as a favourite destination for taking it slow. The ancient Anuradhapura region is strewn with temples and ruins, while there are cultural treasures to be found on every other corner in the country’s capital, Colombo .

Anuradhapura is famous for its well-preserved ruins of an ancient Sinhala civilisation

There’s an extensive road network that connects all the major points of interest, but by the far the most magical way to get around is by rail. Photogenic trains and stunning scenery combine for the defining images associated with slow travel, while luxury resorts and relaxing retreats complete the experience.

Tulum, Mexico

Tulum was once a sleepy beach town that few people outside of Mexico had heard of, but the slow trickle of visitors has turned into a constant stream in recent years. Nevertheless, there’s still a way to enjoy the Mayan ruins, sandy beaches and local culture without feeling as if you’re stuck in a tourist trap. The key is to avoid staying in an overcrowded beach hotel. Instead, pick a boutique property in the heart of Tulum itself. It’s a good 20- to 30-minute walk from the town centre to the coast, but you can easily hire a bike and cut that journey time down.

The main street in Tulum is very laid-back

If you go, pick a place to stay for a few nights and take each day as it comes. There are lots of things to do around town, but there’s no need to plan more than a day or two in advance.

Matera, Italy

This rocky outcrop of Sassi di Matera, in the Basilicata region in southern Italy, was largely abandoned until the 1980s ,with only a few inhabitants left. After considerable investment by the Italian government towards improving living conditions, visitors have slowly returned and now Matera is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

If you really want to embrace the relaxed way of life in Matera, do as the locals do and book a stay at one of its incredible cave residences . Unlike other places, these rock-hewn properties aren’t a gimmick and provide an authentic way to immerse yourself in la città sotterranea (the underground city).

The cobbled narrow streets in Matera create an old-world atmosphere

Kyoto, Japan

Japan’s cultural capital Kyoto may be one of the more crowded destinations on this list, but there are a great selection of places to stay across the city that allow you to live like a local , from traditional ryokan to luxury modern hotels with onsen facilities. There’s also a thriving street food scene that any visitor ought not to rush – check out this article on the must-try meals around the city .

Bikes are a great way to get around Kyoto

Kyoto is an essential stop if you’re planning to travel around Japan by train , but you might want to make it your final destination as it’s a hard one to leave behind.

We recently showcased Costa Rica for its nationwide focus on sustainability , and we’re sticking with it for this slow travel guide. The country’s diverse ecosystem has allowed a number of innovative property solutions to develop organically in recent years, and the result for visitors is a great range of ecofriendly lodges to stay in. Unlike other countries where green tourism initiatives are becoming increasingly central, Costa Rica has already done this at scale, keeping the costs low for consumers and providers alike.

If you’re looking for a place to take the family to in 2021, you should consider a trip here as there are also a wide array of family-friendly tours we can recommend.

Costa Rica is blessed with tropical beach and rainforest

Cappadocia, Turkey

Central Turkey is often overlooked by tourists in favour of coastal cities in the north and south, but this region is truly unmissable. Cappadocia is home to breathtaking natural parks, remarkable geological features and countless cave dwellings still lived in by locals today. Many of these properties now also function as hotels – check out our pick of the best you can book in this article – offering outsiders the chance to experience a more sedate travel experience either before or after they take to the skies in an unforgettable hot air balloon ride .

Take a hot-air balloon trip over Cappadocia, in Turkey

Cappadocia is a semi-arid region with lots of natural rock formations, so it’s a place you can easily unwind, and there are more than enough things to keep you entertained should you wish to extend your stay .

Wanaka, New Zealand

With its mountains and coastline, the South Island in New Zealand is a year-round magnet for outdoor adventurers, and Wanaka remains beautifully unspoilt thanks to strict protection rules. Historically, the area was a fishing and hunting spot for the Maori people – something you can still do today .

Rolling vineyards are a relatively new addition, although the beautiful landscape has remained largely unchanged over time – film boffins might recognise the lakes and peaks from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time (2018). If you’re tempted to visit, keep your carbon footprint to a minimum by staying at one of these fabulous ecofriendly places to stay .

Rippon Vineyard on Lake Wanaka, is one of New Zealand’s many world-class wineries

Vancouver Island, Canada

If you cast your eyes away from the cities skyscrapers, Vancouver Island , on the west coast of Canada, feels miles away from the BC capital. To get here, you can take commercial flights to cities such as Victoria and Nanaimo, or hop on a seaplane for a special adventure . You could also catch a ferry across the Strait of Georgia – a good option if you’d like to bring your own car. However you get here, there’ll be a whole brochure of things to do when you arrive – from wining and dining in the Cowichan Valley to hiking in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and whale watching offshore .

Vancouver Island feels a world away from the busy city

Whatever you do, though, just take it slow. Here’s our suggested itinerary for a four-day trip , and a curated selection of the best places to stay on the island .

Granada, Spain

Granada is best known for its mesmerising Alhambra Palace, a centuries-old Moorish citadel that sits atop a vibrant hill overlooking the city. The Sierra Nevada mountains – home to Europe’s southernmost ski resort – beckon on the horizon to complete the pretty picture seen from the El Mirador de San Nicolas on the other side of the valley. You’ll do well to avoid the crowds here – such is the popularity of the viewpoint – but you can find quiet through the narrow, labyrinthine streets of the whitewashed Albaycin , which winds down the hillside below.

There are some stunning hotels in the city – and amazing hotels, lodges and apartments beyond its borders too – that we highly recommend. To get a real flavour of the Andalusia region and its North African heritage, consider a two-week break to give yourself time to explore the cities of Seville and Cordoba , both home to equally captivating Islamic-era landmarks of their own.

There are countless reasons to visit Singapore , from its colourful streets to its modern architecture, but best of all is the hawker culture, especially if you’re a street food fanatic. This food scene is so legendary, in fact, that it has attained Unesco recognition . In essence, this practice boils down to enjoying an open-air meal in one of the many hawker centres around the city-state. It’s one of the best local experiences you can have – a fantastic way to taste authentic Singaporean food and support small local businesses while you’re at it.

There are excellent street food options to enjoy in Singapore

Singapore is a world leader when it comes to sustainability , proving that megacities can actively, and effectively, reduce their carbon emissions through renewable energy sources. You can do your part by picking a forward-thinking place to stay when you visit, and making greener choices about how you get around the city.

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Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

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I started an Etsy candle store last year. The passive income helped me travel the world.

Francisco Rivera started an Etsy store while working a remote job and living in a studio in Orlando.
He quit his job after one year when the money from the store was enough to live off.
Rivera said the passive income from his store means he can travel and still run his business.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 26-year-old Francisco Rivera, an Etsy seller from Orlando. It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his profit and revenue.

I manage an Etsy store that made $403,499 last year after Etsy's fees and postage costs. I keep 30% to 50% of the retail price and the rest goes to a print-on-demand provider to produce and ship the product.

Starting the store has meant I could be an "intermittent nomad ." I travel while running my business, but I'm not away for superlong periods of time, and I like having a home base to return to.

Before starting Etsy, I worked online and lived in Orlando with my parents

In 2020, I had to move from Texas back home with my parents in Orlando . I was pretty desperate for work, and though I'd never pictured myself working with kids, I started working as a teacher for an online-education platform called Outschool, teaching logic and critical-thinking skills to kids online using the game "Minecraft."

I ended up loving it. I liked being in charge of making a curriculum, but I didn't like that my schedule was locked into specific teaching hours. I wanted more flexibility.

I started looking for potential side hustles

I started looking into other options, such as copywriting. Last year, I came across some TikToks from people selling via print-on-demand platforms. I felt that was the best route.

In YouTube videos, sellers said T-shirts and mugs were quite saturated markets. It seemed the best approach was to choose one niche that could be applied to multiple products or one product that could be tailored to different niches and trends.

I scoured Printify, a print-on-demand platform, and found they were offering candles.

I did some research into how well candles were selling on Etsy — it seemed like a good space. They make good gifts, and there was a market for candles with funny messages where I could replace the text to apply to different niches. I saw shops that were successful in doing that over a short period of time.

I'd research trending words or topics and come up with a joke or a cuss related to that trend for the candles.

The first couple of months were slow

It takes a while to get people to trust you and to land reviews. I put out two or three products a day. I launched the shop in January 2023, and by March, my sales were picking up.

But it wasn't a viable full-time income until December when sales went through the roof because of Christmas. I made $136,700 in revenue between November and December.

That's when I realized my Etsy store could replace my income from teaching. I decided to quit in December — I probably could have before, but I wanted to make sure my store was viable.

Quitting my job was scary, but I knew that even if this particular shop failed, I could set up another store on Etsy.

At most, I spend 4 hours a day on my store — and usually a lot less

I spend between 20 and 30 minutes a day on custom orders. I can spend as much time as I want uploading candles. Once or twice a week, I spend around three or four hours a day working on that. The rest is passive income.

Sometimes I go into maintenance mode and just live life. I've spent the past two weeks in Bali and traveled to Belgium, France, New York, and the Caribbean in the past few months.

Being able to afford my own place in Orlando and travel when I want is a huge win.

Correction: April 11, 2024 — A previous version of this story misstated the percentage of profits Rivera gives to his print-on-demand provider. He retains 30% to 50% of the profits; the rest goes to the printer. The article also misstated his living situation. He did not move out of his parents' home after he launched his store.

Watch: Artsy CMO, Everette Taylor, tells Insider that the online art marketplace is more inclusive, and lucrative

Main content

Solo travel: the 'ultimate indulgence in 2024'

Why more of us are choosing to go on holiday on our own

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The number of holidaymakers choosing to go it alone is rising, whether in escorted groups, or independently. And it is an active choice, not forced by an inability to find a travelling companion.

"Rather than a function of necessity or compromise, holidaying alone has become the ultimate indulgence in 2024: a rare chance in this ultra-demanding world to put one's own needs and priorities first," said the London Evening Standard .

"Regardless of life stage or relationship status", many more people are taking solo trips, "not because they have to – but because they want to", said the newspaper.

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And one factor fuelling the independent travel trend may be an after-effect of the pandemic's enforced isolation, which "emboldened" people with a 'now or never' attitude", rendering them "more confident than ever about spending time in solitude".

And that solitude can have benefits for our wellbeing. Research by Netta Weinstein, a professor of psychology and clinical language sciences at the University of Reading, has shown that there is a big difference between imposed solitude and chosen solitude, reported The Guardian .

"Having space gives us time to connect with ourselves, and connecting with ourselves benefits our wellbeing," said Weinstein. A key factor appears to be the sense of autonomy we get from being alone. "What we found was that, on any given day when people felt autonomous and competent in solitude, they feel better on that day," she added.

According to an Abta report, 16% of travellers went on holiday by themselves in the year to August 2023, compared to 11% during the previous year, said Travel Weekly . In the 35-44 age group, the proportion of solo travellers more than doubled to 13% in 2023 from just 6% in 2022.

The main attraction of a solo trip is being able to do what you want, when you want. Being on your own is a "chance to really savour the world around you – at your own pace", said Annabelle Thorpe in The Observer . There are "no compromises to be made, no itineraries discussed; get up when you want, eat what you fancy, do nothing or everything, talk to the friendly person next to you at breakfast, or pop in your headphones and ignore them completely".

And this freedom can bring a change in behaviour. "When I'm travelling alone, I become the best version of myself," said Thorpe: "the most decisive, the most charming, the most curious. I see more, go further, strike up conversations with people I'll never meet again, yet always remember."

And it's not just for single people. For those in a relationship, differing work patterns and destination preferences also play a part. "Like many women who travel alone, I have a partner, but his life is a lot less flexible than mine and he doesn't always want the kinds of breaks I do," said Joanna Moorhead in The Guardian.

Research by online travel agent Opodo.com in 2023 revealed that 41% of us prefer to travel alone, reported The Telegraph . "It puts us in control of decision-making", giving us the option "to linger for hours in a museum without our partners or children having a meltdown, or to undertake a lung-busting hike to the top of a mountain to be made small by nature when our close ones prefer the indoors".

And apart from the sightseeing, solo travel "gives us tranquil time for personal reflection and growth".

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Slow-Mo Of How Sierra Space Habitat Blows Up In Tests

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Sierra Space has conducted a burst test of a full-scale inflatable space habitat. Watch the results in slo-mo! Credit: Sierra Space

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Tech Leaders Once Cried for AI Regulation. Now the Message Is ‘Slow Down’

Illustration of a large AI head tied down by ropes. A hand with a gavel is hammering a stake into the ground and another...

The other night I attended a press dinner hosted by an enterprise company called Box. Other guests included the leaders of two data-oriented companies, Datadog and MongoDB. Usually the executives at these soirees are on their best behavior, especially when the discussion is on the record, like this one. So I was startled by an exchange with Box CEO Aaron Levie, who told us he had a hard stop at dessert because he was flying that night to Washington, DC. He was headed to a special-interest-thon called TechNet Day, where Silicon Valley gets to speed-date with dozens of Congress critters to shape what the (uninvited) public will have to live with . And what did he want from that legislation? “As little as possible,” Levie replied. “I will be single-handedly responsible for stopping the government.”

He was joking about that. Sort of. He went on to say that while regulating clear abuses of AI like deepfakes makes sense, it’s way too early to consider restraints like forcing companies to submit large language models to government-approved AI cops, or scanning chatbots for things like bias or the ability to hack real-life infrastructure. He pointed to Europe, which has already adopted restraints on AI as an example of what not to do. “What Europe is doing is quite risky,” he said. “There's this view in the EU that if you regulate first, you kind of create an atmosphere of innovation,” Levie said. “That empirically has been proven wrong.”

Levie’s remarks fly in the face of what has become a standard position among Silicon Valley’s AI elites like Sam Altman. “ Yes, regulate us! ” they say. But Levie notes that when it comes to exactly what the laws should say, the consensus falls apart. “We as a tech industry do not know what we're actually asking for,” Levie said, “I have not been to a dinner with more than five AI people where there's a single agreement on how you would regulate AI.” Not that it matters—Levie thinks that dreams of a sweeping AI bill are doomed. “The good news is there's no way the US would ever be coordinated in this kind of way. There simply will not be an AI Act in the US.”

Levie is known for his irreverent loquaciousness. But in this case he’s simply more candid than many of his colleagues, whose regulate-us-please position is a form of sophisticated rope-a-dope. The single public event of TechNet Day, at least as far as I could discern, was a livestreamed panel discussion about AI innovation that included Google’s president of global affairs Kent Walker and Michael Kratsios, the most recent US Chief Technology Officer and now an executive at Scale AI. The feeling among those panelists was that the government should focus on protecting US leadership in the field. While conceding that the technology has its risks, they argued that existing laws pretty much cover the potential nastiness.

Google’s Walker seemed particularly alarmed that some states were developing AI legislation on their own. “In California alone, there are 53 different AI bills pending in the legislature today,” he said, and he wasn’t boasting. Walker of course knows that this Congress can hardly keep the government itself afloat, and the prospect of both houses successfully juggling this hot potato in an election year is as remote as Google rehiring the eight authors of the transformer paper.

The US Congress does have legislation pending. And the bills keep coming—some perhaps less meaningful than others. This week, Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, introduced a bill called the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act of 2024 . It mandates that large language models must present to the copyright office “a sufficiently detailed summary of any copyrighted works used … in the training data set.” It’s not clear what “sufficiently detailed” means. Would it be OK to say “We simply scraped the open web?” Schiff’s staff explained to me that they were adopting a measure in the EU’s AI bill.

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The real puzzle of this bill, which Schiff himself referred to in a committee meeting this week as a “first step,” is that no one knows whether using copyrighted work for AI training is legal. (Maybe it’s not such a puzzle when one notes that Schiff is running for a US Senate seat and that the bill is supported by all of Hollywood’s unions and trade groups.) Despite the current lack of reporting requirements, multiple suits have been filed against AI companies by creators who have identified their works in the data sets. (I should disclose here that I sit on the council of the Authors Guild , which is among a horde of plaintiffs suing OpenAI and Microsoft, and a supporter of Schiff’s bill. I speak for myself here.) The success of those lawsuits ultimately depends on whether the courts determine that the companies are violating the fair use provision of copyright laws.

Whatever tack the courts take, it will be based on copyright law that didn’t anticipate an artificial intelligence that could suck up all the prose and images the world has to offer. Figuring out what fair use means in the age of AI is a job for Congress. That’s the kind of difficult decision that legislators need to make when dealing with an innovation that alters the landscape. And like privacy and other tech-driven modern problems, it is exactly the kind of decision that our 21st-century lawmakers manage to avoid. (Schiff staffers told me, “We are certainly waiting to see the fair use issue play out in the courts.”)

So it’s no wonder that Levie, when I reached him on the phone after his day in DC, told me he’s feeling pretty good about the system. “The overall message from Congress is, ‘Let's get this right, there's not a lot of points for moving too fast.’ They're taking it with a high degree of thoughtfulness, versus ‘Let's just rush to have something to say that we are regulating.’” It turns out that Levie didn’t have to stop the government single-handedly. It’s already hit the brakes.

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Time Travel

AI legislation was touted as a slam dunk last May, when it seemed that the government was all in on passing laws to contain a possible menace. I wasn’t so sure. The headline of my Plaintext essay was “ Everyone Wants to Regulate AI. No One Can Agree How .” A year later, despite signs of reined-in ambition, that’s still the case.

The White House has been unusually active in trying to outline what AI regulation might look like. In October 2022—just a month before the seismic release of ChatGPT—the administration issued a paper called the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights . It was the result of a year of preparation, public comments, and all the wisdom that technocrats could muster. In case readers mistake the word blueprint for mandate, the paper is explicit on its limits : “The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights is non-binding,” it reads, “and does not constitute US government policy.” This AI bill of rights is less controversial or binding than the one in the US Constitution, with all that thorny stuff about guns, free speech, and due process. Instead it’s kind of a fantasy wish list designed to blunt one edge of the double-sided sword of progress. So easy to do when you don’t provide the details!

Reading that list highlights the difficulty of turning uplifting suggestions into actual binding law. When you look closely at the points from the White House blueprint, it’s clear that they don’t just apply to AI, but pretty much everything in tech. Each one seems to embody a user right that has been violated since forever. Big tech wasn’t waiting around for generative AI to develop inequitable algorithms, opaque systems, abusive data practices, and a lack of opt-outs. That’s table stakes, buddy, and the fact that these problems are being brought up in a discussion of a new technology only highlights the failure to protect citizens against the ill effects of our current technology.

During that Senate hearing where [OpenAI CEO Sam] Altman spoke, senator after senator sang the same refrain: We blew it when it came to regulating social media, so let’s not mess up with AI. But there’s no statute of limitations on making laws to curb previous abuses. The last time I looked, billions of people, including just about everyone in the US who has the wherewithal to poke a smartphone display, are still on social media, bullied, privacy compromised, and exposed to horrors. Nothing prevents Congress from getting tougher on those companies and, above all, passing privacy legislation .

Ask Me One Thing

MKT asks, “Why do razor blades cost so much?”

Thanks for the question, MKT. Just to be sure, you are asking this of Steven Levy the tech columnist and not Steven Levitt of Freakonomics ? Sounds like a job for an economist. My expertise comes only from swiping metal across my face every day, but I’ll take it on anyway. For most of my life, there were only a few brands of razors. Once you bought one company’s razors, you were locked into their ecosystem; then they could get away with charging a lot for the blades. As one MIT economist wrote in a paper called “Don’t Give Away the Razor (Usually) ,” this “two-part tariff for shaves'' was a monopoly that scraped your wallet as well as your face. When patents expired and competitors could produce decent razors, the companies cut the price of razors (not blades) to block their rivals.

So newcomers started challenging the big companies like Gillette and Schick by selling basic razors and blades. But even those weren’t dirt cheap. As one Harry’s cofounder explained on the website, “Razor blades are really, really difficult to make.”

Also, the upstarts are now part of the establishment, so don’t expect prices to go down. Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club in 2016, and last year flipped it to a private equity firm. In 2020, Harry’s agreed to a buyout from Edgewell Personal Care, which owns Schick and Wilkinson Sword. The FTC sued to block the merger—its argument was that there are too few shaving companies, and that mergers would drive high prices even higher—and Edgewell backed down. Harry’s then raised a huge venture capital round and continued as a private company—and just last month, reports came that it was pursuing an IPO. That’s the deepest cut of all.

You can submit questions to [email protected] . Write ASK LEVY in the subject line.

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