Have you ever heard of slow travel? This is a movement that encourages slowing down when you’re on vacation. Rather than racing from site to site, when you engage in slow travel, you spend more time in one place, soaking up the local culture. It’s a big lifestyle change and a shift in how you think about your time off. There are plenty of advantages and good reason as to why it has grown in popularity. However, there’s not one single correct way to travel, so before you head off on your next vacation, it’s worth considering whether it’s right for you.
Money
Slow travel generally costs less. A trip in which you might visit three or four destinations over a week or two becomes a trip where you stay in the same place in slow travel mode. You might also stay in cheaper accommodations, renting a vacation home from locals rather than getting a room in an expensive hotel. If you don’t quite have enough for even a slower-paced trip, you may want to look into taking out a personal loan from a private lender. You can check your eligibility with no impact on your credit score, and a private loan is more cost-efficient than using your high-interest credit cards.
Your Temperament
On the one hand, if you tend to lead a frenetic life, slowing down may well be what you need. Rather than racing from Barcelona to Paris to Rome in seven days, you might just find some tranquility by spending a week in a Spanish coastal village instead. On the other hand, maybe you really are energized and exhilarated by constantly being on the move. Maybe you love to plan meticulously and pack as much into every minute of your vacation as possible. If this is the case, slow travel probably isn’t for you.
Your Priorities
Another thing to consider is where you are going, how often you get to go there and whether you’ll ever return. It’s one thing to decide that you’re going to take it easy on a trip to a place that you visit regularly or at least plan to go to again. On the other hand, if you’re taking a onceinalifetime trip to Europe, you might regret not trying to see more. Only you can decide whether you want a vacation that includes seeing a lot of the traditional sights or a more unconventional cultural immersion.
A Different Perspective
If you still aren’t sure whether this approach is right for you, maybe give it a try closer to home, over a weekend instead of a one- or two-week vacation. You may find that you like this relaxed and cheaper approach to travel more than you expected. Keep in mind as well that through slow travel, your once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe might actually be possible to repeat several times when you aren’t spending thousands of dollars on the fastest form of transportation between cities, expensive hotels, tours and taxis. Another option is working some slow travel principles into your trip even if you don’t completely embrace the ethos.