I maintain that travel is the one truly worthy ambition in life; among the most valid reasons to work hard and earn money. I also believe that there is a right and a wrong way to travel. Rushing from one to another place, ticking things off a to-do list is not the right way to travel in my view. Travel should be leisurely. It should be a way not just to see a new place, but to find out more about it, its people, culture and cuisine. Travel ought not to be an activity; it should be an experience, as proponents of something called slow travel will tell you.
This was a response to generic fast food chains opening their outlets everywhere. Slow food was return to wholesome eating, eating together as a family/ community and reviving traditional ways of cooking.
Slow travel is a similar rejection of the hurly-burly of package tours and all-inclusive deals that promise the most in the least time. Slow travel is about exploration, pausing the fast pace of life and about truly drinking in the experience of being in a place.
Take your time researching the place you want to visit. Find out what you would like to spend time on, the location you would like to pick to stay, restaurants in the area that you must try, ways in which to experience the local culture. Consider apartments, homestay options, not just hotels.
Rather than flying to a destination, consider taking the train which lets you take in the change in scenery as you make your way there. There are other options such as sail boats, travelling aboard a freighter, mail ship etc.
Much of travel today consists of visiting the ‘attractions’ of a place. But then a place like Paris is not just the Eifel Tower, the Champs-Élysées and the Louvre. It is also the charming little by-lanes; it is also the people, the pavement artists, the buskers, the cuisine, the history… an entire way of life.
Try to walk to places in a new city, this gives you a much better feel of a place. Maybe hire a bike to save money and to use an ethical form of transport. Use public transport to interact with the locals, get a sense of the way of life and the ethos.
If you travel and end up eating McDonald's you're doing it wrong. Try the local cuisine even if it means venturing out of your comfort zone – you never know how much you may enjoy it. My rule of thumb: aim to eat not only as the locals but also where the locals do.
Maybe learn some basic local phrases before you go. Read up about the cultural dos and don'ts. Speak to the local people whenever the opportunity presents itself. Learn about the place and educate yourself about the people, their customs and their history.
You don’t have to be visiting places and doing stuff all the time. Spend time simply looking at a beautiful view. Do nothing. Disconnect from gadgets. Let yourself de-stress – physically and mentally. Experience a place; don’t just visit it.
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