We're in the process of planning a three week trip to Italy this fall and are struggling to keep it slow! It is difficult because of our group (who all have different 'must sees'), and because there is just so much to see and do!
My own experience is that I seem to do a quick tour of the area the first time I visit, and then return for more of a slow trip. During the first trip I decide upon an area to return to for our slow trip. During the second trip we get the time to sit in cafes for hours listening to the birds, chatting with people, and watching the world go by.
Anyone else have similar experiences?
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
Our first trip was fast for two reasons, 1) My husband never did a "touring" vacation and I had fears he wouldn't like it and I'd never get to return 2) We didn't know SlowTravel was possible.
Our second trip was a combination b/c we were taking my in-laws with us and they hadn't seen some of our the things we'd seen on our first, fast trip, so first have of the trip was fast (almost a repeat), second half was slow.
After that I said I'd never do that again. If "virgins" wanted to travel with us that was fine but we weren't going to repeat the "virgin" trip.
We're doing a "fast" trip in November to a new destination b/c of several factors, including scoping areas out, but now, I think if I had it to plan over again, I wouldn't.
We have done some fast trips for the flavour and cherry picked areas tosavour. We have done so for France and Italy.
Fast Trips Pro - get to sample Con - it's a whirl
Slow Trips Pro - savour the best Con - it gets expensive.
We have done three slow trips to various areas in France as a result of our fast French trip. Our list of French places to return to is still long - at least three more trips.
We'll be going to Italy on a slow trip this year - our first slow to Italy and I am already planning for our next trip, a big family reunion in June or September next year.
All in all - enjoy.
Posts: 236 | Location: Toronto | Registered: 19 April 2006
I go slow even on daytrips, picking a single sight to discover and explore. I was never able to travel fast, it's just against my nature. Ona ffast trip I just don't have the time I need to see the things, nothing is left on my memory of whatever I have seen if going too fast. (Unlike Bellissima in Toronto I also find that going slower helps save money: the bulk of the money, at elast for me, is spent on actual travels and transfers. Once I have a base, I don't spend as much.
Unlike Bellissima in Toronto I also find that going slower helps save money: the bulk of the money, at least for me, is spent on actual travels and transfers. Once I have a base, I don't spend as much.
Gosh, yes, renting a villa or apartment for a week or two and at least semi-selfcatering is much less expensive than zipping from hotel to hotel. That's one big reason Loie and I travel that way. And if we can dragoon some friends along to help split the costs, even better.
We always like to try to travel slowly, at least in the sense of picking a place and daytripping from it for a week or two. With so much information available, and so many online friends to help out, we never feel the need to "case a bunch of joints." One point in which we might differ from other travelers is that all of our "travel," as opposed to lazing around type "vacations," is to places in which we're sure we have an interest. We go to prehistoric sites; gothic cathedrals, beautiful landscapes, art centers. It's dead easy for us to pick a theme and then research the place in which to pursue it. Heck, we've got a lifetime's worth of themes!
Sometimes we will add a place, as we did last year, if we are passing through: we tacked on a few nights in Rome to the end of a week on the Amalfi coast and a week in Sardinia. After all, we were going to be in Rome--if only at the airport--on our way back from Sardinia. (This fall we're returning for a week in Rome after a week in Puglia!)
Sadly, I am not a good slow traveler in the purest sense. I do like to "get my money's worth," and seem to have a bit more stamina for pressing on to yet another site than does Loie. So we don't get to sit and soak up local atmosphere as much as she might like. Yet there have been more than a few occassions on which we found ourselves, in spite of mighty and fervent vows, looking at each other with an "OK, yep, let's go" light in our eyes. But also a few on which I know I dragged her too far too fast. My failures as a slow traveler stem from my making a distinction between travel and vacation. Take me to the beach for two weeks of vacation, and you can't budge me off my towel on the sand. All day. Every day. I'm on vacation.
We do agree, though, there's no need to zip from one accomodation to another. Do your homework, pick an area based on your interests, plunk yourself down there for a minimum of a week, and see how things go. It can't fail to at least provide entertaining stories, and might be the most enchanting time of your life.
Thanks! Bucky "Trying To Slow Down" Edgett
Posts: 750 | Location: Maryland | Registered: 24 April 2006
Bucky, I am like you. I slow travel in that I usually spend a minimum of 7 days in one place, but I try and see as much as possible in each place. Half the pleasure is reading and researching ahead of time, and making up my 'A' list and my 'B' list of things I want to see and do. I have yet to make it through my 'A' list on any trip.
Posts: 688 | Location: Toronto | Registered: 18 February 2006
Originally posted by bellisimaintoronto: Slow Trips Pro - savour the best Con - it gets expensive.
Comparing apples to apples, I think Slow Travel is less expensive than Fast Travel. Vacation rentals per night are less expensive than hotels. You don't have to eat all your meals out. You are not paying as much for transportation because you stay longer in one place.
It is "Slow" Travel, not "Long" Travel. A slow trip does not have to be any longer than a fast trip.
Personally, we do long trips - a month is a short trip for us. But not all Slow Travelers want to do trips like that (it is more work to organize, hard to be away from home/work that long, more expensive because you have to get someone back home to look after things).
Yes, I have the same feeling. When you visit a place for the second time you might have seen all the major attractions and that means that you can relax more and take it easy. But I think the trips that my wife Nikki and I take are something in between. A colleague of mine went to South Africa for a two week tour recently and they had a tight schedule every day. They got up at 5-6-7 am every morning and toured from Pretoria, along the east coast, Garden route and Cape Town. It sounded like a really hectic trip if you ask me.
I start off with broad plans.For example the sicily trip I am planning.Originally I was going to go to Etna as I really wanted to hike there,but the more I researched the more I narrowed the trip down.Now we are doing less than 10 % of the island and missing all those "must see" places and focusing on the extreme west.I like to keep most of my daytrips to a 30 minute driving circle.I also don't daytrip into big cities at all.RR
We love staying in one place, and taking day trips. We are active vacationers, and love "doing" things - walking and exploring in towns, hiking through nature. We save the slower moment of our days for meals and the evenings. And we love coming "home" at the end of the day, and spending a lot of time in our "home" town.
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Personally, we do long trips - a month is a short trip for us.
I only wish we could take short trips like that, Pauline, but one day we will - that is our goal.
Slow Travel Talk 
