The Slow Travel Diaries

Embracing the Slow Travel Mindset: A Guide to Meaningful Exploration

• Sarah • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Have you ever felt that your travel experiences were more like a race than a journey? Today on the Slow Travel Diaries, we promise to transform the way you see the world. Join me as I reveal the secrets to making your travels more meaningful by slowing down and truly connecting with your destination. From savoring local cuisine to engaging deeply with the communities you visit, learn how to enrich your journey and create lasting memories. Discover practical tips on choosing the right accommodations, taking your time with meals, and finding those hidden gems that often go unnoticed by tourists.

In this episode, we wander through Lisbon's charming Alfama district, experiencing the joy of spontaneous exploration. Hear about my serendipitous encounters with local culinary treasures and the thrill of uncovering unique spots by simply allowing yourself to get lost. I’ll share how this slow travel mindset led to unforgettable moments, like stumbling upon an exceptional seafood restaurant in New England. Plus, get a beginner’s guide to adopting a slow travel approach, and a sneak peek into next week’s episode featuring mindset coach Emily Pennystone, who will share how mindfulness can enhance your emotional well-being during travel. Don't miss out on this journey to a more fulfilling way of exploring the world!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Slow Travel Diaries, so glad that you've joined me for today's episode. I want to thank you for listening to last week's episode, where I briefly discussed my exploration of slow travel and how it has helped me to embrace a travel philosophy that prioritizes meaningful connections and cultural immersion. So I am going to talk today a little bit more about what slow travel is actually and how it can help you. Okay, so what exactly is slow travel? It seems to be a new thing that people are now kind of catching on to. I believe I've been slow traveling, quote unquote, for a very long time. So slow travel isn't about ticking off that bucket list of tourist sites, but it's about staying longer, diving deeper and savoring every moment while you're in the place you are. It's about experiencing a destination through its people, its culture and its food. When you travel slowly, you move at a pace that lets you notice those little things the scent of fresh bread from a local bakery, a conversation with a shopkeeper or the serenity of an early morning in a foreign city. So slow travel has many benefits. First of all, it allows you to have a deeper cultural connection with the place you are, instead of rushing around from one landmark to the next. Slow travel encourages you to engage with locals, experience the culture from the inside out. If you just try and learn a couple phrases in the local language, you can build a contact, a connection. Just for example I'm going to use French because that's what I know but simple as just saying bonjour when you go into a store, saying merci when you leave, little things like that, ask about family recipes, ask about you know where the produce is from, and it allows you to kind of I don't know. I get a better understanding of the rhythm of daily life, which really, to me, is where you find the soul of a location. Also, slow travel helps you to be more sustainable, which I know these days is very important. Staying in one place for longer helps you reduce your environmental impact, as you're less reliant on frequent flights and transport. You can also support local businesses by choosing locally owned accommodations and dining in neighborhood restaurants, going to farmer's markets and just kind of finding those hidden off the beaten path local haunts that you may miss if you're speeding around trying to get everything in two days. So travel also gives you the space to reflect on your own journey. It gives you time for self-discovery and reflection, whether you're healing, growing or simply exploring, the quiet moments between adventures offer the perfect opportunity to journal, meditate or simply be present.

Speaker 1:

One of the things that I love about slow travel is, I think, especially here in the US about slow travel is, I think, especially here in the US, we don't get a ton of PTO or time off from our jobs, and so we feel like when we on the vacation that we one don't really fully appreciate where we are, what we're doing and we come back exhausted from our vacation. And I like to say, you know, people say I need a vacation from my vacation and I've always just hated that and there has to be a better way, right? Well, slow travel is that way and there has to be a better way, right? Well, slow travel is that way. We don't have to fit everything in. I feel like the trip would actually be more beneficial and we would have better memories and a better feeling about the trip we just went on. If we just slowed down a little bit, took a breath, allowed ourselves to kind of have a slow morning, you know, go and sit in a cafe or a local restaurant or something and, and just I don't know, breathe in where you are right, and then you won't have to have a vacation from your. You can keep in mind when you are wanting to slow travel, ok.

Speaker 1:

So, number one try to stay local quote unquote. Stay local quote unquote. So you know you want to look for, maybe like boutique hotels or vacation rentals, or even a homestay, if you're comfortable with that, something that will offer you a little bit more of a personal touch and an insight into local life. So, for me, I love to stay in places that have a kitchen so I can go to the grocery store, I can go to the markets, I can, you know, have that taste of the local cuisine without having to go to a restaurant. I really enjoy those types of things. I feel like it really gives me an insight into the culture.

Speaker 1:

The other thing is try to eat slower. Now I'll explain that. So, to me, food is usually the heart of a culture, right? Like I just said about the markets and the grocery stores. So I'm going to say this, but I'll explain it. So, instead of always eating on the go right, that's that rushing mentality Try to indulge in long, leisurely meals at local spots. Try to indulge in long, leisurely meals at local spots. Now, it doesn't have to be a restaurant, it can be. You grab something and you go, sit in a park and you just observe the people around you. Right Again, it could be like what I said you get something from a grocery store or a market and you go and you sit on your balcony and you just absorb where you are right. So, basically, it's about taking the time to appreciate those regional specialities, that local cuisine of where you are, and it allows the food to tell you the story of the place. Right, I find this, this is so important, and I will be going and talking about more of this later on in another episode.

Speaker 1:

So next thing I'm going to say go off that quote unquote beaten path that's used a lot. But what that means to me is you know the touristy spots, those bucket list places. They're fine and the first time you go to a place you're going to want to see them. Right, but try to explore beyond those. Try to venture into those lesser known neighborhoods, the markets, the rural areas, the parks. Right, this is where you can get that true sense of the people and the culture and the place right. It gives you those opportunities to have genuine connections, interactions with the locals, which again is going to give you those memories that you will forever remember.

Speaker 1:

Next thing is it depends on where you are. But next thing is it depends on where you are, but try to walk. Right, you can take the metro, I know in paris. That's always an experience. I love the metro in paris. You can hear music there. There's people singing opera. It's crazy. I love it. But try to walk, because one of the best ways to immerse yourself in a place is by walking around. It allows you to notice small details that you would probably otherwise miss, like those hidden courtyards, street art, the natural beauty of where you are right. You see the interactions of people on the street, you hear people talking and sometimes those are memories that you may have never otherwise have been able to have.

Speaker 1:

And the next one, the final one, I know is very hard for certain people. Sometimes for me it's a little bit hard too right, but I'll say, like, embrace the unplanned, right. So for me, I like to have certain things planned out. I like to know where I'm going to be staying. You know my flights, that kind of thing. But the day-to-day stuff, I don't necessarily know where I'm going to eat every day. I don't know what I'm going to do every day. That have you know they're on specific dates or there's this place I really, really want to go to and it needs a reservation. Then, yes, I will plan those.

Speaker 1:

But one of the greatest things about slow travel is the spontaneity and the discovery that it allows you to have, right? So, even if you do have an itinerary and you have all these things that you have planned, make sure that you leave some space for wandering, for exploring these unplanned moments, right, whether it turns out to be a chat with a local, stumbling upon a hidden gem, or simply just taking a break, sitting in a cafe drinking a coffee and just observing the people around you. Right, you want to be able to have this time where you're allowed to just take a breather and soak in your surroundings. Right, it's really, really important, and those are the things that are going to allow you to feel calm, relaxed, refreshed, right, you're not going to feel overstimulated, you're not going to feel anxious. You're not going to feel anxious and you're going to just be able to enjoy your vacation more.

Speaker 1:

Just want to give you a couple little stories of times when I have had kind of epiphany moments while slow traveling. So first one, I have an ex-husband and I'll talk about that later, but we went to Lisbon. Very quick trip, not the kind of travel that I like to do, but we went to Lisbon. We were only there for three days. Okay, we hadn't really planned much, we had an Airbnb and that was about it.

Speaker 1:

So we knew that we wanted to check out this area of Lisbon called the Alfama. It's the oldest part of Lisbon and I'm a history buff and I love finding the old parts right, the history. And so this one day we were just kind of wandering around. We decided we'd just walk up and explore this area of Lisbon and we said, okay, well, you know what, when we're up there, we'll find a place to eat. We didn't have a place in mind, we just said we'll find a place to eat, all right. So we were walking up. You know, lisbon is a city with many, many hills. I didn't even realize how many hills until we went there, found out it's, I guess, called the City of Seven Hills, I think. Anyways, so we were walking up and Alifama is literally you're walking up a mountain, it seems like.

Speaker 1:

And we saw this really cute place, very local, like no signs, nothing. But there was a door open and it looked really cute and we thought it might be a bar, cute, and we thought it might be a bar. But anyways, my ex-husband went in to see what it was, if they had food, and he comes out and he goes yeah, it's a restaurant, but this isn't the door. We have to wait for a guy to let us into a door that's down, I guess, up the the little alleyway. I was like, okay, so we waited. The thing was we thought that it was to the left of the door. Turns out it was to the right of the door, so we had walked kind of closer to where we thought the guy was going to be and it ends up he was on the opposite side, but it worked out fine. So he opens the door and he kind of, like you know, waves us in and I was just blown away. I was just blown away.

Speaker 1:

He opens this door and there were little steps going down and it basically was this little, cutest little restaurant with like table set up for sharing. It had the cutest ambiance, decorations, very simple, but it was great, and we sat down. We ordered wine. We asked the waiter, who I think was also maybe the bartender, I don't know or the owner's son. We asked him what the best thing on the menu was, what was his favorite, and he said oh, we have this bacalao dish, which, for those that don't know, bacalao is the salted cod very big in Portuguese cuisine. With it had potatoes and onions and caramelized garlic. It was amazing with like olive oil, anyway. So that's what he said he would recommend. So he brought it out to us and it was massive. It was a platter, but it was the best meal that we had on that trip. We took one bite and we're like we're coming back here tomorrow. Tomorrow turns out they weren't open the next day, but that's okay, um, but this was a meal that we would have never found if we weren't brave enough to just say we're gonna find a place and then to just stick our head into that little hole in the wall place and ask if they had food Right.

Speaker 1:

So this is what happens to me over and over and over, and it's kind of my go to thing. I think I find the best places that that way. Um, the next one that I wanted to just share with you quickly is. It even happens when I'm here in New England. Okay, um, I found the best seafood restaurant this way, um, out on a drive, you know, visiting the ocean, like I love to do, and it was, you know, a little late. We hadn't had lunch, it was about 1.30. And I just Googled food near me, which normally isn't the best thing to do, but I had really good luck with it, and my ex-husband used to make fun of me all the time for doing this, but I found the best places this way because I looked at the reviews and whatever. Anyways, we found the best seafood restaurant this way and, again, it was a local place we would have never known it was there, and it became one of our favorite places to go and eat.

Speaker 1:

All right, so, with that being said, now I just want to give you some um, I don't know some ideas about how to plan to slow travel. Okay, so, those who are new to this idea of slow traveling, one of the biggest things I can say is, if you want to plan to slow travel and not just let it happen, destination is a big one, right, right? You want to pick a place that excites your curiosity, a place that you want to discover that you're comfortable wandering down the streets and into little shops, right? So whether it's a city that you've always wanted to explore or visit, or if it's like a quaint little village by the sea, right, it doesn't matter, just make sure it's somewhere that you're comfortable staying for a while, right, more than a day or two, okay. So, again, staying longer. So this is the idea of not rushing. Okay, we don't want to be rushing. We want to be able to spend more time in one place, to be able to do a little bit of a deeper dive. Okay. So you can see multiple destinations on a trip, but you might want to have them be closer to each other.

Speaker 1:

You know, when I hear people say, oh, we're going to do London and Paris in a week, that just I'm like okay, well, good luck with that. You're two countries very far apart, that you're two countries very far apart, lots to do in both places. And then it just breaks my heart when people say, well, I didn't really like Paris. Okay, well, why? And then they say, well, it was just overrun with people, it was busy, we didn't, I was exhausted. I'm like, well, how long were you there? Three days, okay. Well, what did you do? We went to the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and, you know, versailles. Okay, well, I can see why you didn't have a good time Because, again, if you don't know tips and tricks which I will give you, you're going to be waiting in line forever. Ok, so try not to do that.

Speaker 1:

And then, last one prioritize experiences over those checklists, right?

Speaker 1:

So to do this, you want to think about, okay, what are the experiences that are most meaningful to you, right? Are you interested in cooking classes, historical tours, or do you just want to sit and relax, like, sit at a cafe, in a park? You want to go to a museum? Right, and let these interests guide your trip. And not just a checklist, that bucket list like check, check, check, check, check. Right, you've done six things in one day and you get up at six o'clock in the morning and you get home at midnight. That's not what you want to do, right? That's the opposite of slow travel, and I will be offering some help about this, some guidance. I've put together, actually, a beginner's guide to slow travel that I will be offering. I will put a link in the comment section, the description, where, if you're interested in that, you can click there and get that All right.

Speaker 1:

So, to sum this up, slow travel is a journey, not a destination, right? So whether you're embarking on your first slow travel adventure or you're a seasoned traveler like me, where you've been a bunch of places, remember that the journey is as important as where you're going. Try to slow down, savor the moments and let the travel transform you All right. So thank you very much for listening to this episode. Next week I'm so excited I'm going to have one of my friends, emily Pennystone, join us. She is a mindset coach and we're going to just talk about, you know, the mindset of how you can use mindfulness to enhance your healing experiences while you're traveling, how that mindfulness can help your emotional well-being. She's going to suggest some practices, some things that we can do to help us, and we're also going to focus on kind of the aspect of closure for those of us that are trying to use this to deal with grief or trauma. So I'm so glad that you joined me. I really look forward to you joining us next week and I will talk to you then.

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