Slow Travel
A definition
A good place to start is defining slow travel and what it means to me - I’m sure other people will have slightly different views on this subject but I think the overall ideas overlap.
For me, slow travel is about the intention on how you travel, from the destination, the means of getting there, the duration you spend there all while thinking about your impact.
How I travel
While I am passionate about slow travel, I think it’s important to acknowledge that not all trips will be done in an ideal way. I would not consider every trip I do to be slow travel. Often, I’m only in a city for a night or two and don’t always have as much time as I would to explore the city - sometimes I’m just stopping by to see friends.
I always use public transport or my bike to get places - sometimes friends or family will pick me up from a local train station. I don’t have a car, and I don’t enjoy driving - I stopped driving in 2015 when I moved to Germany.
I’ve taken night trains, night buses, regional trains and cycled to get to where I want to go. Taking trains is often slower and more expensive than flying, but I enjoy the slower pace of travel. For me, the journey of getting to my destination is also part of travelling.
I like to visit smaller towns and cities while travelling because I enjoy the slower pace - when visiting a big city there’s often the pressure of “oh, but you have to do XYZ”.
Bike packing
I love bike packing and it’s a great conversation starter. People are often very curious about my loaded bike and want to ask questions about where I’m going and how far I’m cycling. I really like getting to take my time to get from A to B, to really appreciate the views and I’ve passed some really cool places that otherwise I would not have seen.
I would consider myself a slow cycler. While I don’t enjoy cycling up hills, I do enjoy the feeling afterwards. It’s a cool feeling learning to trust my body and to push myself physically.
There definitely are challenges to bike packing, and some things that I don’t enjoy but the pros out weight the negatives for me. At some point I’ll write an entire article on bike packing.
A personal project
Slow travel is something that I’m passionate about but I know that for a lot of people it seems like the type of travel that’s not achievable because it’s perceived as being too expensive or there’s not enough time. But it is possible to enjoy some of the benefits of slow travel close to home on a weekend.
In March 2024 I started a project in Île-de-France, the region where I live in France. I wanted to visit 26 different places, all starting with different letters of the alphabet. I wanted to challenge myself to see more of the local area, and to find new places to visit. This region is rich with culture, art and history - it’s not just Paris.
You can read more about my project here.
Some sites for slow travel
One of my favourite slow travel websites is Welcome to my garden. It was created by Dries and Manon in 2020 after their 11 month long travel through 21 countries from Brussels to Tokyo where they were hosted by countless incredible people along the way. Manon even created a movie on the trip called Women don’t cycle and it’s an incredibly moving and inspiring film.
I really do love their product, their mission and the community they have created over the years.
They can also a collection of multi-day cycling and hiking trips in Belgium which you can check out here. Disclaimer: I haven’t tried any of these because I’m rarely in Belgium for long enough however I know a lot of love and care has been put into curating these.