Nowadays, travelling is considered a prized hobby. Here in the UK, jetting off is almost a requirement as many of us get away for some guaranteed (and much needed!) Vitamin D. According to this YouGov poll, 38% of 18-24 year olds in Britain said travelling had become more important to them since the Covid pandemic, and this percentage rose to 42% among 25-34 year olds, while in the US, for those in a similar age bracket, travel is considered a priority. I suppose these statistics aren’t surprising considering how during the years of the pandemic the world was closed off and we were limited to our little bubbles.
When painting a picture of a holiday, it’s easy to conjure up an image of relaxation, a break away from the usual demands of our lives, taking ourselves out of our typical experiences to immerse ourselves in somewhere new, exploring unfamiliar ground. But often, there’s so much to see and do that it’s a struggle to fit it all in our itinerary with the limited time we have. And so by the time you return home again, you’re exhausted, burnt out, and ready for another holiday and some much needed rest.
But what has grown in popularity in recent years is the idea of slow travel.
What is Slow Travel?
Slow travel can have a variety of meanings to different people. Some of the common themes shared is that slow travel consists of relaxing the mind, maximising the amount of time available to spend away, eating local food and experiencing the true essence of where you are. It’s the desire to travel to new places and enjoy new experiences, experiencing local cultures and history, immersing yourself in your surroundings, but in a slower, more meaningful way. Slow travel is in direct contrast to conventional tourism, where you limit yourself to tourist hubs and try to see and do everything in the limited time you have without truly taking anything in.
Slow travel was popularised following the ‘slow food’ movement founded in Italy by Carlo Petrini in 1986. That movement sought to highlight the importance of good, wholesome food in the wake of a fast-food chain (McDonald’s) opening its doors in Rome.
Ventimiligia, Italy ©2024 Karis Tavernier-Nicholas
Why Should You Embrace Slow Travel?
The act of slow travel and its importance was highlighted to me during a trip to the French Riviera earlier this year. Along France’s beautiful and popular Cote d’Azur, we based ourselves in Nice while taking daily trips via train and bus to other cities, towns and countries, including Cannes and Antibes. My intention for the holiday was for it to be relaxing, peaceful and chilled – but I soon realised it was going to be the opposite.
I overestimated just how many hours there really was in a day. To wake up at a leisurely hour, have a much-needed coffee and prepare for the day ahead, a good chunk of the morning had already passed. By the time we got onto a train, the morning was inching towards the afternoon. In reality, that wasn’t the problem – the Cote d’Azur’s ridiculously busy trains were.
Despite the offer of double-decker trains, meaning the availability of more seats, there just weren’t enough seats for everyone so heading to Monte-Carlo or small towns in Italy meant that if you didn’t fight your way to get onto the train first, there was a good chance you would be standing for most (if not all) of the journey. Very often, train rides weren’t the longest in the world, but when you have just finished exploring one city (as much as you could), standing on your feet for the duration of the trip wasn’t an exciting prospect. I felt most sorry for the commuters who were just trying to get from home to work and vice versa.
It was easy to lose sight of how lucky I was to be having a holiday in the French Riviera. Travelling by trains was trying at best, incredibly stressful at worst and coupled with trying to visit as many attractions and cultural monuments as possible in the places we visited, the stress and fatigue soured the experience of being in some of these amazingly beautiful places. Many times, I had to remind myself to chill out and enjoy the beauty flying by through the train windows.
We were only away for five days, and it was only towards the end of the trip that we decided to just slow down. In trying to explore so many other areas around Nice, we hadn’t even explored much of the city itself. One of the places on the top of my to-visit bucket list was Éze, the iconic village that has become many instagrammers’ dream, but the lengthy queue at the bus stop and the fact the bus only ran every four hours (a fact we only later learned) meant that we gave up on that idea for our own – and our holiday’s – sake.
I noticed on the days we travelled slower – or didn’t travel at all – were the most enjoyable and memorable of the holiday. The sole day we spent wandering around Nice was the day that stands out in my mind as being one of the best. It was great to be able to visit many of the cities and towns around Nice, even venturing into other countries, but taking the time to slow down and wander without a destination in mind was far more enjoyable to me.
© 2024 Cher Tavernier-Nicholas
Stumbling upon a patisserie which sold delicious macarons and trying a few before browsing vintage shops and then enjoying a delicious lunch before devouring a few scoops of gelato (with a ridiculous variety to choose from) while standing on the Promenade des Anglais and taking in the beautiful sea view.
For this, I’ll have slow travel at the top of my mind when planning my next getaway. When considering how tourism is affecting some parts of the world, maybe slow travel – in the sense of avoiding overly touristy attractions and better immersing ourselves in the cultures of the places we visit – is something we should all be thinking about.
