Waking up naturally, taking in the local atmosphere and creating my own memories are more important to me than visiting every must-see spot.

My idea of slow travel began last year when I decided that I wanted to travel to lesser-known places for authenticity, and culture and to learn something new. I even wrote a post about it, sharing some places towards culture offerings. Little we did know that Covid-19 will hit the world and the whole travel industry changes by night. All our plans got cancelled, and we changed our view and attitude towards travelling (at least I hope we all do). I have also shared my view and thoughts on post-Covid-19 travelling a while back, and just recently completed my first abroad travel after the lockdown. Not to mention, that Covid-19 is actually not at all over, and won’t be any time soon.

I was lucky enough to go travelling to the Philippines and Israel just before the whole lockdown happened. However, after months of being at home, I had the itch to go exploring, see something new and take pictures of everything around me. I have been lucky to be able to walk central London on foot, experiencing the empty busy metropolitan city. I have been lucky to be able to work from home and not lose my job. I have been lucky to be able to go back home to the Czech republic to see my family and spend quality time with them.

All of it contributes to slow living.

All of it contributes to exquisite beauty in life’s fragile fleeting moments.

Travelling slowly doesn’t mean necessarily boring, it is just about tailoring the activities to your leisure and mind. For some it can be joining a yoga or mindfulness retreat, taking a hike, finding small villages tucked away from the urban cities, volunteering, sailing or whatever it can be for you, let’s take it slow this year. Not only with what is happening globally, but also for the environment and for yourself. Here are some benefits of slow travel that you should consider:

Return to the way how people travelled in the past, and give yourself a chance to lose yourself in a new place without the need to see all the must-see tourist spots. Make new friends, understand their way of living, and enhance yourself with something new. It is an opportunity for development, growth and education. Avoid the “tourist burnout” from exhausting travelling from place to place in a short amount of time. Travelling is the only thing that makes people rich, not the number of places and monuments they saw.

You can definitely save some money by travelling slowly. You don’t need to pay for all the tours to take you to all the places. You are taking your time and your way to explore the place. Either on your own, by local guides or by making new connections. It is known that local places and stuff are much cheaper than those that are purely built to target tourists. Try to live like a local, ask around for the best places to eat, have a drink, shop or just hang out.

Have I already mentioned that travelling is the only non-physical item that makes people richer? Be ready to go beyond the self, explore your abilities and go out of your comfort zones. Create emotional connections, don’t be afraid to make new rapports, learn from what life gives you and you’ll be surprised by the thing you never knew you could do or face.