What is Slow Travel? 10 tips on how to travel slow and sustainable

Last Updated on 18.8.2025 by Vojta

Nowadays, everything is moving forward quickly. Slow travel – Slow Travel becomes a phenomenon that changes the way we discover the world. It’s about simply not having to see and catch everything, But instead, allowing more time to get to know the place more deeply, absorb experiences and not be stressed by an overcrowded program. Slow Travel teaches us how to travel more slowly, sustainably and how to avoid mass tourism. Want to start with Slow Travel? We have 10 tips for you on how to do it.

What is Slow Travel – Slow Travel 

Slow Travel – Slow Travel is a new approach to travel that focuses on the present moment, authentic places and deeper experiences, which are not associated with mass tourism, when people try to see as much as possible in the shortest possible time. In other words, Slow Travel It focuses on quality, not on quantity, with regard to a gentle approach to nature and local cultures, to make travel sustainable in the long term.

10 Benefits What Slow Travel and Sustainable Travel offers you

How to imagine slow travel – slow travel? We all probably know the feeling when we are on vacation and visit a favorite place where it is completely crowded and bursting at the seams. We don’t enjoy it much and we’re a little upset that there are so many people, even though they are tourists and travelers just like us. And that’s exactly what slow travel wants to avoid changing it. What does slow travel and sustainable travel bring?

1. A true cultural experience – Instead of running around the monuments in a hurry, you have time to perceive the local life, taste, for example, traditional food, chat with the locals and maybe even learn a few words in their language. It’s not about seeing as much as possible, but enjoying it as much as possible and with everything.
2. Less stress, more comfort – You don’t have to rush anywhere, you don’t have fixed plans and you have the freedom to decide what you want to do with regard to mood or the weather, for example. You just let time pass.
3. Better physical and mental well-being – Instead of constantly moving, you will enjoy long walks, a quiet morning with meditation or just time in nature.
4. You will establish deeper relationships – If you stay in one place longer, you will have a chance to get to know the place better together with the locals.
5. The world begins to make more sense to you – If you don’t just move from place to place, but immerse yourself in the life of the locals, you will understand their habits, history and problems from a completely different perspective. Suddenly you will see the cultural contrast between life here and beyond the borders.
6. You Save Money – Long-term rentals tend to be cheaper, you save on transport and you can also cook.
7. You will travel more sparingly – Fewer flights, more walking and support for the local economy means less ecological footprint.
8. Sustainable travel – If we want the beautiful places to last as they are, even for future generations, we should be careful that mass tourism does not destroy them. For ourselves, we can contribute to this by staying, for example, with local people, eating in local businesses, instead of large resorts, hotels or tourist restaurants.
9. Personal development – For us, travel is also closely connected with personal development. When traveling, you are constantly learning something, you are not in your comfort zone and you have to manage the obstacles that sometimes come your way. He is constantly working on himself, either through communication and patience or learning to be with himself. Everything moves us forward.
10. A New Friendship – Not only slow travel helps people meet new people. A traveler usually always likes to meet another traveler. It is such a relaxed way to share your experiences and experiences and how you can establish new friendships.

In short, Slow Travel is about a real authentic experience, about food, about comfort, about people and, above all, about the fact that there is no rush.

Tip: 13 things to take on a plane for a long flight so you can enjoy it as much as possible

It can be said that Slow Travel has a few principles

It’s not that if you want to travel slowly, you have to follow certain rules. Not at all. But the term slow travel is considered a little more than just that people travel without haste. Slow Travel is also about taking into account the consequences of travel, we perceive what we spend on, what we support and what impact it has. What can Slow Travel include?

• support local people, 
• use local food sources, 
• avoid large resorts prefer to stay with local people, 
• support local retailers instead of wholesalers, 
• minimize carbon footprint, 
• use sustainable resources,
• Find out what I support with my money (for example, for tickets).

Tip: sea turtle life station – Where do tourists’ money go and why do they support poaching?

10 Tips to Start Traveling Slow (Slow Travel)

If, like us, you feel that it is necessary to slow down, perceive what is happening around you, and perhaps try something new in travel, we have 10 tips for you on how to start with slow travel 🙂 

Give yourself extra time

We understand very well that not everyone can take a month off. Most people are in a job where they have a limited number of vacation days and simply have to manage it. But even short trips are to come up with a slow travel style, by spending more time in one place. Instead of a busy schedule of what you have to see at all costs, you have a free plan where you try to get to know one given place more. Beautiful experiences come unexpectedly and many things simply cannot be planned.

Travel out of high season

Have you ever visited stunning places where you were almost alone? This is exactly what travel out of season offers. We almost always drive like this because Thanks to this, you save, avoid the crowds, and everything is somehow calmer. In winter we go to Spain, for example, to Italy in the fall, to Cyprus in the spring. If you don’t want to go completely outside, for example because there are no open places, go for example a month before the start of the season. Everything will be ready and you will be there with a minimum of people.

TIP: In the off-season, we went to Colombia with a one-way ticket. That was really an adventure, so if you go there too, we have it for you 15 most beautiful places, which we saw.

Go where not many people drive

Sometimes a place appears in a series or a movie and it’s as if the sack has been torn with the tourists and everyone is going there. Instead of going where your friend and a lot of famous people have already beení go somewhere where not many people go. Are you attracted to Thailand? Go to Malaysia. Do you want to go to the Canaries? Go to Fuerteventura instead of Tenerife. Don’t worry, there is still something to discover. 

You don’t have to see everything and be everywhere

You know that feeling when you want to see perhaps all 7 wonders of the world during your week-long vacation? Sure, you’re thinking that you won’t just look there, if you’re already here, why not go there. These are all strong arguments and if a place appeals to you, go there. But don’t do it at the expense of rest or the fact that you should be stressed by the feeling of what you still need to do. Nemusíte. 

Make it so that you enjoy your trip as much as possible and I don’t mean it to experience everything. But to be happy, not overwhelmed, stressed or lacking sleep at your expense of mental peace.

Slow travel and tasting local cuisine

Not only for slow travel, but for us every travel is definitely a tasting of the local cuisine. I would say that it is even one of the things that we look forward to the most. We like to go to unknown restaurants, ideally where locals also go. We eat completely ordinary local dishes, as well as local specialties, fish, seafood or perhaps non-traditional desserts and fruits. 

TIP: How we (didn’t) like it Colombian cuisine? Or 22 traditional dishes in Colombia.

Traveling light

Try to leave your suitcase at home for the next trip and pack in a small backpack. Fewer things and more experiences are the motto of my favorite traveler Verči, and I always try to stick to it on the road. If you’re not going on a trek, high-altitude hiking or a special trip, apart from a few socks, a clean T-shirt and a swimsuit, you usually don’t need much. We found out for ourselves that it doesn’t really matter if we’re going somewhere for a few months or just for a week. We always have the same backpack and the same five plums in it.

conscious travel

When you’re traveling, it’s not about what souvenirs you’ll bring, what photos you’ll take or how many familiar places you’ll see. Slow Travel is about a deeper understanding of the place you are going. It’s about getting to know local traditions, lifestyle and especially people. Try to consciously focus on it, observe the details of a simple life And maybe just sit down and look around, soak up the atmosphere. We love watching sunrise and sunset.

Accommodation with local people and in small guesthouses

Do you want to be more in touch with local people, meet nice travelers or experience the atmosphere of picturesque accommodation? Try to reserve a place in family guesthouses, travel hostels, Airbnb or accommodation via couchsurfing instead of hotels and large resorts, when you live at someone’s home for free and spend time with them. We usually book accommodation throughbooking. Today, there are many small family businesses and non-traditional forms of accommodation.

Connecting with local culture and life

When you are already observing the surrounding life, do not remain only in the role of an observer. Go try something on your own skin, such as working on a farm, a rescue station or fishing with local people. Traveling with local transport, eating in local cuisines or perhaps joining a group of travelers and having an adventure together is often a great experience.

Go for it gradually

There is no need to change everything right away. Go for it step by step and see what you like. You can start, for example, by spending a long time in one place and trying to explore it more, for example through the eyes of the locals. Every step counts and even a small change can do wonders. 

How to finance Slow Travel and work on the road

A lot of travelers are dealing with the question of money. Someone does it in such a way that, for example, he works abroad for a few months, where he saves money and then goes away for a long time, others live very economically and spend little, some work online. There are many options and these are the most common ways to travel long-term:

• studying abroad (e.g. via Erasmus, when you receive a scholarship),
• Working abroad (Work and Travel, Seasonal Work, etc.)
• volunteerism 
• Working as a freelancer or digital nomad
• Remote Employment
• Working on a journey where it is needed

 How do we do with traveling work

We have it that we work online. Sometimes just one of us, sometimes both. We work in the field of online marketing and can work from anywhere and anytime, which is really great for traveling. Everything has its sunny and dark sides, and sometimes it’s hard to put together adventure and work, but it’s worth it. Thanks to this, we could digitally nomad for example a month Sri Lanka.

Tip: What kind of beaches does Sri Lanka have? 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Resources

Dickinson, J. and Lumsdon, L., 2010. Slow Travel and Tourism. Routledge.

Dickinson, J.E., LUMSDON, L.M. and Robbins, D., 2011. Slow Travel: Issues for Tourism and Climate Change. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 19(3), pp.281-300.

Howard, C., 2012. Speeding Up and Slowing Down: Pilgrimage and Slow Travel Through Time. Slow Tourism: Experiences and Mobilities, pp.11-24.