Thamanna Sadique
In the era of social media reels making us travel destinations in 2 days, a certain counter culture has silently paved its way taking over the travel world, popularly known as slow travel. The concept basically drives individuals to initiate longer stays, enhanced experience and puts emphasis on deeper connections, rather than filling up their social media with pictures from landmarks. Travellers seem to prefer blending in with the localities, feeding on unhurried experiences, with less seeing and more feeling.
Often travels are filled with you seeing everything and resultantly end up remembering nothing. Skimming through famous sights leaving no place for spontaneity. On the contrary, slow travels allow one to sink in and live the moment, instead of rushing for gram-worthy clicks.
Owing to a rise in work from home, the choice between a traveling and job no longer exists, which means flexible schedules ideal for travelling, letting one spend more than enough time to explore and go beyond. Hotel rooms become your meeting cubicle and cafes become your office space with an aesthetic view.
One cannot forget the current major concern being the environment and focus on incorporating sustainability in every aspect possible. Slow travel provides platforms for sustainability as elongated trips reduce flight crowding ultimately reducing carbon footprint. Experiencing places through local transport puts a lesser burden on the climate, leaving the planet at ease.
The Fear of Missing out (FOMO) factor and pressure to curate perfect holiday highlights has made travellers feel disconnected from the real moments of their adventure. The slow travel concept challenges these issues and focuses on providing the real requirements of vacation, that is, relaxation, refreshment and re-energize.
Slow travel in a way can be compared to reading a book. Like every page in the book is read to complete the book, slow travel focuses on appreciating every walk, every meal, every conversation and every feeling. Rather than having a checklist for every destination, slow travel encourages flowy and momentary decisions which is termed as Joy of missing out (JOMO). It’s not laziness, but a pit stop to sit and enjoy watching time at its pace.