Traveling for us is no longer about “seeing as much as possible and visiting as many countries as possible”. On the contrary, we enjoy the journey best when we slow down. Quality wins over quantity.
Slow Travel – travel for several months. Such where the path itself is the goal.
Slow Travel is about freedom, mindset and life without haste and stress.
You will stop for a moment and start enjoying the small details around you. You let the place where you are, tell your story.
Doing less is often more. And for long-term travel, this is doubly true.
Go for at least a quarter of a year
The first benefits of long-term travel begin to show after a month. But today we will write about a variant where you travel for at least 3 months at a time, ideally much longer.
We don’t mean even three months after ten years in a corporate without a proper vacation. In that case, you suddenly want to see everything. And you won’t notice those important little things so typical for slow traveling.
When traveling slowly, you are not chasing anything or deciding whether you will visit 15 countries or just one.
On the contrary, it is usually best not to move too often.
Before we get to how to organize and finance such a trip. There are countless possibilities. Let’s summarize what characterizes slow traveling:
- you travel for a long time – three months to several years
- it is important for you to meet new cultures and new people
- you are not chasing anything, you do not need to visit all the tourist destinations in the area
- you meet local people (more than just at the hotel reception)
- the journey itself is your goal
Why travel slowly?
You really know the country and its culture
We realized that you would understand many contexts in a foreign country after many months, sometimes years.
Thailand is a typical example – what seems rosy at first glance may not be rosy at all, and conversely strange things at first glance are completely normal and, as a result, even positive. There is often pretense and contempt for Western tourists behind a nice smile.
On the contrary, you may find out over time that the fact that drinking water does not flow from the tap is not such a problem.
In large cities, you can have the water filtered on a vending machine on every corner, in smaller cities it delivers large barrels.
No PET bottles are needed, moreover, no drinking water is wasted in the shower and in the toilet…
Even in slow travel, you don’t have a chance to understand everything. But you will understand much more than an “ordinary” visitor.
You have a lot of fun with locals and foreigners who have lived in the country for a long time.
You have many more opportunities to follow small details in behavior and daily life.
In addition, the door will open to places you would not get on during a short visit. You will discover hidden valleys, villages, temples, alleys, cafes, or even a park where local grandfathers meet daily and play long hours of chess.
It is also much easier to get into the everyday life of the locals, from where you will usually bring the best experiences.
An invitation to tea, lunch, or perhaps a wedding? No problem.
You will find real friends
When traveling in the classic way, you often encounter the problem of fleeting encounters. You will spend some wonderful days with someone in one hostel and then your paths will break up.
Even if you understand each other well, your relationship will usually remain superficial.
On the other hand, you can stay with other slow travelers for a month, despite the fact that you will most likely meet elsewhere in a while. World is small.
Especially among digital nomads from Europe, who move with nice weather, repeated encounters are quite common.
In addition, during slow travel, you can also make real friendships with locals.
You will save money
A long journey with as much planning freedom as possible is the best way to spread the cost and get affordable prices.
However, only if you do not move too much in the destination, you will get at a cost close to those that locals have for life.
You can easily go on trips from one base.
For long-term stays, you will save the most money on housing. You will often receive a weekly or monthly discount on Airbnb.
If you don’t get it, talk about it. Even better, you deal with housing on the spot.
You can also try house sitting. You are guarding someone else’s house when the owner is not at home, so you can live for free.
Volunteering (not only) on farms will give you a similar advantage. In a few hours of work a day, you get a roof over your head, mostly food and sometimes even pocket money. Someone has been traveling like this for many years.
You will also save a lot of money on food. First of all, it is much easier for you to cook for yourself – eating in restaurants every day is not a good idea outside the cheapest countries.
You don’t do it that way at home either. In addition, you will soon find the best value for money, so you won’t have to pay a fortune for a decent dinner outside.
You will enjoy the trip more
Thanks to the freedom associated with life on the road, you understood that you would enjoy everything best when you were in no hurry.
If you like it somewhere, you will stay for a few weeks.
If you don’t like it, you’ll pack and move on.
You will find out what you want to do in life
When you travel slowly, you have plenty of time to think.
You will realize what you enjoy the most, what annoys you the most and that it doesn’t really have to be that way at all.
In addition, you will meet a lot of inspiring people who will either set up such an important mirror for you or give you direct advice.
Thanks to months on the road, a lot of people start a new business or, for example, decide to study again and change their field completely.
How to finance long-term travel?
With slow travel, you will definitely spend less per week than on a classic holiday, but you still need a relatively large amount of money.
Few people have a regular passive income. The best solution is therefore to work on the road – both remotely and on the spot, or living from savings in cheaper countries.
Let’s take a closer look at the options.
You have saved money:
Going without savings can be such an adventure that you might not like it.
The amount saved for long-term travel can vary considerably depending on the selected destination.
Therefore, you should carefully calculate and plan how much you will need and then save something more.
Passive income:
If you have already put in your efforts and creativity and created a passive income, then it is great.
You definitely have an easier start to travel.
But be careful, always have a plan B.
Rental property
Do you own a property? Rent her.
You can finance a large part of the trip, especially if you travel in countries where it is cheaper than in our country.
If you live in a tourist attractive location, you will probably make the best use of the Airbnb rental.
The second option is, of course, the classic long-term lease, which does not make that much money, but again it is much less a concern.
Work and travel:
Another way to finance the trip is to work on the trip.
This is usually possible for those who can work online, often called these people and families IT Nomads.
You can travel this way for quite a long time.
For those who would be too demanding to combine travel and work, they can choose one destination, rent a house (often Airbnb will help) and live, work and travel from one place.
Destinations in Asia such as Thailand or Bali are suitable for this, because the cost of living there is much lower than, for example, in Europe.
On-farm earnings:
Another way to travel and make money is to work on farms. If you decide for this option, you have to reckon that it will be difficult.
You usually works for 14 days to a month, depending on the work, and then the money earned can be used for travel.
Or you can move to different farms, which wants to have a well-designed plan to make things work.
Woofing:
This is a slightly different way of farming. This work is not paid, but staying on a farm saves the cost of food and even accommodation and, most importantly, can bring interesting knowledge and information about a more gentle way of farming.
If you are going on a long trip, congratulations, it is a great experience and you will not be the same when you return.
