Slow travel is traveling by ground to get a better feel of the community you’re visiting. It’s not jet-setting, island hopping or going on epic cruises.
Here’s a four-minute video that explains it in a nutshell. Slow travel is so much better for your wallet and the planet.
I wrote an article for Elephant Journal that explains it even better. Here’s an excerpt of my piece titled, I Am Grounded:
As conscious creatures, nature lovers, health freaks, and part of the Elephant Journal community, I urge us to use this time of social distancing and working from home to embrace the big environmental shifts we’ve already made.
Driving less, traveling less, and doing less has given us financial and environmental blessings. We’ve had more time with our family and thoughts and spent less money filling our gasoline tanks or chasing our tails.
The Universe has taught us that we don’t need to be the fastest or richest country, or the one with the highest GDP (gross domestic product). We simply need to be the most resourceful and respectful country.
You may have forgotten what we were told two years ago by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). It gave us 12 more years to stop devouring the planet’s resources before life would be unhabitable on earth. You can read more about the pandemic’s impact on the environment here.
48 Perks of Slow Travel by Car
- You’re on your own schedule
- No rushing or missing your plane or ship
- No penalities for extra luggage or heavy luggage
- No getting your water or beverage thrown away at the gait
- No body seaches unless you spouse wants to oblige
- No hoisting heavy luggage in small overhead bins
- No middle seat claustrophia
- Rainbows
- Ability to take detours
- Ability to use the restroom when you please
- Ice cream stops
- No exhausting planes, train, Ubers, and taxis to get to your destination
- No red-eye or early morning flights
- No freezing temperatures in flight
- You can bring your own booze
- No hassle of putting toiletries in 3 oz bottles and ziplock bags
- You can bring your bikes
- You can bring your kayaks
- You can bring your oversized ________________ (fill in the blank)
- You can actual recline and sleep.
- No screaming babies
- No constant loud speaker announcements
- No flight delays, layovers or cancelled flights
- Gas is cheap
- No need to schlep a ride to the airport or port
- You can bring your own pillows and blankets
- You can bring Spot or Fluffy
- No stuffing your crap under a tiny seat
- No catching a cold from breathing 200 passengers droplets
- Roadside attractions
- Roadside dinners
- Really awesome and/or healthy snack breaks (not .0004 ounces of peanuts)
- Heated seats
- Grab a drink when you want instead of waiting inpatiently for the drink cart
- No bathroom lines
- No more envying more space in first class
- Feeling great about the money you’re saving
- Feeling great about the planet you’re saving
- When you’re home, you’re home. No waiting for a friend or Uber to pick you up.
- More control over your vacation experience
- Travel at your own speed
- Bring a friend for no extra charge
- Guaranteed seating by someone you love
- Tag team drivers
- Extend your vacation without hassle or penalty
- Travel cheaper and more frequently
- Rent a hybrid, convertible, really plush car as a treat
- Pull over and kiss –Because when we kiss, Fire!
What did I leave out? Please drop a comment below and thanks for reading this post. I hope you got some good ideas from it and, if you’re so inclined, you’ll share it with a friend.
Happy almost 2021 and may your New Year be filled with health and safe trips by ground travel. Slow travel gives you time to pause, think, and pull over and snap a photo. Slow travel can make you feel groovy and light.
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