I love slow travel. Even in my earlier days when overachieving was an attractive endeavor, I rarely enjoyed vacations that were just go, go, go.
The “Go Slow” movement has already been around for years now. Alistair Sawday popularized slow travel with his picturesque descriptions of Europe taken at the pace it deserves.
When we were planning our trip to France years ago, I remember stumbling upon the “go slow” movement, and selecting a bed-and-breakfast to stay in during our time in Provence. Not only did our rooms include meals, but we also got to know Michael, a sweet British francophile who started his own B&B decades ago.
Enjoying our time with Michael and other guests
Provence was made for slow travel, and to this day I am glad we did it. I am glad we stayed for four nights, enjoying long dinners with our host and other guests, learning to cook, exploring the town of Arles with its Roman ruins and the vibrant red town of Roussillon, part by part.
One of my favorite memories from our time in Provence was the opportunity to learn how to make real French chocolate croissants. Michael was quite the chef, and delighted us with everything from fish tartine to beef bouguignon to pretty little whelks (sea snails) with homemade mayonnaise. (French mayonnaise, by the way, was an epiphany.)
The thing I love most about slow travel is not simply the opportunity to experience everything more richly and thoroughly, but the attitude that life does not have to be an unending checklist of must-sees. In due time, I see myself looking back over the years and searching for quality, not quantity.
Michael’s patio
Have you ever gone slowly in your travels? Do you make lists of sites to visit before you go? I’d love to know!
Wow, your photos are so beautiful!! I want to see areas of Provence soon! I was in a small village near Toulouse in 2013 but there is so many more villages I want to see! And yes! I want to experience “slow travel”! I love you describe it. It’s a hard balance since it is so spend to get to Europe these days, so the temptation to get the most bang for your buck is always there, leading to a full itinerary and barely skimming the surface of villages and bigger cities that beg a longer and slower experience.
I love slow travel. The days i spent less than a day at was always so stressful, but when I got to spend at least 2 days in a place it was always so amazing to just take it easy and enjoy the place. I usually have a list with me of must-see, but I do love to just get lost in a city and enjoy my surroundings.
I love traveling! This idea of slow travel sounds amazing. These pictures are also breathtaking!
Glad you let yourselves be spontaneous!
Yes!! I hope you do get to do cooking classes in France– that would be amazing.
It’s good to have a variety of vacations. I love your anniversary idea– I’ll have to tell my husband about it! 🙂
Thanks girl! You would love Provence– so serene and hospitable!
Oh, they were SO delicious! And there are certain destinations where there’s just too much to see and too little time!
Yes, I get burnt out easily when traveling! And thank you 🙂
Yes– oh my goodness would LOVE to try house sitting sometime, it would be tough to pick a destination though! And this place was absolutely amazing, I went with my mom in 2011. And let me see if I can dig Michael up.. and I’ll send you his info. You’d like him very much– funny, quirky, passionate, loves-to-cook British guy. There are TONS of places like this too, though, if you check out Sawday’s website.
Absolutely! So glad this resonated with you.
Yes! I’ve definitely done that. I’m totally okay with throwing plans away when we stumble upon something we love. It’s one of the few times I’ll say “yolo”! Haha
Thank you Chelsea!
Thanks Sara! Yes, exploring cities slowly is so fun and worthwhile!
Oh my gosh this post resonated with me so much! I completely agree that slow travel is the best way to travel. I don’t think I’ve ever had enough time in one spot (well except Paris — 6 months is plenty of time in that city!) — but otherwise if I’m moving through something quickly there’s just no way to absorb it and really get a sense of the history, culture and lifestyle. That’s why housesitting was actually a really fun way to travel through Europe, as it plunked me down for weeks at a time in one place. The only downside was that those places for housesitting were always pretty remote. It sounds like you found the perfect happy medium! And that food!!! Bliss! This looks like such a beautiful trip in an amazing place. When did you go out there??? Do you still have Michael’s contact btw 😉
XO
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Sometimes we like to just decide what we are going to do when we get there but at other times we decide what we will do before we leave home, taking it slow at times is lovely and makes a holiday a little better
I found your blog on the peony project. I am a flight attendant and can appreciate the slow travel movement since I usually have a limited amount of time on my layovers to explore. Your photos are gorgeous. I enjoy taking cooking classes and hope to return to France in the near future.
It looks like you had an amazing time! We try to schedule vacations of both types… sometimes there’s so much to see it’s hard to go slow! But then you come home and need a vacation from your vacation! So once a year (on our anniversary) we pick a city, book a hotel and make no plans. We figure it out as we go, stay in bed late and just relax. It’s heaven!
Sounds like an amazing trip, your photos are beautiful! I like to do slow travel too. By that I mean spending several days exploring a city instead of trying to fit everything in just a few days. Definitely need to add Provence to my travel bucket list!
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This sounds like it was a wonderful trip! And making homemade chocolate croissants? Amazing. I can’t say we do slow travel well….often times we start off go go go and once we hit our top must sees we will slow down.
It truly was, Laura!
I am a go, go , go traveler 🙁 … the I get burnt out. Edward says we’ve never actually been on a vacation together. I’m learning though. You captured some amazing shots, it looks absolutely beautiful.
“the attitude that life does not have to be an unending checklist of must-sees” <-yes! I love the "go slow" mentality. It truly makes travel (and life in general) so much more enjoyable. You stumble upon more small pleasures that way that you would otherwise miss!
Provence looks like another great place to explore the “go slow” method of travel. 🙂 I am a chronic overplanner and I make endless lists of everything I want to see and every place I want to eat . . . and then we get out there and start exploring, I generally throw the list away in favor of seeing what we stumble upon. I’m starting to like it better that way! Also, these photos are lovely, as always. 🙂
Yes absolutely!! I try to pick the best places to go when we travel and stay there awhile– it really does make for a more relaxing and rich experience for me!
Slow travel in Georgia sounds absolutely fabulous.
And yes, so many older European cities have such stunning architecture, all you have to do is walk around! In the US I definitely find that many buildings are practical, modern and not designed to impress. Some buildings in New England are old and beautiful, but definitely not as great as in Europe!
Amazingly gorgeous!
These pictures are incredible!
This looks amazing! Love your photos. I definitely try my best not to jump from place to place too much! I enjoy getting a good feel for a city before moving on 🙂
it looks spectacular!!
I look at photos from your travels and just wonder why Americans don’t care about delicate architecture like this. I fully understand that Europe is the hub. Where architecture and the Renaissance began, but it saddens me that we didn’t try and incorporate more of that beauty here. Such a bummer.
Slow travel is pretty much how our vacation will be this year. We are just going to Georgia, but it will be low key, and full of food. (;
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We never go slow travelling because we try to pack in as many sites in as few days as we can get off. It’s unfortunate, we usually need a vacation to recover from our vacation! I love the idea of slow travelling because you can immerse yourself in the culture and learn things you wouldn’t know from doing the quick touristy thing!
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