Siteseeing - 6

Slow Travel

If you’re into itineraries and checklists and package tours with accompanying cook to make you food just like mummyji’s, turn the page now, there’s a good lad.
Right. So what is slow travel? It’s an unpackaged tour, if you like. The thought came from the Slow Food concept, which gave rise to the Slow Movement in general. (Look them up. Later. No rush.) The idea of slow travel is that you truly experience a place, staying at least a week in one location. You’re advised to hang around, make no must-do lists, see only what’s nearby. Slow travel could suit travellers across the bank balance spectrum. As the site says, you could rent house to give your kids run around space. Or stay on a farm to save money. Heck, you could rent a mansion and take your staff along.
The site has loads of tips and articles, affiliations with sponsors, listings and more. Weaknesses: as with so many good sites, it is, alas, aimed at the US resident, and is largely focussed on Europe. There is a paid editorial staff selecting what goes up, so it’s not your usual user-generated content site. You can check out the sister sites—a message board and a photo-posting forum—for the uncut versions.

Published in Outlook Traveller, May 2007.

Tags: Outlook Traveller, Siteseeing