r/slowtravel

I keep seeing this advice everywhere: "Don't rush! Stay in each place for at least a week! You'll never understand a city in two days!"

And I think this is sometimes genuinely good advice and sometimes complete bullshit that romanticizes slow travel as the only legitimate way to see the world.

Here's my take after about 50 countries and varying speeds of travel:

Slow travel is incredible IF you have unlimited time and you're the type of person who actually chills. If you're someone who genuinely can spend a week in a single city and feel fulfilled by that, amazing. More power to you.

But I'm not that person. I get restless. After three days in any city I'm itching to move. And you know what? That's valid too.

My trip to Italy last year: I spent two weeks covering Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples. Was it rushed? Absolutely. Did I "experience" each city the way a local does? Absolutely not. Did I see the Colosseum, eat pizza in Naples, ride a gondola in Venice, see the David, drink espresso at every possible opportunity? You bet. Was it an incredible trip that I wouldn't trade for anything? Also yes.

Would it have been better if I'd spent a month in just Rome and Florence? I genuinely don't know. Maybe. Or maybe I'd be bored out of my mind by day ten.

The people telling me to slow down usually have something in common: they're either retired, work remotely, or have significantly more vacation time than most working Americans. That's great for them! But the rest of us are working with two weeks a year and we want to see things.

My actual take: travel at whatever speed brings you joy. If slow travel is your thing, amazing. If you want to hit five cities in ten days and sleep in a different bed every night, also amazing. The point is to see the world, not to perform travel "correctly" for an audience of judgmental strangers on the internet.

Stop gatekeeping how people explore. Some of my best travel memories are from quick hits where I crammed as much as possible into a short time. The exhaustion was real but so was the joy of constantly discovering new things.

Change my mind.

Bonus if you tell your story. 😊

Ok I need to vent and also genuinely ask because I can't tell if I'm being dramatic.

We just got back from 16 days traveling around Japan (Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Naoshima, Osaka) and my partner and I had our first real fight in years on day 9. Over an itinerary. In a parking lot. At like 10pm eating convenience store sandwiches.

Backstory: I am a planner. Spreadsheets, backup restaurants if the first is full, walking routes optimized so we don't cross the same street twice. She wanted to "leave room to wander." I said sure, of course, wandering is great. And I meant it.

But then in practice, her version of wandering meant every morning we'd sit in the hotel until 11 debating what to do while I watched our lunch plans disappear and felt my eye twitch.

By Kyoto, I had already missed a few reservations I'd spent a lot of time trying to get. One was a special dinner I had been looking forward to for months. She felt like I was treating the trip like a checklist. I felt like I was the only one doing any work and then being made to feel bad for caring. Both were probably true.

The fight itself was honestly stupid. She said, "You don't even enjoy things, you just complete them." I said something back that I won't repeat here. We sat there in silence. A very kind older man walked by with his dog and the dog just sat next to me for a full minute. I almost cried because apparently that was my breaking point.

The weird thing is, the second half of the trip was the best part. We basically made a compromise where mornings were hers (slow, no plan, walking around) and afternoons/evenings were mine (reserved places, planned activities). And it worked.

We were actually kinder to each other after that. Some of the unplanned moments ended up being my favorite parts of the whole trip.

Now that I'm home, I'm questioning the way I travel. Like, my sister takes trips where she barely plans anything and somehow enjoys herself more than I do. She just shows up and experiences things, and she's not constantly checking maps, schedules, and reservations.

Am I confusing planning with caring? Is all this preparation actually just my way of controlling anxiety and then calling it being a thoughtful partner?

I don't know. I loved Japan. I love my partner. I just think I might be someone who accidentally makes vacations harder than they need to be.

Has anyone else had a trip fight like this? Did it change how you travel together afterward, or was it just a one-time thing? And honestly, is the "leave room to wander" person right, and I'm just refusing to admit it?

Hi travelers...I'm definitely a visitor, not a tourist. Have never liked standing for an hour to hear a lecture on what I'm seeing. I love being in a new place and discovering what's there..just as I've lived in different parts of the country and enjoyed getting to know each. I'm an amateur (emphasis on 'love' more than skill) poet and artist, and think about retreats featuring creative pursuits..but also getting to know the area. I'd love to hear about your favorite travel that isn't demanding of long or difficult foot travel.

For me, slowing down and spending more time in fewer places has made my trips much more enjoyable.

I'm curious—what's one travel habit, tip, or mindset that completely changed the way you travel?

It could be anything, from packing lighter to avoiding overplanning or something you've learned after years of traveling.

It feels like marriages, friendships, and family trips are constantly tested by this exact divide.

​You have the Itinerary Planners who have spreadsheets, booked museum slots, and restaurant reservations for 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Then you have the Drifters who just want to walk out of the hotel room, find a cafe, and wander aimlessly.

​Which camp do you fall into, and if you’ve traveled with your exact opposite, how did you survive the trip without losing your mind?

When I visit a new city, I often find myself curious about the ordinary places around me — not just the main attractions, but the street corner with an unexpected history, the old building that used to be something completely different, or the neighborhood that locals have strong memories of.

A while ago I was walking through a small town and passed an old building with faded letters on the wall. I had no idea what it used to be, and I couldn't find anything useful online. It felt like there was a story there that nobody had bothered to capture.

I've tried travel apps, Google Maps, Wikipedia — but most of what I find is either focused on famous landmarks or way too generic to feel personal.

Curious if others experience this:

• Do you ever look for local, human stories about places when you travel?
• Where do you go to find them — Reddit, blogs, asking locals, something else?
• Have you ever been somewhere and felt like there was a story behind a place that you just couldn't find anywhere?

Hey all!

Was hoping to discuss this with other folks and see if anyone else feels the same way. When I go on longer trips after a few months I start getting an urge to go home and work on projects there. It's more pronounced when I'm slowing down (which I usually am after a few months). I always travel solo.

I don't think it's necessarily indicative of what I should do, more so the "must always be working" aspects of western society. It doesn't help that I have always travelled between jobs, so there is always a fear of "what if I never get a job again and have no future."

I am going to focus on mindfulness, meditation, and visualizing that when I get home I'll just be like "why am I here? I planned on going to a few more places!" But I'm curious what others do, or if this is something other people experience too.

A few years ago, my travel bucket list was full of the usual places paris, santorini, and all the destinations you constantly see online.But recently, I've found myself enjoying quieter places a lot more.

Last year, I visited kotor, and it completely changed how I think about travel. There was something refreshing about wandering through the old town, sitting by the bay, and not feeling like I was constantly competing with crowds for a photo or rushing,can you relate to?

A few months ago I got tired of spending weeks researching destinations, hotels, and itineraries.

So I tried something different.

Whenever I had a free weekend, I opened Google Flights, sorted by the cheapest destination, and booked whatever looked interesting.

It led me to places I never would've chosen on my own. Some were incredible. Some were just okay. But every trip felt like an adventure because I had almost no expectations.

A few things I learned:

• Cheap flights often mean fewer tourists and more authentic experiences.
• Planning less reduced my travel stress dramatically.
• Some of my favorite memories came from destinations I knew almost nothing about beforehand.
• The fear of "making the wrong choice" disappeared.

Obviously this isn't for everyone. If you have limited vacation time or specific bucket-list destinations, careful planning still makes sense.

But for flexible travelers, letting price decide your next destination can be surprisingly fun.

Has anyone else tried "destination roulette" or another unconventional travel hack? What happened?

Spouse and I (Americans) pick a different region of the world to spend January through May every year. We are retired, budget-minded, slow-travelers who like to spend a chunk of time in one location, move on if we want, or stay if we like it. We have a small dog.

This winter we are considering Italy, the Balkans, and possibly Northern Africa (Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal). Not every country. Just go where it looks promising at the time.

Flights to Italy in January are significantly reduced from the USA to Italy. Would it be a good decision to fly in to Italy (Naples or south of there) and move around the region from there? Or should we bite the bullet and fly to Senegal or Tunisia which would be a lot more expensive and travel north from there? What are the major airlines of that area, and does it have a major airline hub in the area. I know ferries are prominent but could be rough that time of year.