In Praise of Slow Travel

Last spring, a friend told me proudly that she had seen six European capitals in eight days. I asked her what she remembered best. She thought for a long time and then said, "The airports." I was not surprised, because I used to travel the same way.

For years, I booked the cheapest early flights so that I could visit as many places as possible. I arrived tired, ran from one famous sight to the next and took the same photos as everyone else. Although I saw a lot, I understood very little. Then, a few years ago, I decided to try something different: I went from Madrid to Lisbon by train and bus, and I stayed for three weeks instead of three days.

It changed everything. Since there was no rush, I had time to talk to people. On the slow train, an old man shared his lunch with me and explained the history of every village we passed. In Lisbon, I rented a small room, bought bread from the same bakery every morning and soon the owner knew my name. However, nobody in the main tourist areas ever learned it.

Of course, slow travel is not always easy. Trains can be more expensive than low-cost flights, and not everyone can take three weeks off work. Even so, you don't need a long vacation to travel slowly. You can simply choose one city rather than four, or take the bus in order to see the landscape instead of the clouds.

There is another good reason to slow down. Flying is one of the worst things we can do for the climate, whereas trains produce far less pollution. So traveling slowly is not only more enjoyable but also kinder to the planet.

My advice is simple: next time, leave the checklist at home. Stay longer, move less and let the journey become part of the vacation. You may see fewer places, but you will remember much more.