Forget business class and fancy hotel rooms. The traveler’s true luxury is time.
Crater Lake. Photo by Ed Ingram
Ask different travelers what their must-haves are on a trip and you’ll get an infinite number of varying answers.
I’ve met hardcore backpackers circling the globe with only a daypack stuffed with a couple pairs of underwear and a toothbrush tied to their belt loops.
Other travelers have an entourage of locals dragging their matching luggage from their private car to their swanky hotel. Preferred forms of transportation run the gamut from rickshaws to first class Emirate Airways cabins.
Meals are taken in meat-on-a-stick form or stacked delicately on expensive china. Some shun the comforts of home while others demand to be pampered.
I normally fall somewhere in between grimy backpacker and coddled travel connoisseur, but there is one luxury I can never do without: the luxury of time.
Every Travel Moment Is Precious
There is no substitute for the no-strings-attached, long-term travel that may only be feasible at certain times in our lives.
A two-week whirlwind vacation is a noble endeavor if that is all your circumstances allow. Every moment abroad exploring, discovering and developing is valuable.
Still, there is no substitute for the no-strings-attached, long-term travel that may only be feasible at certain times in our lives. Whether it’s the gap year, the extended honeymoon, or the I-quit-my-job-and-sold-all-my-earthly-possessions journey, long-term travel is a unique opportunity to be captured and enjoyed to its fullest.
This type of travel allows you to discard your itinerary and spend an entire day hiking in a direction simply because your camera loves the light.
You can wait in a village an extra week because you found upon arrival that an incredible festival will be occurring. You can shift directions because you met a fascinating travel companion who did you the great service of radically changing the way you look at the world.
Luxuries are not four-star hotels or air-conditioned buses or hot-water showers. The real luxury is knowing there is no rush and the world is yours to explore.
Time or Money?
I could spend $1000 in a month in Asia, but I can also rough it a little and make it last three times as long.
Vietnam. Photo by Dane Phillips
One of my favorite destinations has been Sapa in Northern Vietnam. I endured a rough train ride because I refused to pay the extortionist prices for a first class sleeper.
But the $40 I saved on my train ticket paid for 8 nights at a hotel overlooking the intricately terraced valley. I spent a total of 3 weeks in a town where most people go for weekend trips, but it meant that I didn’t have to worry that clouds enveloped the city for days at a time, blocking out the sun and the view.
I was able to stroll leisurely through the fog and watch the ornately dressed hill-tribe women slide through the mist instead of curse the weather and my luck as that amazing destination lay obscured by seemingly permanent cloud cover.
I tried several mornings to catch the perfect sunrise, and for several days the light and blankets of white refused to cooperate. But eventually they broke, and the images were unforgettable and have come to define my time in Vietnam.
Those extra days are incredible gifts to travelers and should not be traded away lightly.
Going With The Flow
How to find the extra time to travel? I like to have a fair amount of research done so I know what demands my attention at each destination. Some guidebooks suggest a day for a city, others say a week is absolutely necessary.
I like to have a fair amount of research done so I know what demands my attention at each destination.
For example, Angkor Wat is now on almost everyone’s travel circuit through SE Asia, but how long you spend there is entirely dependent on your interests and passions. After studying Anthropology and Archaeology in college, I felt I wanted 4 days there, but many people are fine with an afternoon.
Maybe your time would be better spent in a local village or on a trek. You have to know what to expect, what you’re looking for, and what is most beneficial for you as a traveler.
I know that I need to see the people of a country to feel that I have experienced it. Of course, ruins and vistas are the necessary highlights, but what gives a place depth and transforms it from a two-dimensional backdrop for sightseeing into a living, breathing entity are its people.
Inviting Serendipity
A few extra days can give you time to wander the hillside and stumble upon a family having a picnic, or watch children at play, or go to a remote village to meet people unaccustomed to the endless parade of tourists.
This allows your experience to be fundamentally different from everyone else quickly scurrying along the guidebook path.
And let’s not forget all your fellow travelers have to offer. Having time to hang out at the hostel and interact with people from all over the world is all part of the experience. They offer insight into places not yet visited or an opportunity to reminisce about shared experiences.
You can read that novel you found at the book exchange that will introduce you to a new favorite author, or you can drag your pen across paper and write your own story.
We all remember those perfect moment’s we would have missed if we had arrived somewhere a day later or left a day early.
Realistically, wherever you end up has something to offer. But as travelers, we owe it to ourselves to seek out every opportunity, and to be altered by a destination.
The best way to make that happen is to give yourself the luxury of time.
What are your thoughts on taking the time for slower travel? Share your experiences in the comments!
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12 Comments... join the discussion!
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DANE!! You are a writer here too! excellent!
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Terrific article, really eloquent. Dane, I fly into Phnom Penh in a month and will be in your neck of the woods through January – let’s make a point to meet up.
-Tim
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This well crafted article should serve as a reminder to all travelers to slow down and take the time to smell the coffee. All to often we focus on checking the boxes – been there, seen that – and forget to really take in the true “soul” of our destination.
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Slow travel is key for me these days now that I have as much time as I need. I hate that feeling of breezing through places and having the time to spend exploring without being rushed is great. I prefer to spend months in a place I like given the chance and think renting a room in an apartment with locals, WWOOFing on a farm or working in a local hostel are great ways to feel more involved in a community.
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totally agree… sometimes I feel a bit sad when leaving a country because i’ve only done so little, but I can’t stay any longer because of work. This article made me think of the length of my vacations. good work
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Really excellent article, Dane. It so happens that your article coincided with the publication of our ezine, Home Swappers, in which Dana, our feature article author (a travel guide writer and home exchanger), also put the case very eloquently for taking the time to see the quirky but memorable things that you would miss if on a whirlwind tour. A quote:
“These days whenever we do a home exchange (so far we’ve done lovely swaps with Edinburgh, Lucca and Amsterdam) Michael and I still like the feeling of play acting the ‘local’ even if it’s only for a couple of weeks- walking around the neighbourhoods, the markets, shops, and restaurants, and of course seeing the sights. Especially the minor ones, the second raters, the third division homespun attractions- a museum of socks or tin whistles, a quirky Romanesque portal, the birthplace of an obscure composer- the obscure stuff most people tend to skip when they stay in hotels where time is money and there’s always that itchy feeling, that compulsion to move on to the next town to see the next World Heritage Site. Yet we tend to remember the quirky things most fondly- they have an intimacy and character and speak to the heart, and often tell you more about a country or city than most five star attractions and their dutiful crowds paying homage.”
Read the rest of Dana’s article, No Place Like ‘Home’.
Cheers
Lois↵ -
Great article Dane! I aggree completly that taking the time to relax and enjoy the location your in without specific direction is really what a “visit” is. Even if you are on a two week whirlwind tour however, and you only have two days here or two days there… one can still go at it unplanned. Why not go to Rome or Paris with no specific sites on a must see list? Wander the streets, sit along the river, people watch…it saves money and stress.
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This article resonated with me. Right now I would love to grab my backpack and travel. But, I rescued a kitten and that’s another story.
Last year, I wish I could have stayed longer in Scotland. I really thought about staying “across the pond” and venturing off to Europe or even catching a flight to Australia. It’s refreshing not to have a “set” travel schedule. The unknown is far more exciting!
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Great food for thought. My own personal travel style has evolved since I started traveling in ‘82. My first stop was Calcutta, of what was to be almost a year on the road – six months in Asia, six in Europe. I had five+ months to travel in India, to “see it all” but learned within five days the folly – for me – of that thinking – a two week general transportation strike put an end to that – but still, when the strike was over, I tried. I was so sensually-stuffed at the end of those five months, I had a hard time processing where I’d been.
In both ‘99 and 2006 I returned to India (my fourth and fifth trips to India) and what I did on both trips was fly into Delhi, train to Varanasi, unpack, get a room, buy a carpet and a desk and stay, for six months. In each of those six month trips I drafted two books, shot film for a movie and studied bansuri (Indian bamboo flute); all things I’d always wanted to do, but never gave myself time for. During both of those stays I also met others, like me, who chose to “sit” for a while; several of those relationships remain to this day. Immersion travel works for me.↵
