Slow Travel or Adventure Travel?

  

Photo: Jann Segal
Lake Guatavita, Colombia

Slow travel. I love even reading the words. They calm my travel soul and remind me that there will be travel in my future, at an even and interesting pace. A pace where I can see the magnificence, smell the spices and flowers, watch the locals count buckets of money, learn how to cook a new dish from locals in their homes, meet their families, run into them by accident on the street of their charming town, or be greeted by these kind strangers during an accidental meeting at the airport.  All of these things have happened to me while traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel, sometimes as part of the group, sometimes on my own before or after the group adventure. These moments don’t require having a
camera to capture them. They require an appreciation of life and living, learning, wandering.

The concept of slow travel began in 1986 as a movement in Italy after a Mc Donald’s opened in Rome. People were afraid that interest in the culture and the food would start to wane and ultimately be forgotten rather than relished, savored, appreciated to the fullest. In fact, a whole slow movement began that many of us heard little about. Then the world was treated to a global pandemic, and even local traffic came to a grinding halt. But in the travel world, slow travel was talked about for when travel resumed. It includes a connection to people and their cultures, to educate oneself and to stay in the moment in a sustainable and lasting way. But of course, this education has lasting consequences for the future for those who endeavor to take the slow path, even if it’s in conjunction with a group tour, which is how I like to do it. 

The Smart and Savvy Traveler: Travel Tips for All Experience Levels in Travel

 

No matter how experienced a traveler someone is, from a novice who wants to learn how to travel, to the most experienced amongst us, there is always more to learn. Just when we think we have it all together and can travel seamlessly, a major world event occurs that upends our well- honed travel patterns and brings us back to square one. The September 11 terrorist attacks and the global pandemic are two events that come to mind that certainly had me scrambling for travel tips on what to do. But getting a blood clot on an overseas flight, or not being able to successfully handle altitude, are two common travel dilemmas that can occur even when the world is running like clockwork.

There certainly is no recipe book, but I travel frequently with Overseas Adventure Travel, when a group tour makes more sense than independent travel. They provide a very comprehensive book of travel tips that was once more geared to the novice, but now includes tips also geared to the more experienced traveler. Don’t be put off by the title about 101 Tips for Solo Women Travelers. Men can benefit as well!  

I wanted to go into additional detail on four specific areas that aren’t addressed as much as I have written about, since I have done extensive research on the following topics which are of interest to all.

Remembrance of Great Meals Past

Do you remember when you had your last exceptional and unforgettable meal during foreign travels? I surely do.

Photo: Jann Segal

 Local food and beverages are among the things we all look forward to enjoying when we travel to a foreign country. In Turkey one year I was quite taken by the pomegranate salad oil, which for me became a life changing experience I had to write about. Then there was the unexpectedly delightful risotto and mushroom sauce I experienced in Milan. When I classify a meal as life changing, that means I loved it so much, I had to go home and cook it! And now, thanks to an olive oil farm I visited in Israel, I know how to shop for higher quality olive oil to enhance my cooking. After my visit ot Vietnam one year, my food walking tour was such an eye opener in terms of both food and locale that I would normally never have experienced, I now always take a food walking tour in foreign cities. Food in all its unique varieties is truly the heart and soul of every culture. Other foods (in particular, spices) of which I have fond memories, are spicy fresh paprika from Croatia, fresh pepper from Southern India, which is along the Spice Route, and of course spices in Istanbul at the Grand Bazaar.

 Food can be so much more than a meal. When traveling and experiencing new cultures, if can feed the human spirit, lift the world-weary traveler’s soul just enough to make it to the next destination, enhance new friendships forged through travel, and heighten a traveler’s awareness of new possibilities that go beyond the travel experience. In under- developed countries, the food purchased and served even in a restaurant, can elevate those whose livelihoods depend on the income.

Not Traveling….in Gratitude and Understanding

 

Food in·se·cu·ri·ty

noun

the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

"more than 800 million people live every day with hunger or food insecurity as their constant companion"

Definitions from Oxford Languages

 

Last year, amid the COVID-19 crisis and all that I experienced between shutdown and the inevitable life changes, I wrote a piece called What I Learned on my Coronavirus Vacation. Now it’s a year later, the pandemic has lasted longer than anticipated, and I now realize that somehow, according to some grand plan, I was supposed to be prepared for this time in our history. It’s been a wild ride, preceded in early 2019 with a premonition that many people were going to die around me, followed by what I refer to as“Covid Boot Camp.”

Clotheslines: An open window to the soul of a people

Photo: Dan King

Clotheslines are a window into the soul of other people’s lives. From a seemingly small part of life, you can observe the daily ins and outs of the culture, the things you don’t get to see as a tourist. This is part of why we travel. Not just to see the sights, hear the sounds, and taste the wonderful food. We also travel to gain some insight into how the locals live, maybe even get to meet the people. Taking a look at the clotheslines outside of someone’s home is a perfect way to gain this understanding. And many tours give you the opportunity to see that, thus allowing us to understand the social and economic conditions of a country and the people who live there. But if they don’t, pay attention to the sights you see along the way. Even an unwitting tour guide will pass a local community on the way to a major sight. Some of the places that have given me this particular vantage point I took with Grand Circle Travel (www.gct.com ) or Overseas Adventure Travel (www.oattravel.com ). And of course, many I have taken independently.

Lima: Enjoy a Restaurant with a View

Planning a trip to Peru to see the sights but don’t want to mess with the altitude of Machu Picchu? There is plenty to see in and around Lima that will more than satisfy your curiosity for archeological sites. A drive to the city of Caral four hours north of Lima, takes you through some amazing moonscape to see the oldest civilization lever discovered. Another site, Pachacámac, is about an hour outside of Lima, and is the start of the famous Inca trail. But one of the biggest treats of them all awaits you right in Lima.

Photo by Jann Segal

Enjoy some local color right off the coast of Lima

If you want to really take a drive off the beaten path in Lima visit the fishing village of Pucusan in the Pucuscana district, one of the 43 districts that constitute Lima. It is a great stop to visit any time of year, and has views which overlook all of Lima’s coast line. The amount of pelicans you will see are so staggering you will think you are in one of the Galapagos Islands.

Travel off the Beaten Path to Caral, Peru

Jann Segal

If you want to travel off the beaten path in Peru, book a day trip to Caral. The 4 hour drive from Lima is long, but you get to see a different part of Peru that not many get to see. Tours typically start at 6am and end at 6pm, with a stop in a nice little town for lunch on the way back that is also not frequented much by tourists.