Top Tips for Slow Travel

A little bit of preparation up front makes such a difference to the success of your Slow Travel trip, so here are my Top Tips

What do I mean by Slow Travel and why is it different to standard holiday planning?

Madrid, just near our apartment

Slow Travel for me is staying for 1 or 2 months or even longer in a different place. Our preference at the moment is different European cities each year, but many others go further afield. It could easily be South East Asia or South America. Slow Travel, in my opinion doesn’t cover having a second home in a different country and going there regularly. This is about spending significant time in different places, learning about different cultures, and getting to know some different places. Two or more cities in the same country do count though. We have been to Barcelona and Madrid, both part of Spain (at least for the moment, unless the Catalans get an agreed opportunity to vote for independence…) Regardless of what country it is in, when you move somewhere new, it takes time to find out the best ways to travel, what to see, where to eat. You are learning something new. You become less a tourist, more a local. If you are going to the same place time after time, you count as a local, but you don’t get the additional experience of learning somewhere new.

Barcelona – La Font Magica (Only at weekends…)

There is a certain amount of anticipation in discussing potential different places to stay, and once you have booked the accommodation and the flights, the anticipation builds even more. In our case, we tell our family and friends, and invite them to look at their diaries and see when they might be able to join us. We do set some parameters. 3-5 days works pretty well. Enough time for everyone to enjoy their trip, but it still means we have some time on our own as well.

We have now done three Slow Travel Trips, and have just booked our fourth, so while we are not total experts, we have learnt many things on the way.

Choosing Where to Go and Where to Stay

• Consider how long do you want to go for? The first time we went away I was worried that 4 weeks would be too long. Would I be restless? Answer – I really enjoyed it, and the next time we booked for 6 weeks.
• What time of year do you want to go?
• What is your preferred weather? We like it warm, but not to hot. 23-28c (75-85F). That influences when you go.
• Is your preferred destination easy to get to. Our criteria just now are a direct flight from our home airport and no car-hire needed.
• Does the city have good public transport? If not, how are you going to get around?
• What are your non-negotiables when selecting your home from home? When you are going to be there 1 or 2 months, it needs to meet your requirements. For us
  • A lift is essential. While we are perfectly capable of climbing the stairs, some of our guests aren’t.
  • There must be 2 separate bedrooms. Last year, both had double beds, which wasn’t ideal, but there were also 2 lovely big couches, so that worked well, for guests who wanted separate beds.
  • A terrace makes a big difference. When it is warm, we like being able to sit outside, and read or eat etc.

We decided this terrace in Rome was more valuable than an extra bathroom!

• Two bathrooms is preferable. This year we have ended up with just one, because we prioritised the terrace above the bathrooms
• Air-con is preferable, this year we have decided to risk not having it. Given it will be September, we don’t think it will be too hot.
• Location. Is it in walking distance of where you want to visit, are there buses nearby? Is there a local supermarket? You don’t want to be carting your groceries for miles, especially if you normally climb in your car to do your shopping, it can be a bit of a culture shock!
• Cost – we discovered Rome is very expensive, so we had to go down a level in accommodation -I hope it works out! (We have just booked a trip to Amsterdam in August – a 1 week stay is about the same as we paid for Rome for a month in September -now that is expensive!)

Planning & Preparation

• Check your travel insurance. The first couple of years, we went on our Slow Travels, we had a 90 day trip limit on our policy, and no pre-notification of previous illnesses. Unfortunately the insurance changed, and our new insurance not only had a 30 day limit, but also a restriction on age and health. This year, our policy is up for renewal just after my husband’s 70th birthday, so we have to shop around for a new policy. So that needs to go on the ‘To Do’ list.
• Check your home insurance. A couple of years ago we had a restriction about not leaving the house empty for more than 30 days. As it happened it wasn’t a problem, because we had a house guest staying while we were away, so the house wasn’t empty, but when it came round to renewing our home insurance, we selected one that would allow us to be away 60 days.
• How are you going to manage your money? For us, we generally take cash, because we do not want to be hit by card exchange rates. We will take a couple of cards with us, that we can use to pay, when only cards are accepted. Big tip – before you go, look at the currency conversion rates, and what charges are applied for all your cards. We have a preferred card (Nationwide Gold Credit Card), which does not apply a % fee. It can make a big difference. In the UK, the Post Office does a pre-paid card, but again check what charges are applied if you are taking cash out at an ATM. Some years ago, I took cash out abroad using a Nationwide Debit card and RBS debit card. The difference was significant. Certainly more than 5%, though I can’t remember precisely. Nationwide was more cost effective. The banks make their money on both the conversion rate used, and also on commission charges. So do your own research in advance!

Check your passport and currency needs

• Do you need to do anything before you go? Do you need a visa? Don’t be like my friend who left it to the last minute and was desperately waiting for his passport to be returned the week before he left!. Also check the validity of your passport – many countries expect 6 months before expiry. Do you have to put in electronic details in advance. The US do, among many others. You don’t want to be refused entry onto your flight because you have not filled in the appropriate data.
• Do some research in advance about the city you are going to be staying in. When do some museums offer free entrance? We saved quite a lot of money in Madrid and Barcelona by going to exhibitions on specific days and times. When you are there a couple of months, you are able to flex much more than a tourist who is only there for 3 days.
• what can you book in advance, even before you go? It is a lot easier printing off entrance tickets at home than relying on your phone
• Research your phone charges. What will be the most cost-effective, buying a local sim, versus using your own phone? Data charges can mount up fast. We are now spoilt in Europe (at least for the minute..), because the EU has brought in a rule about paying the same price anywhere in the EU as you do at home.
• We start gathering the things we are going to pack in one place, weeks in advance. Then when we think of something extra, we go and put it there immediately rather than ‘I must remember’ which of course means you won’t!

What to take with you?

I try and work on the principle that there are shops wherever you go, so I minimise the packing. However, on our first trip we realised we were missing a few things, and the friends coming to see us were sent a list of some things to get…. So here are some ideas to consider

A few of our favourite things!

• A small pack of your favourite sauce or cooking spice. We always pack Colman’s English Mustard . My husband loves strong mustard. The first year we went away, we never thought about it. However, within a few days we realised that French mustard, just wasn’t going to do it for him. Fortunately our first guests saved the holiday by bring some for him. So it is first into the suitcase from now on.
• Check what is supplied in the apartment. I expect bed linen & bath towels, but I have found that they don’t usually supply dishtowels, so now we pack our own (usually old ones, then we dispose of them at the end of the holiday giving us a little extra room in the suitcase). In Nice we were very near the beach, but there were no beach mats – so we bought some and left them behind for the next guests.
• We like herbal teas, so we usually pack some of our favourite brand.
• A few home treats. While there will be many interesting and varied treats in the shops around you, sometimes you want something familiar.
• Non-prescription medicines / remedies you know agree with you. Last year we got caught out. We both got very bad colds, and yearned for Strepsils (A common brand of throat lozenge in the UK). Fortunately, again, our next guests were able to bring us some! We also pack our regular anti-histamines, indigestion remedies etc
• Make sure you take your prescribed medication, in the packets they are dispensed in, covering the length of time you will be away. (In the UK, you have to order in advance!)  Share it around your suitcases, just in case one goes missing! If there is something special about the medicine, and you are heading to some difficult places, bring a doctors letter with you. When my son went travelling after university, his hospital consultant very kindly gave him a letter to be given to any doctor, explaining his medical condition and what emergency medication he should be given, when, to minimise problems.

Making the most of the trip

• Keep all your receipts. See the first item below, on checking your credit card bills. Checking your receipts provides you with a bit of comfort fraud-wise. I do this anyway, even at home. It makes sense.
• As you take all those amazing photographs – set yourself a daily routine. Empty your camera / phone and put them in a separate folder. Then you are halfway there to sorting them out.
• Keep a brief diary. Preferably online. What did you do when? Take 30 minutes each day tto write a few words on what you did that day. My husband is far better at this than me. We keep a Word document, with some screen shots and words of what happened each day. (and I also record the number of steps I take each day – 23,500 is about the record) It is so easy to look back on, and instantly you are transported to that time and place. Simple and easy! Don’t forget, otherwise all the days merge into a blur, and you forget things you want to remember! It is so hard to recall what you did, even just 2 or 3 days back
• I have to confess, sometimes we are the laziest people out. If the day is dull, and we have nothing on, then 9:30am seems like a perfectly reasonable time to be showered and breakfasted. On other days, the sun is beaming in, we want to go somewhere, we are up, bright and buzzing at 7am. (This year we are heading to Rome – apparently you can book Vatican trips at 7:30am – we’ll be there!)
• If you are expecting guests, look out for a few restaurants that will suit everyone’s tastes rather than going looking at the last minute. We often walk by one, and say that will be great when x or y come to see us. If there are tips for getting to your apartment from the airport, make sure you pass them on. Are there metro tickets you can get in advance for them.
• Take a few extra precautions. Be wary of pickpockets in busy areas, they target tourists and are very proficient, as we found out last year in Madrid.  Just be aware of your surroundings. We rarely take a lot of money out with us, so in the worst case, if we get caught out, it won’t be a disaster.
• Find out what the local rules are about carrying identity papers. I know the UK is unusual because we are not required to carry papers at all times. With the advent of Photo-id driving licences, I tend to use that, and I usually put a photocopy of our passports in my handbag. So far we have not needed anything, although we have needed our passports to book our travel one month travel passes.

On Returning Home

• Check your card bills. Are they as you expect? If not, this is the best time to query them.
• Are you expecting a deposit refund. Keep checking until it is through. Last year, I had at chase the company a couple of times.
• Take a few minutes to note what worked well with the city you stayed in, what were the high points, what didn’t work for you. What about the apartment? Things to watch out for in future. After a few trips you start realising what is important and what isn’t.

Have I covered everything? Many of you are experienced travellers. What have I forgotten?

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