blondietink

We used to be fast travelers ... see and do as much as possible in the days scheduled for vacation and go home exhausted from vacation. Generally, we needed a vacation after our vacation.

As our family has aged, we are adapting. DH is now 78, I am 67 and we have two disabled adult children that travel with us ages 34 and 32. 34 yo needs to use a wheelchair now for walking long distance due to a heart condition. DH recently had a knee replacement and generally tires more easily due to his age.

We now take time to smell the roses wherever we go and enjoy the scenery/sights. I used to watch Anthony Bourdain and his food/travel shows. Even though we aren't foodies, we are following his advice. When in Paris (insert your city), sit in a cafe, have some wine or coffee and talk to people. Enjoy your surroundings. Don't rush around and try to see absolutely everything because doing that you will miss everything about the place you are visiting. Trips planned this year include Mexico, summer fun at my brother's cottage and a big trip to Paris in the fall.

willoL

travelmad478 It sounds like you & your spouse may just prefer a lot of novelty and a sense of "accomplishment" in your travels (only my guess as to why you hurry), and there's nothing wrong with continuing to do what has worked for you if it still works for you.

I wonder if there is more of an impetus to this change that could help us give you better feedback?

If you want to slow down your travels because you are coming home tired when you hoped to feel rested, an idea is to split your days (in half, or by alternating days, or splitting the entire trip in parts) between traditional travel activities like you've always done, and seeking out the same (or related) hobbies you already enjoy at home for the other blocks of time.

For example, do [must see tourist sites/tour] in the morning, then spend a low key afternoon at the public library after lunch (assuming library is something you'd do at home.) Cooking classes, drop in exercise sessions or visits to a local gym/pool, volunteering at a soup kitchen/animal shelter, attending a worship service, or going to the movies are the kinds of "at home" ideas I might slot in to that other space in time. For myself, I look for ideas for the latter block that are things a local might do rather than tourist-focused events.

Really, I guess my perspective is to think about what I enjoy during the rest of my life at home, and apply those interests while in a new place. And if, in this phase of life, you aren't sure how you want to fill that time... that's a much bigger question to ponder.

Why do you travel at all? To meet people? To see new places? To experience different cultures? To have something interesting to tell your friends? To tick things off a list? Really, there's no wrong answer!

From your answer to those questions, consider how you can add more of whichever matters to you.

travelmad478

Not at all. The goal is to maximize the experiences we can have that are only available in whatever place it is, being that we’ve paid money to go to and stay in a different place than our home. Otherwise, why not just stay at home? The challenge is that we have so many things we’d like to experience that it occasionally becomes exhausting. We’ve gotten better in the last few years, but sometimes I would like to be a little more relaxed.

CDTraveler

It's really unclear what you mean in your various comments and questions in this thread. What does "maximize the experiences we can have that are only available in whatever place it is" mean to you? Check off things from Fodor's 10 Best Things to See list, or a spend a full day in a world class museum with objects you won't see anywhere else? Experience local cultural events? Dine in 5 star restaurants, or try out the local cuisine?

If you spend to 2 to 3 days in a location, what you maximizing? Number of cities visited?

travelmad478

Anything. Why does it have to be only one of your options? The point is to do things that we can’t do at home, and there are a lot of those things. Many of them involve local food, local music, local arts/architecture, general culture, etc. Some of them may be major monuments or museums, some of them may be street food, some of them may be performances, etc. And so on.

Snark much? This isn’t so hard to fathom. If we’ve spent $X to fly to a country, we usually like to experience more than one place in that country, as long as it’s feasible. See the above paragraph.

CDTraveler

No. Perfectly legitimate question. Your comments in this thread haven't made anything clear about what you're really asking for - see other responses you've received, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

It seems as if your stated goals - slowing down and "maximizing experiences" and visiting multiple places are somewhat contradictory. You've received a range of suggestions in this thread and have not made a positive response to any of them.

MSPeconomist

I do the opposite. I prefer to have my best hotel stay at the beginning of a trip. When I arrive after a long flight, it's nice to take a bubble bath in a luxurious bathroom, put on the hotel bathrobe and slippers, sometimes take a nap and have the room redone during turndown service, get a good dinner without having to go out, have 24/7 access to room service if I'm suddenly starving at an odd time, and get some nice toiletries to use during the remainder of my trip.

I sometimes plan to stay in an airport hotel for my last night, especially if there's one right at the airport with no shuttle or other transportation required.

Often I stay at an airport hotel at my home airport upon my return and use their airport parking for my trip (and their reliable and frequent airport shuttle). It seems to be the best way to get to and from my airport in terms of safety and cost. It also avoids driving after a long plane ride or when I'm jetlagged.

travelmad478

I'm aware of that, and that's why I posted in a thread that was started to discuss exactly that conundrum.
I've received precisely one suggestion, from willoL, which was to spend half of every day doing the same kinds of things we do at home. That may work for him/her, but to me it seemed to negate the whole point of traveling to someplace different. Your first post referencing my comments didn't make suggestions, and the last paragraph seemed quite condescending in tone. So yes, my response to that wasn't positive.

Chemystery

Did I miss where you asked for suggestions? I read your post(s) as just a statement of facts, I didn't see where you were seeking recommendations or ideas, but I might have missed something in the thread.

Personally, my goal when truly traveling is always to go for long enough that I lose track of the day/date/how many days until the end of the trip. It's different to just hop somewhere for a weekend or short trip, or for an event. For true vacations, my biggest goal is losing myself in the experiences and locations, no matter how quickly or slowly we are traveling.

Best thing is to do what works for you, travel is not one size/style fits all. If you enjoy your trips and come home from them relaxed and satisfied with the experience, that is all that matters.

LapLap

I gave a very similar suggestion, and considering how you described your travel style, I’m not at all surprised you missed it

Follow your interests.

So yes, seems like you’d be doing the same thing as you do at home, but it’s the key to opening up slow travel.

Personally, one of my wide range of interests is textiles. In Japan I could spend MONTHS exploring this interest and I’d get to explore something different every day (a few different things even).

Both in Japan and Spain an interest in textiles can provide a focus for learning about History, bring you closer to cultural festivals and processions, open communication with local enthusiasts who are usually eager to share their passions, give greater context to what you might see in museums, galleries, shops and what people wear in the streets. It even opens up botanical avenues which enriches garden/park visits and hiking excursions.

I have no idea what interests are dear to you but, to give an example, I’ll imagine it might be baseball. Sure, going to a baseball game in Japan, going to several even, would be what you do already back home, but it’s precisely because it is an experience already familiar to you that you can begin to comprehend and savour all the local differences, baseball provides a familiar filter with which to perceive the cornucopia of cultural nuances that you inevitably miss during a short visit.

It’s the rock pool analogy again. You kind of need to know what to look for to see what’s there.

I’m a huge fan of Prof Irving Finkel and agree with him wholeheartedly when he says that museums take the wrong approach when they showcase and prioritise geographical and historical differences, it’s far more interesting and enriching to explore the similarities that exist between us.

travelmad478

Thanks LapLap—I didn’t miss it, but I didn’t dismiss it, either. One of the ways we do what you’re saying is that we have a consuming (pun intended) interest in local food, and that’s a huge part of what we focus on when we’re traveling. And even between two cities in the same country, there are very different things to eat—so that’s one reason we like to move around. For instance, in Mexico, the local specialties in Aguascalientes were quite different from the hometown favorites just a few hours away in Guanajuato and Querétaro, so it was worth it for us to visit all of those places.

I am also a huge fan of lying face down for long periods staring into tide pools, BTW I’m quite certain Mr. travelmad478 is not, so I’ll only do that when I’m flying solo!

LapLap

Food is also my number one interest and it makes me keep returning to the same places so that I can explore (cooking as well as eating) as many of the seasonal differences as possible.

pbiflyer

We have always been the fast traveler types. Recently, we have been staying in places for longer periods of time though (recently Paris for 8 nights). But still try and cram way too much stuff in those days.
The one thing that seems to help slow us down is when you rent an AirBnB type place away from the tourist centers. We did this in London, Antwerp even Charleston SC. We got to experience more local stuff, even just walking, traveling to the transportation centers to go see sites. We met the local shop keepers while buying supplies. We never cooked, but just to have coffee, drinks, and snacks around. We would invariably find a local restaurant, bar that we would end up going to multiple times.

The other suggestion is to find a park and chill. Most cities have great parks. Munich, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, Dublin.
I remember taking coworkers to Retiro Park in Madrid. They said "Why are we here, what is there to do?" I said, "just relax, sit, have a glass of vino and watch there world go by". They said okay for a bit. We left 5 hours later when it got too chilly and the sun went down.

ETA: Commenting on the idea upstream of trying similar things to what you like at home reminded me of another travel tip.
I often take the local public transportation with no real end place in mind. Ideally an above ground method like tram or bus or boat. Keep going until something strikes my fancy or it just gets boring. (Yes, I do some research on places to stay away from). I have discovered some very cool things that way. In Prague, I ended up going to a hockey game. Just riding along the tram until I saw a ton of people headed toward an arena. Checked out the event and prices, and saw a Czech hockey game, even though I am not a big hockey fan. They had cheerleaders and Budvar.
In Vienna took the tram to the end and ended up in their little wine village.
Found local markets, interesting places to eat, parks.
In a small German town, I headed to the train station just to see where I could go. Saw hundreds of people getting on a train to Mainz. Discovered Rosentag (their version of Mardi Gras)
Yeah, sometimes I don't find anything hugely interesting but still see another side of the community I am visiting.

krispy84

This is a good idea to ease yourself into slower travel. Remove a destination from your usual 4/5
and add an extra day at the remaining locations. You won’t be slowing down too much, and can see if you enjoy more time in fewer places or not.

MSPeconomist

In Paris and Moscow, for example, it can be worthwhile to ride the subway just to see the different stations (architecture, artwork, etc.).