If you are a collector of destinations, we propose an alternative way to travel. This is the ‘slow travel’, with which you will learn to enjoy your travels in a different way.
The ‘slow’ movement has come into our lives with a bang: ‘slow food’, ‘slow life’, ‘slow travel‘…. All of them with a single purpose: to leave aside the rush and enjoy the pleasures of life. Because as Clark Frank once said: “Everyone tries to do something big, without realizing that life is made up of small things”. And that is exactly what slow travel promotes: it doesn’t matter what the destination is, because the important thing is to blend in with the place, establish relationships with the local people and be part of the customs.
Traveling is not the same as sightseeing
If you are one of those who prefer to get to know a place without the sole purpose of crossing monuments off a list, if you choose to explore cities on foot and thus interact with local people or if you love to discover the destination through its gastronomy, yes, you can consider yourself a traveler.
A solidarity trip to the most unknown India
The fact of traveling slowly is not related to the proximity of the place you are visiting, but to the immersion in its culture. For this reason, and to get to know a way of life and a society totally different from what we are used to, a trip to India, where you can visit the lesser known places of the country, is the perfect option to feel the authentic ‘slow travel’. Because India is one of those destinations where you can leave the traditional tourist circuits and discover that there is another world beyond the Taj Mahal. A perfect trip to put responsible tourism into practice and promote the local economy. How? By bringing out your most caring side while discovering the country’s traditions and learning about the main problems that society faces on a daily basis.
Surely you have already heard about the exploitation that animals suffer in the most touristy places and, therefore, you will have the opportunity to experience it from the other side: collaborating with an orphanage of elephants that have been rescued. You will be able to feed them, bathe them or walk with them. You will also learn about the situation of women in public transport – harassment, rape and insecurity – and you will be able to collaborate first-hand with the women cab drivers’ project, created to provide safe transport. You will sleep in ‘havelis’, the typical dwellings of Rajasthan, getting to know the essence of the rural areas, living with the people and learning one of the most popular handicraft techniques in the country, ‘blockprinting’, while you print your own fabric to take home. This is a real ‘souvenir’!
Are you a slow traveler or a collector of destinations?
If you’ve come this far and don’t know which option to choose, you can consider yourself a slow traveler. Because you love to live new experiences, get to know the destination from the locals and put into practice any of its traditions. Without haste, without plans, letting yourself go. Because you don’t care how many places you visit, what really matters to you is to be able to say that yes, you have lived that destination like no one else and you know that these are the kind of memories that stay with you for life.
If, on the other hand, you are one of those who plan your trips down to the last detail, you leave nothing to chance and your only goal is to visit as many places as possible, you can say that you are a good collector of destinations. Your world map is full of thumbtacks, you don’t like to repeat the same country twice and you prefer a fleeting visit than to miss the photo. Because you know better than anyone that a trip is not for resting, you’ll have time for that at home!
And you, what are you, a traveler or a tourist, a slow traveler or a collector of destinations? Whatever you are and each in their own way, if there is one thing for sure is that a trip is to enjoy.
