This is part of a weekly series I’ll be publishing during COVID-19

Fast Travel vs. Slow Travel

For the longest time, I’ve been a fast traveler. Fast travel is non-stop and relentless. It involves plane hopping and anything you can do to get from Point A to Point B faster. I once recall flying between 2 cities on a single day, then checking into a third city for dinner (oh the joys of work travel!). On another occasion, I was traveling weekly for a client and in order to take advantage of a special promotion from Marriott, a group of colleagues and I decided to check-in and check-out of a different hotel each evening. So on a typical business week, we would stay at 3–4 hotels just to maximize points and get the bonus incentive. It was exhausting, but also thrilling. Typically, the weeks became blurs and when asked about my trips, I’d struggle to name anything in particular, except perhaps a restaurant in town.

More recently, I’ve been converting over towards slow travel. Currently, I’m sitting outside a 30 foot recreational vehicle (RV) which we rented for the week. If you asked me what our schedule was like for the day, it’s loosely planned but also allows for spontaneity. Slow travel involves cars, bicycles, and feet. Unlike planes that can travel 500+ miles per hour, slow travel takes place at a much slower pace (down to 1 mile an hour with kids on a steep hike!). It is less about distance traveled — more about soaking in the experience and feeling of a place.