The Joy of Slow Travel - JT's Tales From the Trail

Jill Thomas is a rambler, traveler, and storyteller with a big laugh who thinks its funny how life leads you right where you need to be, however the roundabout path. 

My hubby Stormy and I recently returned from a six-week trip to central Mexico. We were gone too long to consider it a vacation. I worked remotely full-time and was more disciplined and rigorous than usual with my work to carve out space for daily adventures.

I got into a rhythm of waking up and starting work while still in bed. I'd lobby Stormy to venture out for coffee - mostly successfully. Around 1 PM, I'd wrap up my work, and we'd head out for a ramble. We'd walk slow, aimless miles through unfamiliar and intriguing landscapes, finding food in markets along the way.  

When we felt tired, we'd find a bench with a view and enjoy a sit down usually people-watching in a cathedral square. We'd head back to our accommodation for drinks with our travel buddies during the witching hour, and then head out for dinner. 

Every day felt like two days - a day of work and another full day of play. My soul still isn't home from Mexico.

Other things were also different about this trip. We're old enough to understand we'll never see everything and are no longer so compelled by the fear of missing out. We have little interest in most points of interest. 

We chose destinations with few other tourists because we like this kind of thing and have the time to do the necessary leg work. Stormy spends his mornings doing the stuff that needs to be done to travel this way. It's hard work. 

To accommodate all of this, we have to move slowly. 

Stormy and I discussed how we might never go on a packaged vacation again - to a beach resort or on a cruise. No judgment. We have gone on many in our lives. We enjoyed packaged holidays when we were younger. We were tired from hustle and didn't have time to plan independent trips. We could only be away from work for a limited time, and packaged vacations are much more manageable with kids.

Today packaged vacations feel boring, lacking in novelty and sparkle of deeper explorations. They also feel unsustainable. The impact of large-scale tourism on the environment, communities, and cultures is causing me cognitive dissonance. On this trip, I felt pained visiting a tourist destination like Mazatlan, guilty about contributing to the over-the-top over-development of it all.  

I live full-time in a tourist destination, so I may be overly sensitive to the impacts and exhaustion of being in a place designed primarily for tourism.

Today, when rambling, I am thinking about re-entry—a splash down of sorts because I am at home after being away and I'm feeling discombobulated.

I am finding joy in familiar food, safe tap water, and the excitement in seeing people I love and my cat. But I am also feeling a loss.

Years ago, arriving home after a month in India, I found myself waking up in an airport hotel after 36 travel hours of travel with colorful stains on my face from the powder thrown at me during the festival of Holi thousands of miles away. I cried when I looked out the window at the Costco across the street in Canada's orderly suburban landscape.

The blandness and the ending of an adventure felt sad.This is what it feels like to be happy to be home but simultaneously missing something.

Someone once told me that while your body flies while traveling, your soul walks. I remind myself of this every re-entry and give myself grace while my soul walks home. 

Our lives change as we age in so many ways, sometimes for the better. Slow travel is a well-earned blessing I am keen to take as much advantage of as possible. Stormy and I also realized on this trip that the way we like to travel is only for some!

So this week, while you ramble, Sole Sisters, think about your middle-aged travel and adventure dreams. How have they changed as you age? Do you crave a lot of adventure or just a little? Or you may want more time at home with your grandkids and dogs. 

Let me know in the comments!