When travel stops being a checklist
Taking the time you need — on the road and in life
My journey as a digital nomad started after the pandemic hit in a quest to explore the world and discover as much as I can. At that time, I was in my early twenties, excited to escape the loop and discover myself and the world. I was lucky enough to be able to keep doing the job I liked while embracing this lifestyle. While these years were full of ups and downs, I can certainly say that they shaped me into the person I am today. My needs shifted throughout the years, and so our traveling style evolved and embraced the version of slow traveling that we are still pursuing nowadays.
"Beyond the mountains, there are always more mountains, at last until you reach the final mountain before your time on earth comes to an end. In the meantime, few things are more exhilarating than mountaineering."- Meditations for mortals, Oliver Burkeman
If you'd asked me a couple of years ago how I imagined the future would look like or if I would still be traveling, I would probably have had no clue. In the first years of traveling, I wanted to see more; the FOMO was real – the constant chase of a new location, a new destination to visit.
All this connected with the fact that this was the energy that defined my early twenties: hustle, hustle, hustle towards new goals that felt bigger every time I was starting to get close to achieving them. So changing places one month to another, moving across countries, and doing 100 things in less than 3 or 4 weeks were a normality that seemed unbeatable.
A couple of days ago, I was strolling with my partner and began talking about how we changed and how much our traveling style changed, and we tried to put a label of good or bad on these changes. It all started from rewinding how many things we did/saw in one month in Portugal when we first arrived here 3 years ago. We actually explored the whole Algarve region plus Lisbon plus Seville in only one month while working full-time jobs.
Fast forward to this year: in one month, we actually did 10% of that. Should we call it good or bad? Are we behind on the traveling barometer that keeps count of how much we visit per week?
I don't have an answer to this question, but I think that throughout the years, you just establish your own traveling barometer, and you know when it's too much or not enough. As a digital nomad, you might have times when you're tired of the hustle or other times when you want to soak it all in, and it's perfectly okay to embrace both states of the world and that’s why slow travelling is the new normal for us. But why?
It gives you freedom to have balance
I talk a lot in this newsletter about habits, and honestly, I am highly driven by habits. But years ago, when I started this journey, I had to make some trade-offs to be able to experience this lifestyle and grasp as much as I could.
Starting to slow it down and live more in a certain place gives you space to just be – to visit, explore, discover – while having time for constancy in the other areas of life.
And this actually allows you more time for personal growth, reflection, and intentional living because once you are all the time on the road, honestly, these are the last things you have time for.
In the quest of finding your tribe
I don't disagree with the idea that you can actually meet a lot of people while changing your location monthly, but I don't think this works for everybody. For me, since I am an introvert disguised as an extrovert for social reasons :)), I just find that I need more time to actually build relationships, even when it comes to acquaintances.
So I love to see how my relationship with the lady from the market where I buy fruits every week grows from week to week, or how we start getting to know the nomad community by attending meet-ups. These are not major steps, but connecting with like-minded people takes time, and slow traveling gives me this.
Find nuances instead of checking things on a list
Three years ago, when we first came to the Algarve, as I told you before, we managed to see almost all the attractions here.I think we actually managed to check all the beautiful points in the region, but it took us two more years to explore and discover their potential. What I mean is that now we have trails that we've visited at least 10 times, but each time they are just different, and we keep discovering new angles – from the way seasons change and shape the trails to finding new unbeaten paths or spots that we never noticed.
This idea of change of nuances is not only a positive trait. As a traveler, each year when I come back to a place, I see how things change, how politics and other factors are actually influencing every aspect of the country, from creating new travel opportunities to lack of preservation of the current ones. These are just minor things in an ocean of changes.
So places change, we change, and the only constant thing that we have is the present moment and how we actually decide to use it. So if you're still in doubt if becoming a slow nomad or starting to travel more is something for you, this is your sign to actually do it and see how things unfold.
Travel inspo
I will leave here recommendations or other resources I find along the way.
Loule Carnival if you are in Algarve; This is one of the oldest and most traditional carnivals in Portugal, dating back over 100 years. The streets of Loulé come alive with colorful parades, elaborate floats, samba dancers, and music that will keep you dancing all day long. The satirical themes and costumes offer a unique glimpse into Portuguese culture and current events through humor and artistry.
Since I've been spending more time in the Algarve lately, I've created an itinerary you can check out that showcases the most beautiful landmarks and offers tips on how to plan your trip to experience them all
If you are into running and you’re looking for an excuse to visit Galicia, you can check out VigBay and register.
If you need help planning your next trip, don't forget that you can check out Nomad Trips, and I will help you schedule your itinerary from scratch, providing support to create a memorable experience in line with your expectations.
Nomad Listing's Recommendations
This month I included accommodations available in April and May in Finland, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Lithuania, France, Monteneg
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See you next time, fellow nomad!