The Challenges of Short-Term Travel

Today I stumbled upon a blog post about a small country in Southeast Asia.  The blogger began by noting that, sadly, she “only” had a month to spend in this particular place, and wished she could have stayed longer (it did sound quite lovely).  But I couldn’t help shaking my head a bit at this statement: four weeks in one country?!  I could probably see (at least the highlights of) Southeast Asia in four weeks!

I’ve long been a traveler who takes lots of super-quick trips.  This is not particularly because I like them, but because that’s just the way my travel life has worked out.  I never spent a summer backpacking through Europe as a teenager, or saved up for a six-month leisurely Southeast Asia trek in my twenties.  I had no idea, for years, that either of these were viable options.

Growing up, I traveled a fair amount with my family—Bermuda every summer; Europe a few times to see family; trips in the U.S. to Boston, California, Atlanta, Cape Cod.  I wasn’t travel-deprived, but neither did I consider long-term travel as something I might be able to do as an adult.  I was twenty-four when I first heard the expression “backpacking through Europe” on a TV show I was watching.  I was in my thirties before it even occurred to me that South America or Southeast Asia might be worth a look.

The travel bug hit me relatively late in life.  And by the time it did, I had a career I couldn’t just pick up and leave easily.  I did finally quit my job in my late twenties to move overseas, living in Prague and London for two years, both of which were amazing experiences and allowed me to squeeze in lots of side trips to other interesting European hot spots; but again, these were short weekend trips.  The longest continuous trip I’ve ever taken lasted two weeks (Italy and Croatia).  Usually, my overseas travels are squeezed into a week (if I’m lucky) or even a long weekend, if I have to be especially mindful of using up vacation days.

Despite all this, I’ve managed to visit nearly thirty countries.  I’ve found a way to make short-term travel feasible for myself and have packed a lot of destinations into the past decade.  I certainly can’t complain.

Yet reading this particular blog post made me feel a bit wistful.  How wonderful would it be to have months on end to explore a new continent or country—to really get to dig in, uncover hidden secrets, not feel rushed, and truly get to slow down and enjoy the journey?

Making a Change

Not long ago, I decided I wanted to check out a new country in South America (which shall remain nameless until my plans firm up—there have to be some surprises, after all!)  At first I thought I could fit it into an extra-long weekend and only take three days off work—saving up those precious vacation days, woohoo!

But the more I considered my potential itinerary, the more exhausted it made me feel, which is possibly a sign that I’m getting old, but whatever.  Did I really want to fly twelve hours each way to be in a new city and country for only three days?  The more I thought about it, the less fun it sounded to me.

On my most recent trip to Iceland, I only spent three days in the country.  For Iceland, this actually worked out okay, because it’s compact enough that you can see a lot in that period and the flight time and jet lag aren’t prohibitive.  Still, as much as I enjoyed my trip, it was rather exhausting to head to the airport straight from a full day of work (still answering work emails on the way to catch my flight), fly overnight, then three days later be back on the plane so I could repeat the journey and be at work again the next morning.  In fact, several colleagues who are facebook friends and had been following my trip online were shocked to see me back already when I’d been posting photos of my visit to the Blue Lagoon literally the day before!

All this has made me realize something: I need to slow down.  I love travel, I love seeing as many new places as I can possibly find the means to explore.  But I need to do it at a more sane pace.  I need more time to relax and unwind and truly enjoy the places I’m seeing.  This may mean fewer trips, but longer, slower-paced, and ultimately, more rewarding ones.

I’m still planning to go to South America in the spring, but not for a quickie trip.  Instead, I want to take off a whole week (hey, it’s not a month but it’s the best I can do), have several days to explore the capitol and surrounding countryside, and actually have a full recovery day on the other end when I get home.  Planning a trip that way feels like a wonderful luxury, and I’m excited (rather than exhausted) just thinking about how great it will be.

I may never be able to while away half a year in Europe or Asia, but I think those who can are both very fortunate and onto something important.  Slower, deeper, and more relaxing travel has all kinds of benefits, not the least of which is that it makes travel feel like a pleasure rather than a chore.  And that’s the way it should be.

Are you a slow traveler, or do you prefer shorter trips?  How do you fit travel into the rest of your life?  Any tips or suggestions?