.jpg)
Matthew and I are planning our dream honeymoon for this coming June. We will be taking three luxurious weeks to explore France, Italy, and Greece. Although three weeks sounds like a lot of time, three weeks is not nearly enough to thoroughly visit even one of the countries on our itinerary. We wrote out wish lists of everything we wanted to do and see while there and came away with quite the long list! We decided that we would have to narrow it down to only the essentials so that we could truly enjoy the experience and make the most of each place. We wanted to travel at a slower pace, soaking in each new experience and truly living in the present moment instead of carting ourselves from place to place and leaving with a feeling that time went by too fast.
Oh but it was tempting to fill up every day with places to see, things to try, food to eat, and activities to do. If you’re like me, wanting to make the most of your travel experiences, but also wanting to take the time to enjoy the adventure and travel slowly with intention, then I have some useful tips to help you plan your trip.
Create Your Wish List
After you know where you are going create your experiences wish list. This is the long list of every activity you want to do and place you want to visit on your trip. Don’t worry about how it will all work out just yet, simply get your dream out on paper.
Your Top Three
Now comes the tricky part: pick your top three. (If you’re going as a couple or a group each person gets their top three.) It is ok if your top three overlaps with someone else’s top three. In fact, this makes narrowing down your list all the more manageable. This top three list contains the places and activities that you absolutely must do. Plan for these: put it in your itinerary, book the tickets, schedule the time, and make it happen. These three experiences are immune to the chopping block.
Narrow Down Your List
If you’re planning a “once in a lifetime trip,” you may feel a desperate need to see everything. But no one can see absolutely everything if they’re on a time limit. The hardest part is narrowing down your list. Try not to exceed one major experience per day or every other day. To make the process easier, consider crossing off any item that is too expensive, too far away from your other destinations, or that you and your travel partner do not agree on.
Another way to ease the process is to simply remind yourself that you can go back again one day. When visiting Italy we really wanted to see Pisa, the Amalfi Cost, Tuscany, Florence, and Pompeii. But we also wanted to see Verona, Rome, and Venice. Realistically, we knew we couldn’t do it all so we chose our top three and stuck to it. We simply told ourselves, “we can always go back.” That made eliminating places on our list a little easier. There is always the future.
Still too difficult to narrow down? Matthew and I still felt the need to include the Amalfi Coast and Florence on our list. What made it easier to remove them was knowing that we would need more than a single day to truly appreciate the two places. We would only have a day to see each place and the rest of our time would be with all of the extra travel. In our hearts we knew we would be happier planning a future trip one day where we could take at least three days to appreciate each of those locations instead of catching a glimpse and leaving with a feeling of missing out. We chose the quality of our trip over the quantity.
Schedule Extra Time For Travel
Life happens; flights get delayed, you miss the train, the taxi is late, or the weather is bad. Anything can happen to delay your trip. So plan extra time into each travel day. If you know you will be going far, make sure to plan a time cushion before and after your travels so you do not feel rushed or stressed getting from one place to the next. Travel also often takes longer than we imagine. When I started researching taking the train from Nice France to Verona Italy, I thought that it would take around 4 hours, but I later learned that it was actually a little over six hours for the journey. Plan for the unexpected.
Try Slow Transportation
While on the move, consider taking slow transportation such as traveling by train so you will have time to sit back and take in the scenery. For this reason, we also decided to rent a car to drive across France instead of flying from one place to the next. The little road trip will give us the experience of seeing the country first hand.
Slow Down Your Meals
If you eat out for every meal of the day you will try many great meals, but also feel like you’re a part of the tourist crowd. Try eating like a local for one or two meals of the day (usually breakfast or lunch) by buying food at the market like a local and picnicking at parks. Having time outside in nature is a lovely way to slow down and appreciate a different view of the place you are visiting. You can also have meals inside the place you are staying for a much needed break from the flurry of travel. On the plus side, you will also save money.
Another way to slow down your meals is to take your time. In The United States, people tend to rush their meals, eating far too quickly to enjoy the taste, the experience, and their time with friends. If you are eating alone, appreciate where you are. While eating with a partner or small party, cherish the conversation. What I love about the European countries is that people have not lost the art of enjoying their food and the experience that may come with it.
Take Time For Yourself
You do not need a lot of time each day, but do find some time to yourself to refresh and slow down. I know people who love to start their mornings with a run, yoga, walk, meditation, or reading. You can bring a coloring book, book of poetry, notebook, painting materials, cross stitching, or any number of small activities that you enjoy. Sometimes the best times to take a moment are in the mornings, before bed, during lunch, or as you travel by train or plane. You may even want to write (or create art) in a travel journal. No matter what it is, make sure you have time for you as you travel so that you are your absolute best self if you encounter any stressful situations or so you can have a small break from your travel companions when needed.
Take In The Moment
Take the photograph, call your mother, check your e-mail if you absolutely must, but know when to unplug and truly live the moment. For that reason I do not travel with my cell phone off. I keep it fully charged for emergency situations, but I do not use it or any social media as I travel. As a photographer, I know that I will be taking plenty of photos, so I plan some of my photo time in advance so that I can put it away later to experience the present. I keep off all social media because the photos I want to share will be just as amazing several days (or weeks) from now as they are in that moment. It can wait, but the experience cannot.
Plan For Unplanned Exploring
My favorite tip of all is knowing where you are going, but not knowing what you will be doing and seeing along the way. I call this unplanned exploring: when you pick a place (Gordes, France for example) but do not schedule what you will do or see while you are there. Matthew and I have planned numerous days or half days full of unplanned exploring. We knew which city we will be in, but we did not plan every hour of the day, which leaves our days wide open to find places to see, eat, and things to do as we go along. This makes our days less stressed, feel more adventurous, and will slow down our pace. It is something we like to do during every trip we take. If you’re jumping from one planned activity to the next, you may miss out on opportunities to find your own experiences off of the beaten path. Try going for a walk to take in the sites and go where your feet lead you.
What are some of your favorite ways to slow down your own travels and take in the moment? Please share them in the comments below.
