The Art of Slow Travel

Gentry, our niece and webmeister, was visiting with us in Las Vegas recently. She was extolling the virtues of the “slow travel movement”. I had to Google it before I understood that we've been part of the slow travel movement since we moved aboard Nine of Cups in 2000 and we didn't even know it. I think that's before they gave it a label.

After further research, I learned that the keys to slow travel revolve around interaction with the local community, people and culture. All the things we love about our liveaboard travel life. None of the “If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium” packed itinerary nonsense. We stick around in one area and get to know a bit about it, experience our surroundings ... maybe have a few of those awesome 90-day rule events. We walk everywhere, go grocery shopping and have leisurely morning coffees at the local cafe, meet people, learn about them.

A few years back, I was asked by Women and Cruising what I liked best about the cruising life. Here was my response...

“Probably three things come to mind immediately...independence, adventure and travel.

Independence and self-reliance are key ingredients of the cruising life. Neither David nor I was brought up sailing...we learned it all from scratch in our 40's. We found a whole new life and a whole new way to look at our lives. Where endless meetings, product introductions and bottom lines once ruled, we're now concerned with weather windows, bottom paint and charting courses. We're constantly challenged to be innovative and imaginative.

I've always loved to travel, but cruising is beyond just traveling...it's cultural immersion.

Beyond visiting a port or country for the usual two week vacation, we “live” in the country...sometimes for months. We learn the language, the shortcuts, the times for the fresh markets and the names of the vendors who give us the best deals. We celebrate local holidays, make local friends and share family outings and celebrations. Each new port, each new country, each new experience in our cruising lives is a new adventure.

To me...this is what life is all about.”

I believe I was describing the slow travel movement and independent travel. The slow traveler doesn't necessarily rely on tour companies or travel agents. They read, do their research and figure out their options. They thrive on learning about the places they intend to visit and they celebrate the differences in culture. They move slowly from place to place, taking in the experience rather than treating each destination as a box to be ticked off on a checklist. Let's see … that's us, us and us. We're already signed up.

In fact, there's an entire “slow” movement brewing up … everything is slow … cities, books, food, even slow money. Finally, the world is spinning at our speed.

My Bucket List

Do you have a bucket list? A list of all the things you want to do in life before you cash out? Sailing around the world was one of ours and we just ticked it off. Hurrah and hallelujah for that, but there are still lots of things I'd like to do and see before I take the big dirt nap. Though we share some bucket list items, like the circumnavigation, David's list differs from mine (e.g. Northwest Passage?) and I'll leave it to him to expound on his own list at some point. Though our bucket list items may differ, it doesn't mean we don't want to do them all together.

Part of compiling the bucket list is also trying to figure out when and how you'll manage to accomplish all those things you've decided are important to do. Admittedly, most of my bucket list items revolve around travel … it's my passion. And yes, some items might have to wait until political unrest has settled in an area.

The world's so big and it was difficult to whittle down the list. Here's my top 10 list … not in any particular order.

View the Northern Lights and maybe even the Southern Lights. 

Live for at least a month in every US state.

We've already visited all of the US states, but living in a state and really touring around is different than just visiting or driving through. You can explore and find all the little nooks and crannies and try to figure out why people live there. We've lived in 11 states for 30 days or longer, so we've got a head start. Some states might be difficult by boat and some of the already visited 11 states just might need a bit more exploring. This would be an ongoing project that would take nearly four years and require some sort of land vehicle.

Visit China.

One of the oldest civilizations in the world. I want to walk on the Great Wall, see the Terracotta Warriors and the Forbidden City, float on the Li and Yangtze Rivers.

Backpack through Western and Eastern Europe.

There's so much to see and do and walking part of the way, stopping in little towns and hamlets, would allow us to see so much more than zipping past in a car or train. This is a pretty broad item because it includes so much territory and so much time, but hey, it's MY bucket list. I'll get more specific when we get there.

Take a barge trip down the Nile, ride a camel in the desert and see the Great Pyramids of Giza.

See polar bears in the wild (not on a Northwest Passage) … maybe a trip to Spitzbergen or the Svalbard Islands in summer?)

Take one of the world's great train trips … the Orient Express, the Trans-Siberian, The Ghan?

Walk the Thames Trail/Path … 184 miles from the Cotswolds to the sea … with lots of pubs along the way.

Kiss the blarney stone … you can never have too much blarney. This would probably entail spending a significant amount of time roaming around in Ireland and perhaps sleeping in a castle.

Visit and explore St. Petersburg. This city has always fascinated me.

That's 10, but really there's so much more I want to see ... tigers in the wild and a visit to Loch Ness, preferably when Nessie is in residence and I want to see elephants swimming in the Andaman Islands and the Taj Mahal and …

Though we've done so much, there's still so much world out there. I can't imagine my bucket will ever be empty. As soon as I take one item off the list, two more pop on. Hope David and I live a long, long time.

So … what's on YOUR bucket list?

Football and Freshies

We've written many times about things we miss while we're at sea or just things we can't find in foreign countries. Crunchy green things for salads, fresh blueberries, green chiles, ground turkey … cars … washing machines … blenders. We manage just fine without, but it's always a treat when we get to have these things again. We certainly appreciate them more. For sure, one of things I miss most when we're at sea is fresh produce and I try to get my fix whenever we're ashore. Sometimes, even when we're in port, finding a good variety of freshies nearby is a challenge. When we're in Boston with Lin, we head to Trader Joe's. When in Las Vegas, Mary and I usually head to Sprouts Farmer's Market, first thing. It allows me to OD on the beautiful displays of freshies … unbelievable variety ... apples, oranges, pears, pomegranates and pineapples ... salad makings galore and everything from parsnips to peaches and kale to kiwi.

Instead of planning meals based on what's left in the larder, (pickled beets, lentils and tuna?) we plan more appealing meals and buy to suit our tastes on a given day. “Let's have roasted root vegetables tonight”, Mary suggested. And so we bought golden beets and parsnips, carrots, red potatoes and onions. We threw in some butternut squash and Brussel sprouts for color and good measure. We prepped the veggies, then Mary tossed them lightly in olive oil, salt and pepper and popped them into the oven to roast. She didn't even worry that it would use up too much propane. Oh, my … delightfully tasty, yet nutritious … a winning combination served with basil chicken sausage from the grill.

Though David might miss the food aspect of things, he rarely complains. He does miss the space to work on his projects, access to more tools (if that's possible) and watching football. Here in Las Vegas he has space, several projects he's volunteered to do for Mary and a whole cache of tools. He's installed new LED overhead lights in the kitchen and added more lights over the breakfast counter. He's replaced a temperature sensor in her all-electronic Samsung fridge-freezer. He doesn't like moss growing on his boat shoes.

Especially at this time of the year, however, his passion for watching football comes to a crescendo. On the boat, we never watch games and rarely even get to listen to them. It's one of America's autumn pastimes and he usually misses out. Not this year. It's play-off season and Sunday afternoons are usually spent watching a game … or two. Of course, that requires a TV, as well as access to the sports channels, and luckily Mary has both.

Now, how do freshies and football connect, you ask? Beyond the fact we miss both things while we're at sea is the fact that not only do we eat healthier here and get to watch the football games now, but we eat (not always healthier) WHILE watching football games. We plan our football feast and shop expressly for it … chips and salsa, guacamole, beer, mimosas (champagne and OJ for Mary and me), spicy chicken wings with bleu cheese dip, crudite (that's the healthy part) and whatever else strikes our fancy. Me? Oh, I like football okay - I can take it or leave it, but I enjoy watching with everyone and then there's the mimosas. Did I mention the mimosas?