As a recently reformed high speed lifer, I can honestly say I didn’t know how well I would adjust to lo-fi slow living. My husband and I had been discussing it for some time and always had our visions of what it would be like to just slow down and take life one day at a time. Most of our conversations seemed romanticized or fantasy like in their nature and to be truthful they were to some degree. Once we set foot on our journey we could not have imagined just how much we had been missing.
It’s true it took some adjusting, the first few weeks we felt a sense of urgency to see it all and do it all. Coming from the high speed life you can probably relate to the idea of time frames and deadlines. Even our down time was harnessed by time itself. Any trip or weekend spent “relaxing” was just another version of high speed action. Hurry up and relax so we can get back to hurrying in our day to day living. We would often feel guilty if we spent to long “relaxing”.
We started out with a plan of action, an itinerary of our days with adventure crammed into time slots like patients waiting to see a doctor in the waiting room. Scenery and time flew by like any other trip we might have planned or taken previous to our full-time rving.
Suddenly Time Slowed Down
It took a couple of weeks for it to start to sink in that we didn’t have to rush. Slowly but surely we started to see the world around us without the next destination in mind. The guilt of not rushing was disappearing and the scenery of the day became brighter and more intense. We found ourselves being very content with spending a whole day exploring one place at our own pace. Having no real time limits and learning to not watch the clock so to speak have changed how I plan to experience this journey.
Embracing The Journey
Once we accepted that we weren’t wasting precious time by cramming touristy events in to our day every day, we were able to let go of a level of guilt I think we were experiencing, by doing so we have discovered some valuable lessons.
Journey With Eyes Wide Open
We have “seen” more than we could have ever imagined. Without rushing we are able to take time to decide where we want to go and what we want to see. Often we discover places and spaces we didn’t even know were there by allowing ourselves to slow down. We are able to truly immerse ourselves in the area and get an in depth view of what is around us.
Slow Travel Is Much Less Expensive
We have become artists at finding free and super cheap things to do. One of our favorite discoveries is Casino Camping. Casino Camping is essentially dry camping at casinos but for free. For us it’s a great version of boon-docking that allows us to still feel connected to society at some degree. We have met many other full-timers while staying at the casinos and love sharing stories and hearing stories of adventures on the road. Plus, free really stretches the dollars. For a few tips on how to find rv friendly casino's check out my budget travel tips here.
Slow Travel Is Less Stressful
So many times I can remember almost dreading taking a weekend trip just because of all the details that needed to be taken care of just to rush out the door to rush to our destination and rush to see everything we could before rushing back home to get back in the race. When you have weeks ahead of you versus hours suddenly there is no stress if you decide to spend a little extra time somewhere. If you, like me struggle with chronic pain slow travel allows for tough days without guilt of ruining your trip because you don’t feel good.
Give Yourself Time To Adjust
My best advice to new full-timers about learning to transition into slow travel is to think of it as a well written book. Write your story in great detail; describe everything your senses are experiencing. Don’t worry about the time it takes to write the story but rather making sure you have included all the small details that paint the picture in your mind. Each story can be as long or as short as you like it’s up to you. Just make sure you feel like the story was well investigated and told to its completion without cutting it short. Most importantly, give yourself space to adjust, for some I am sure it will be more difficult than others but the journey is worth it. There are no steadfast rules as a full-time traveler, no deadlines, no guilt, just life at your own pace.
Happy Trails Travelers,
Will, Mj and the Puptarts!
