How Slow Travel Helps You Find Hidden Gems Around the World

Slow travel transforms vacations into meaningful journeys by encouraging travelers to take their time and connect with the places they visit. In this episode, we explore practical tips for embracing slow travel, the surprising encounters it can lead to, and why depth of experience matters more than the number of destinations.

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• 0:00 Discovering Slow Travel
• 13:32 Hidden Gems of Slow Travel

Transcript

Bob Bales: 0:00

Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where we explore the most intriguing aspects of travel, culture and history. I'm your host, Bob Bales, and today we're diving into a transformative way to travel slow travel. If you've ever come back from a vacation feeling like you barely scratched the surface of a destination, well, today's episode is for you. We'll explore how slowing down can help you uncover hidden gems, the kind of places and experiences that don't make it into most guidebooks but will leave a lasting impression and some great memories. So stay tuned. Hi and welcome back, and today we're talking about slow travel, and I'm going to start by telling you about a little bar I stumbled into in Prague.

Bob Bales: 1:07

I had no plans that day and I just decided to wander around and check out the town. Well, I ended up on this little side street and, it being a hot day, I wanted to grab a beer and relax for a bit. Now, the first thing I noticed when I entered this bar was that there was little witch dolls everywhere. I mean, they were hanging from the ceiling. They were at the end of the bar, they were just all over the place and it wasn't Halloween. And the second thing I noticed was that the bartender was a woman and the three patrons in the bar were women and I was the only guy in the bar. So I ordered a beer and when I asked the bartender why the witch decor, she replied well, this is a witch bar. I kind of smiled and asked her. I said well, are you a witch? She said yes, yes, I'm a witch. And then she pointed to the other three women in the bar and she goes, and so are they.

Bob Bales: 2:00

Well, my day just got a lot more interesting and I wound up spending about an hour and a half talking to the bartender, who I found out owned the and the other witches. Apparently they had a coven in Prague and they were members of the witch coven and that was their watering hole. Well, I had a blast. I mean, I asked them all kinds of questions about witches and apparently they were good witches. They didn't cast evil spells, I didn't walk out of there as a toad or anything and they found out I was from Texas. They were interested in talking about Texas. Now, I wouldn't have found this place if I'd been rushing around between attractions in a hurry to see everything I could possibly see, and that is the magic of slow travel. It creates a space for the unexpected.

Bob Bales: 2:45

So what is slow travel? Well, let's break it down. Slow travel is about trading a jam-packed itinerary for meaningful experiences. It's about spending more time in fewer places and really immersing yourself into the culture, and traveling in a way that feels intentional. Imagine skipping the whirlwind tour of Europe you know the ones they advertise where you see 18 countries in three days, and instead just spending a single month in one country, or two or three weeks in one location, and really getting to know the people and the area that you're staying in. And why does this matter? Well, slow travel allows you to connect more deeply with the people, the places and even yourself. Instead of rushing around, you get to savor the journey. It's not just about where you go, it's about how you experience it.

Bob Bales: 3:48

And one of the best things about slow travel is that it gives you the time and the space to discover those lesser-known places. Think about it when you're not racing around from one tourist hotspot to another, you can take the time to explore the off-the-beaten-path streets and talk to locals, or just let serendipity guide you and wander around, like I did a lot of times, and discover things on your own, for instance, during a trip to the Philippines, I spent a week in Puerto Princesa, which is a town in the island of Palawan, and, because I had the time, I visited a place called the Vietnam Village, and the Vietnam Village is a town that arose from the Vietnamese boat people that were escaping Vietnam at the end of the war. The town at one time there were several families that lived there and it had all these little neatly manicured homes. It was streets laid out and complete with a temple, farmland and other amenities. But by the time I visited there was only three or four families lived there and there was a restaurant on the main highway at the entrance to the village and the temple was still pretty well maintained. But it was kind of surreal because it was part ghost town and part manicured homes of these three and four families that still live there. When I got there I met a young lady who was working in the fields and she told me all about the village and told me how it came about that I was free to walk around and take photos and look at stuff, she said. Well, even though a lot of the homes are abandoned, they would appreciate not going in them, which I didn't do, but I just walked around the town. Then I went and had lunch at the restaurant and I talked to the owners, who also lived in the village. It was a neat experience. I mean, it was a time in history that happened that very few people knew about, and it wasn't in any guidebook, it was just something I discovered simply by being there, being open to the experience.

Bob Bales: 5:52

So how can you adopt slow travel and uncover your own little hidden gems? Well, here's a couple of tips to get you started. First, if you're in a touristy place like Prague which I spent a month in Prague get away from the tourist areas and explore some. I mean, big cities are great, but smaller towns and rural areas often hold the most surprises. Like I said, I was in Prague for a month. While I was there, I took a day trip on a train to Dresden, germany. I also visited a lot of other small towns around Prague and I wandered all over the city. That's where me and the witchers had beer.

Bob Bales: 6:31

You could also, you know, stay longer in one place, opt for a week or two in one town, and, just instead of hopping around from city to city, you choose accommodations that connect you with the locals, like guest houses and homestays or even house setting opportunities. Explore by foot or, you know, grab one of those little bicycles that they rent all over the place and take a little bike ride around town, because when you slow down your pace, you notice details that you otherwise would miss. I mean, I love walking around and exploring places because you can really come across some interesting things and meet some really cool people and, most importantly, talk to people. I mean I talk to everyone the people working at the hotel and the restaurant workers and just about everyone. Why? Well, because locals know the area a lot better than any guidebook and they'll point you to the best hidden spots, whether it be a scenic overlook or a tucked away little restaurant where all the locals eat. I asked him, I said if you had a friend visiting from out of town, where would you take him? What would you want him to see while you were here? And they'll tell you all the cool places. And just to give you a little inspiration, I'll share a couple of places.

Bob Bales: 7:46

Like I said, when I was in the Czech Republic, I was there in Prague for a month. Well, I I took one day and I went to the little town of Pilsen, which is real close, about a 45-minute train ride. Pilsen is known for the Pilsner or Quell Brewery. Now. This brewery opened up in 1842, and it was the very first brewery to make Pilsner beer, which Pilsner beer is all over the world right now. Well, they invented it. When I heard that, I had to go visit the brewery and it is still in operation today. They're still making beer and you can tour the brewery and I think they had, if I'm not mistaken, somewhere between 7 and 12 kilometers of tunnels underneath the brewery, just crisscrossing everywhere where they stored the beer. I mean, it was a cool little brewery tour. But Pilsen also has other things. They got catacombs under the town that you can tour and I, walking around town, which is a very small town, I discovered the George S Patton Museum, a creation of one man's passion to commemorate the liberation of the town of Pilsen by General George Patton during World War II. A fantastic little museum.

Bob Bales: 9:04

Now, when I was in Macedonia, which is now known as Northern Macedonia or North Macedonia, I visited the town of Orid O-H-R-I-D. Orid sits on the border of Albania and it's a beautiful old town, sits on Lake Orid, which is the lake that separates Macedonia from Albania, but Orid is known as the Jerusalem of the Balkans because of its religious significance and all the historical heritage. It sits, like I said, on the shores of Lake Orrid and it borders Albania and at one time it had 365 churches, one for every day of the year. There's still a whole bunch of those churches there and monasteries, including St Sophia, which was built in 1025. And they also have a big castle on top of the hill that you can go visit. I mean, it is a really, really cool town and I was telling you about accommodations.

Bob Bales: 10:04

When I was in Macedonia, at Ord, I stayed in a guest house. It was a man and woman. They were probably in their late 60s, early 70s at the time and it was their home and they had turned it into a guest house. They lived downstairs. Upstairs there were four bedrooms that they rented out, the rooms, and I had a blast talking to them and meeting them. They were great. They told me all about the place. In fact, I sat there and went out to the garden one afternoon, drank wine with the guy that owned the place from grapes that he had grown and made his own wine.

Bob Bales: 10:40

One morning, when I came down and I said, well, I told him hello I mean, there wasn't a lot of interaction with him, they were just the hosts of the place. But I came downstairs and I saw her standing there, his wife, and I told her hello and said I'm going to leave now. And she said well, wait a minute, come here. She brought me in there and she had made some kind of coffee cake for breakfast and she wanted me to have a piece of coffee cake before I left. So I said okay. So I had a piece of coffee cake and before I could do anything, she shoved this little shot glass in my hand and poured me a clear liquor. Now, having drank clear liquor in Europe and Middle East and some other places, I knew what I was in store for. And it was some kind of homemade brandy that she made. And after I took this shot of liquid fire, before I could catch my breath and say anything, she poured me another shot. Now, mind you, this is 7.30 in the morning, so I was starting my morning off real good, some really nice coffee cake and two shots of homemade liquor. And before she could do a third shot, I said, oh, that's it, I got to go. I'll have another one later.

Bob Bales: 11:45

But those are the kind of people you meet when you just do a little bit of slow traveling. I stayed at this guest house that they owned and they told me all about the place. I had a blast talking to them. I had a blast exploring the town of Ored, and those are just a couple of places that you can find that are off the beaten path and when you let go of strict itineraries and embrace a slower and more curious way of traveling.

Bob Bales: 12:10

And I guess, looking back on it, I've always done some form of slow traveling. I prefer to go somewhere and just explore the area, walk around town, discover things, meet people and talk to them, because you find the most interesting things, meet some of the most interesting people and you come back with some fabulous stories that you can tell your friends. So you got a choice. You can take a one-week four-country whirlwind tour of Europe and say I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées, the Tower of London, and I remember sleeping a lot on the bus overnight as we went from one place to the other. Or you can come back and tell your friends man, I met a bunch of witches in Prague. So, as we wrap it up here. Here's the takeaway it's more than just a way to see the world.

Bob Bales: 13:07

Slow travel is a mindset. It's about being present and savoring the journey and just opening yourself up to the unexpected. So on your next trip, resist the urge to just pack your schedule with all kinds of things to do. I mean, go ahead and schedule some things, say I want to see this and I want to see this, but leave yourself time to wander around a little bit, get lost in a good way, and you might just uncover a hidden gem that makes your trip unforgettable.

Bob Bales: 13:32

So thanks for joining me on this episode of the Traveling Fool, and if you've discovered your own little hidden gems through slow travel, I'd love to hear about them. You can share your stories with us on social media or just shoot me an email at editor at the Traveling Fool. And if you haven't, go ahead and sign up for my newsletter, like I said, I send it out about once a month. I occasionally miss a month. It's packed full of travel news and contests and things of that nature. Never say your name or email address. I'm a one-man show. The only place your name and email goes is to me to add to the newsletter. So until next time, safe travels, thank you, you.