Why we stopped travelling fast (and what it saves us)

There’s a version of travel where you see everything and remember nothing. We did that version for years: five cities in two weeks, a checklist of landmarks, and a camera roll we never look at.

Then one trip went wrong in the best way. A cancelled connection stranded us in one town for ten days, and by day six the woman at the bakery knew our order. That felt more like travel than any viewpoint we’d queued for.

The maths of staying put

Slow travel isn’t just calmer — it’s cheaper per day, often dramatically:

• Monthly rates beat nightly rates. Flat rentals typically drop 40 to 60 percent when you book by the month instead of the night.
• You stop eating every meal out. A kitchen and a local market cut food costs roughly in half.
• Transport almost disappears. No flights every four days, no airport transfers. You walk.

We’ll publish a full cost breakdown for every stop on this journal — real numbers, nothing rounded to look impressive.

What this journal is

Each entry is a stop on the route: where we stayed, what it cost, what worked, and what we’d skip. No listicles of “top 10 hidden gems.” Just an honest log of living slowly in one place at a time.

First stop coming soon. Pack light.