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Sitting outside a cafe on a mountain top in Austria sipping espresso while your kids are jumping on the trampoline ... Watching the parade of cows walk past your apartment as they head to the high pastures for the summer in a small Swiss village .... Arriving in glamorous and beautiful Portofino (Italy) on foot .....Hiking up to King Ludwig's little known (and very eccentric) hunting lodge in Bavaria.... Bicycling to a revolutionary war fort in Vermont. These are just a few of the endless ways of experiencing what has now been given an official label and seal of approval as the Slow Travel movement. Similar to the Slow Food movement, the Slow Travel is all about really tasting your travel experiences.
When we take the time to smell the roses (or look at the icicles, depending upon the season) and do less, we get so much more from travel. More authentic experiences, more memories, more relaxation. Henry David Thoreau, one of the original slow travelers, talked about the benefits of walking for creative thought when he said "Me think that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."
Vacations should not be like hitting your head against the wall. It should simply not feel so good when it stops. Are we having fun yet? I don't think so, if it means that you are rushing from site to site, shoving your bag out the door in the morning, and returning home after your trip having zoomed by a blur of must-see's that you didn't really see. I remember one "if this is Tuesday it must be Belgium" family vacation when I was 14. Both my sister and brother had days when they forgot to pull out essential items of clothing before shoving their suitcases out the door of their rooms pre-dawn. While it was fun figuring how how to buy underwear in Italian (I'll let your imaginations fill in the blanks on the body language employed in a small clothing shop on the Italian Riviera), this story points up the frenzy associated with traveling quickly. We Americans are a nation of overachievers, but we don't need to get an A in going on vacation.
It is ok to give yourself permission to savor and slow down your vacation. Other than giving generic advice to resist the urge to travel the fast lane on vacation, here are a few things that you can do to experience a rich, relaxing and fun trip:
- Hoof it: take the slowest mode of transportation possible. Walking, bicycling, snowshoeing or boating are great ways to experience nature and the history of a place. Get off the bus and go for a walk. A Vermont cellar hole is truly worth a thousand words but you won't see if from the bus or car.
- Incorporate relaxation into your trip: if you can afford to stay at a hotel that has a sauna or other spa facilities, then book it now, do not pass go. Turn your hostel into a spa if you are not staying in a place with spa facilities. Take a bubble bath in the evening --- which means allowing yourself the time to relax and enjoy yourself.
- Develop your itinerary and then cut it in half -- so you can take that bubble bath. :)
- Really get to know a place by staying there at least a few days and ideally a week. This runs counter to the "getting something for my money" philosophy where people feel they need to change hotels daily or every other day. Give yourself permission to unpack and relax.
- Do your homework. Find a base for the week that provides you with lots of interesting day trips and a friendly place to come home to in the evening. Find a town that has great public transportation so that you can take a broad range of day trips.
- Cathedrals are great, but try to sniff out more off-the- beaten track experiences that only the locals know about. For example, visit your guide's grandmother's farm for lunch.
Not to blow our own horn (too much) but we at Bredeson Outdoor Adventures have always believed that the joy of travel and real value come in lingering a while in a place. Our trips this year to England's Literary Lake District, Cinque Terre (Italy) and Sierra de Guara (Spanish Pyrenees) are each based in one incredible location for a week. Others, such as our Vermont trips and Tour du Mont Blanc employ feet, bikes, skiis or snowshoes to get to the next location.
For more information on Slow Travel, here are a couple of resources:
- National Geographic Traveler magazine is featuring an article in its January/February 2008 (page 16) issue on putting the leisure back in leisure travel.
- In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed: a book by Carl Honore that explores various "slow" trends.
Slow Travel, contrary to what it sounds like, is a very swift idea. I hope to see you in the slow lane soon!
According to a recent article in the "Catamount Trail News" published by The Catamount Trail Association and written by George Terwilliger, M.D., frostbite has been catching people unaware for a long-time. Because of frostbite, Hannibal lost most of his army while crossing the Alps in 218 B.C. Napolean lost 50,000 soldiers due to frostbite and hypothermia while retreating from Moskow in the winter of 1812. Despite our high tech clothing today we are still not immune from this relatively common winter injury. Frostbite is the freezing of water within the skin and is experienced in varying degrees of severity. As always, prevention is the best medicine. While Dr. Terwilliger's tips on frostbite prevention are written for skiers, they apply to all outdoor winter activities. Here's his advice on what you can do to prevent frostbite:
Tips to Help Prevent Frostbite:
- Eat frequent, high-energy snacks.
- Avoid bad weather.
- Dress in clothes that perform when sweaty. Use layers of silk, wool or polypropylene and have a windproof layer that can be put on during down hills or when windy. Bring a hat.
- Make sure ski boots are not tight.
- Avoid pressue points (i.e., no wrinkles in socks) or tight clothing.
- Adjust layers as needed to avoid sweating and soaking clothes.
- Keep hands and feet dry. Bring extra socks and mittens.
- Mittens are warmer than gloves. If you need extra dexterity during cold weather, wear thin gloves under mittens, which can be kept on when removing the mittens to take pictures or adjust bindings.
- Do not touch metal with bare hands. Try covering metal parts on cameras with tape.
- After a cold night, snow temperatures can easily be 20 degrees F colder than the rebounding air temperatures. Dress accordingly.
- Consider the use of foot warming pads that can attach to the top of the boot toe. Or use insulative booties over the ski boot.
- Prevent frostbite of your eyes by wearing sport glasses or goggles, particulary on long downhill runs or when skiing into the wind.
Sports leagues are great for kids when it comes to developing fitness, but there is a growing school of thought that asks the question "is that all there is?" Physical well-being is certainly improved through typical sports programs but kids need more nature. Author Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder has provided an impetus for a movement that seeks to get kids back in touch with nature. "Nature Deficit Disorder" is the term that he has given to the disconnection between today's children and the great outdoors. Some states have launched initiatives to get kids outside and the No Child Left Inside Act is pending at the federal level. Louv and many other believe that the absence of nature in children's lives is related to increasing stress levels, childhood obesity, depression and stress. From 1977 to 2003 there was a 50% drop in children who participated in outdoor activities. At the same time there are studies that show that nature can reduce stress, help children focus, and promote kids' emotional and social development.
Here are some of our tips for helping your kids to overcome NDD, and joyfully connect with nature:
- Slow down the forced march, smell the roses (or find the bugs under the rocks) and share kids’ wonder.
- Have scadventure hunts: make a list of things you'd like the kids to find in the woods, or have them develop their own lists.
- Go on walkie talkie walks: take walkie talkies with you to the woods. These are a guaranteed hit with kids.
- Encourage kids to draw pictures and keep a journal
of their outdoor adventures.
- Bring home treasures (e.g., pine cones, shells) if allowed.
- Combine outings with a destination that the whole family will like (museum; playground; café).
- Play games (hide and seek in teams-- never let kids hide alone; find the blazes).
- Bring food and treats; surprise them.
- Let older kids bring along friends.
- Teach kids to use map and compass.
- Invite another family along.
- Plan some separate adventures for teens.
- Develop an adventure passport.
- Time it right for young children with regard to meal times and naps.
- Let little ones nap on your back or in your bike trailer.
- Go sightseeing by bicycle.
- Sing songs and take along a songbook.
- Put the slowest hiker, skier, etc. in the lead
- Use extra caution and be willing to turn around.
- Get a bug inspection kit.
- Buy children’s binoculars.
- Get kids their own daypacks.
- Set aside a family fun day and alternate travel sport team seasons
with family fun days/weekends.
- Start when you kids are infants: don't wait until they are "old enough". You can transition their gear accordingly: e.g., bike trailer to trail-a-bike to bike.
- Start a family outing club.
- Get the kids disposable cameras
to record their adventures.
- Encourage your children's school or local outing club to start a Kids' Outdoor Adventure Club. If sponsored by your school there are numerous opportunities to integrate the activities in a fun way into curriculum (e.g., science, teambuilding/human relations, history, math).
Here are some resources for helping you to get your kids outdoors:
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