Slow Traveler: Best Websites for the Paths Less Taken
I'm a lifelong traveler, a would-be foreign correspondent, and voracious observer of culture. If there is one historical figure I wish I could meet, it would be Herodotus. (If there could be more than one, I have a list for that too.)
What I look for in travel websites are neither hot deals, nor tips on maximizing frequent flyer miles, nor a rundown on the best hotels, but stories about places that whet my curiosity and help me plan a trip itinerary. If a website can point me to a foreign place with a rich history and luscious views that draws few tourists, I'm interested.
The travel sites I visit are always changing, but these are some that have been of particular help most recently.
- {{{2}}} (visit) I was an early follower of Slow Food and have been a member, and in general like the principle of "slow." Why multitask and rush your way through foreign travel? Unfortunately, many great foreign cities and towns have been homogenized to U.S. standards to the point where you don't really feel you've left home despite hours of travel and jet lag. So to really get away from it all, you have to be intentional about it. This site helps.
- Guardian.co.uk (The Guardian Travel) I never miss The Guardian's travel articles. In fact their travel page is a catch-all if you're planning a trip (preferably somewhere Brits like to go, which is almost anywhere sunny). There is always something original on the page that gets my travel itch going, for example last summer's Wild Swim series wherein an expert on Britain's hidden streams, ponds, lakes and waterfalls videotaped her dips into these forgotten places. Now there's some unconventional exploring for you. In general, the site encourages slowing down on off-the-main-track touring, which works out to be less expensive as well. Don't miss the video breaks, where you can lose yourself for hours and hours of wistful reverie.
- {{{2}}} (visit) While I may not deliberately seek deals, who am I to pass up an opportunity to save money? The best thing about the frugal traveler is not his spending habits, but his wanderlust and understanding of what makes for a good trip all around.
- Travel.NationalGeographic.com (visit) It is unlikely that in my lifetime I will go everywhere I want to, so a little vicarious travel is necessary.
- {{{2}}} (visit) Culture-oriented travel stories, popular links, and, if you want it, information on travel deals. This site seems to cater to a youngish audience, which keeps the veteran like me inspired. (You can go to Mali's Festival of the Desert!)
- {{{2}}} (visit) I never read Arthur Frommer , but I like this site for a regular check-in (pun alert!) on travel trends. I will always be a thrifty traveler, so I don't really think of this site as a place for special deals, but more as a barometer of prices that I am likely to have to pay.
- {{{2}}} (visit) Thank heaven for all those travelers who like the world to know about their trips. You see the real thing, not the glossy, fantasized version from the travel magazines.
- {{{2}}} (visit) and SantaSusanna.org (visit) If you like to travel in Italy, and are willing to put up with curfews of 10 pm or 11 pm, spartan rooms, and a mostly religious clientele, then convents are a great deal. Often they are housed in beautiful historic buildings, and if you can get meals there you'll be treated to good home cuisine. In Liguria one year, we stayed four days at a monastery overlooking olive groves and the sea, ate baked-daily focaccia for breakfast and fresh seafood for lunch with local wine, and paid half of what we would have shelled out otherwise.
- {{{2}}} (visit) Daisann McLane is the original Frugal Traveler, and following her path since she left The New York Times has been an exercise in envy and admiration. She is an example of HOW to travel even more than WHERE to travel.
- {{{2}}} (visit) Like travel itself, you never know what you will find on this site. Google's tentacles drag in all kinds of travel candy for those of us who are always hunting for just one more information nugget before we go.
See the post about this list on the AboutUs weblog.
Community additions to the Slow Travel list
Know a great travel website? Add it here and tell us a bit about it.
My site www.toscanaccio.eu is not primerly a travel website, but it tells (in German and in Italian) some unpleasant followings of commercial tourism in Tuscany.