Why Slow Travel is Important* B

I have been on the road with my family for 4 months now.

We slowly made our way through Southeast Asia visiting Japan, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. We are currently exploring beautiful Cambodia.

I have just about gotten the feel for traveling.

I think that long term travel is a great way not only to discover the world but also to get to know yourself.

Traveling leads to discovery.
Discovery leads to knowledge.
Knowledge leads to wisdom.

In my opinion the wisdom that can be gained through life experiences is the most precious one. At home I could learn about the world though books, movies and school, but when I travel learn though eating, seeing, smelling, touching and hearing.

A Khmer proverb says. ” You can hear something 1000 times and not know it but you can see it once and know it”.

An example of this is Angkor Wat. Everyone says it’s great, It’s Great, IT’S GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I have never really know how great it is from people’s description. So when I saw it yesterday IT BLEW MY MIND AWAY!!!!!!

Slow travel has changed me in a way that nothing else could have.

Before we started traveling I could barely sit in a car ride for one hour, without having to say “Are we there yet?”.  When you are handling very long bus, train, and plane rides patience can be a very useful skill. Actually only through patience one can get from point A to point B in a long term travel. And after being in these long rides with not much I could do, the only thing that I could possibly do is learn to be patient.

For example, one of our bus rides took us from Kampot to Battambang, Cambodia. The ride was 401 kilometers and it took all day! The air-con didn’t work and there was Khmer Karaoke playing during the whole ride. It was one of those bus rides that you can do nothing to make it more comfortable. But to me it was fine, I had no problem being patient with the ride!

When traveling long term your luggage needs to be very light so that you can carry it everywhere you need to. Eventually I got used to having all my things in a medium sized backpack, and even started to like not having a lot of belongings. This has taught me that I don’t need that much stuff to be happy. It made me more conscious about what I really need because I don’t have much room to spare.

Here are some things that are in my backpack: some clothes, two sleeping bags (for emergencies), a pocket Frisbee and some random objects that I found on the trip and decided to keep. I also carry a kite I made in Vietnam and I am still working on.

Before we started traveling I was mean to my sister and I ignored her. Now after spending 4 months with her always by my side I have started to enjoy her company and I play with her every day. I have realized that having a sister is the best thing ever.

“The World Is One’s Oyster”. That saying is true, the world is your oyster. Be brave to explore it’s secrets and in the process you might learn about yourself and change in a good way.

Traveling is full of discovery, new foods, new cultures and climates. Once you start you want the fun days to never end.

P.S. I know I am one of the lucky few who can afford to travel. Most people we meet on our way never leave and would never leave their hometown.