The Art of Slow Travel: How Moving Slowly Creates Deeper Memories and Improves Mental Health

In our hyperconnected world where “doing more” often feels like the ultimate goal, there's a quiet revolution happening in how we approach travel and life itself. Walking holidays are the perfect way to enjoy all the benefits that come with slow travel – it's about fundamentally changing how we experience the world around us, creating space for deeper connections, richer memories, and profound mental restoration. We here at Encounters are passionate about slow travel and want to dig deeper into why this is an important way for people to enjoy seeing the world.

While our social media feeds are flooded with whirlwind itineraries and bucket-list racing, a growing movement of travellers are discovering that the most transformative journeys happen when we slow down, stay longer, and engage more deeply with the places and people we encounter.

There’s no rush. Just presence. And presence is where memories form.

Slow travel involves travelling for a lengthy period at a slow pace, helping the traveller to form a deep, genuine and cultural experience. It's about choosing to spend weeks in one place instead of days, walking instead of driving, staying in local accommodations instead of international hotel chains, and embracing spontaneity over rigid itineraries. But slow travel isn't just about the destinations – it's about the journey itself becoming a form of meditation, a way of being present that extends far beyond vacation time.

The Science Between Travel and Mental Health: How It Creates Deeper Memories

Research consistently shows that travel has profound benefits for our psychological well-being. It's been known for a while now that travel has a positive impact on our mental well-being and even our physical health. But the emerging research on slow travel suggests that these benefits are amplified when we approach travel with intention and mindfulness.

Mental health experts say there's research to support the link between travel and happiness. Some travellers may get a mood lift from having new and diverse experiences. A 2020 study published in the journal Nature found that people who see more changes in scenery day-to-day tend to be happier.

The key insight here is that it's not just about seeing new places – it's about how we see them. When we rush through experiences, our brains often shift into a kind of autopilot mode, capturing sights without truly processing them. Slow travel engages our neural pathways differently, encouraging the kind of deep attention that creates lasting memories and genuine transformation.

Our brains are wired to pay attention to novelty, but they need time to process and integrate new experiences into meaningful memories. When we sprint through destinations, we often experience what psychologists call “cognitive overload” – too much information coming too fast for our brains to properly encode.

Slow travel works with our natural cognitive processes rather than against them. By staying longer in one place, we move beyond the surface-level novelty that triggers initial excitement and begin to notice subtler details – the way morning light hits a particular building, the rhythm of local life, the unique sounds of a neighbourhood at different times of day. These deeper observations create what memory researchers call “rich encoding” – memories that are connected to multiple senses, emotions, and contexts, making them more vivid and longer-lasting.

The Power of Routine in New Places and Stress Reduction

One of the most powerful aspects of slow travel is how it allows us to develop temporary routines in new environments. When we stay in a place long enough to have a “usual” coffee shop or to recognise familiar faces, we create a different kind of connection that transcends typical tourist experiences.

These routines might seem mundane, but they're actually profound. They allow us to experience what it feels like to belong somewhere new, to see ourselves as temporary locals rather than passing visitors. This shift in perspective creates memories that feel more personal and meaningful than standard tourist experiences.

Travelling allows us to reset our minds and forget about our chores and workload back home. Instead, we can focus on the present moment. But slow travel takes this benefit even further by creating sustained periods of presence and mindfulness.

When we're not rushing from place to place, constantly checking itineraries and worrying about missing flights, our nervous systems can actually downregulate. We move out of the chronic stress response that characterises much of modern life and into a state of relaxed alertness that's optimal for both enjoyment and learning.

The Reset Effect: Breaking Pattern Recognition

Our brains are incredibly efficient at recognising patterns and running on autopilot. While this efficiency is useful for daily life, it can also keep us stuck in limiting thought patterns and behaviour. Travel disrupts these patterns, but slow travel does something even more profound – it gives us time to consciously choose new patterns.

When we stay somewhere long enough to establish new routines, we're essentially practicing being a different version of ourselves. We might discover that we're more social than we thought, more adventurous, or more capable of solitude. These discoveries can fundamentally shift how we see ourselves and what we believe is possible.

Perhaps most importantly, slow travel provides time for integration – the psychological process of making meaning from our experiences. When we rush through travels, we often return home with a collection of disconnected memories and a vague sense that something was missing.

Slow travel allows for what psychologists call “consolidation” – the process by which experiences become integrated into our sense of self and our understanding of the world. This is why slow travellers often report feeling genuinely changed by their experiences, not just temporarily entertained.

The Conclusion: The Gift of Presence

Slow travel gives us the ability to take more in, decrease our stress levels, and create space for spontaneity. Some of the most meaningful travel experiences happen when we're not trying to have them – a conversation with a stranger, stumbling upon a local event, or simply a close encounter with nature and all its beauty.

When we practice slowing down and being present while travelling, we often carry these skills back into our daily lives. Many slow travellers report making better decisions at work and in relationships because they've learned to pause, observe, respect, and respond rather than react.

Here at Encounters, we want everyone to experience slow travel at its best, at the pace they want to travel. Slow travel is really about presence – the ability to be fully where you are, when you are there. This presence is perhaps the greatest gift we can give ourselves and others. It allows us to truly see the places we visit, genuinely connect with the people we meet, and authentically experience the person we're becoming.

In a world that's constantly pulling our attention in a thousand directions, the simple act of slowing down and paying attention becomes revolutionary. It's a way of reclaiming our lives, our experiences, and our sense of wonder.

So why not get in touch with us and see what we can inspire you with? The next time you have the opportunity to travel, consider it an invitation to slow down. Your mind, your memories, and your sense of well-being will thank you for it.

The journey of a thousand miles may begin with a single step, but the journey of a lifetime begins with a single breath – taken slowly, with full attention to where you are right now.