The Art of Slow Living: Embracing the Slow Movement Across Your Journey

Guestblog by Diana

This article explores the idea of living life at a slower pace through different movements like slow food, slow cities, slow travel, and slow fashion. These movements started as a way to protest against our fast-paced lifestyles and promote things like sustainability, preserving local culture, and taking care of ourselves. It encourages readers, especially digital nomads and remote workers, to embrace these principles by enjoying local foods, exploring quieter cities, traveling without rushing, and choosing clothes that are made sustainably. The goal is to find more meaning and satisfaction in how we live and travel.

Famous Slow Movements

Slow Food

The first clearly defined slow movement was probably the slow food movement, which arose in 1986 in Rome in protest against the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant in Spanish Square. Proponents of the movement protested against a fast-food culture that did not fit into local traditions of fresh seasonal food, lunches with family and friends lasting for hours and hours, hand-made delicacies, food recipes passed down from generation to generation. Today, Slow Food International has become a global movement with official representatives and communities in over 160 countries of the world.

Check more on Slow Food International here.

Slow Cities

Another large slow movement is the Slow cities, which also originated in the birthplace of la dolce vita, Italy. With over 250 towns around the world, Cittaslow member cities aim to make their environment more livable and people-oriented by reducing traffic, increasing greenery, preserving local culture and urban uniqueness, slowing down the pace of life, promoting a healthy lifestyle, supporting local production and crafts, and preventing excessive globalization. Slow towns are towns “rich in squares, theatres, workshops, cafes, restaurants, spiritual places, unspoilt landscapes and fascinating craftsmen, where we still appreciate the slow, benevolent succession of the seasons, with their rhythm of authentic products, respecting fine flavours and health, the spontaneity of their rituals, the fascination of living traditions”, as stated in the Cittaslow manifesto. “This is the joy of a slow, quiet, reflective way of life.”

Slow Travel

Slow travelers tend to stay in one location for a couple of weeks or even months to fully immerse themselves into the local culture. They have no agenda of ‘must-see’ world-famous overcrowded attractions, no rush to hit the maximum number of travel destinations within the shortest possible time. Slow travel is a form of low-impact tourism. Unhurried trips off the tourist track, close contact with the locals, staying at a local guesthouse or homestay instead of a hotel chain, walking and cycling instead of driving, shopping at local markets instead of international supermarkets are few of the many ways of finding a ‘home away from home’.

Slow Fashion

As slow food protests against the fast-food industry, slow fashion is a protest against planet-destroying fast fashion. It advocates for fair trade and fair labor, use of high-quality eco-friendly materials, up-cycling, reducing industry’s carbon footprints, supporting artisans and smaller businesses. The adopters of slow fashion do not chase seasonal trends. They tend to buy fewer clothes less often, opting for quality garments that will last longer and be repairable.

Read the article that gave birth to the ‘slow fashion’ term in 2007 here.

Other Recommended Books to Explore Slow Living

1. You can explore the most popular slow movements to see which ones you could incorporate into your life first. The ideal material for this is the so-called bible of the slow movements – “In Praise of Slow” by Carl Honoré.

2. You can focus solely on decluttering and tidying up your home as the first step towards a slow lifestyle. The inspiring “The Lifechanging Magic of Tidying” by Marie Kondo is a perfect guide on this.

3. You can dedicate your time to learn more about responsible and ethical consumption. “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard will open your eyes to many inconvenient but necessary truths about the modern production and consumption world.

Watch a 20-minutes documentary on which this book is based

Slow Traveler Reminder

How to practice a slow lifestyle during your expat experience?

Whenever possible, choose a slow travel destination/accommodation: a slow city, an eco-village, a cabin in the mountains, a family-run guesthouse, or a homestay, etc.

Slow food

Buy at local markets and through farmers groups. Eat fresh local seasonal food. Eat slowly and enjoy every bite. According to the Slow Food philosophy (https://www.slowfood.com/about-us/our-philosophy/), the concept of slow food is defined by three interconnected principles:

GOOD: quality, flavorsome and healthy food
CLEAN: production that does not harm the environment
FAIR: accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for producers.”

Slow Fashion

Try a capsule wardrobe during your nomadic years. It is a great opportunity to let go of your addiction to things, while enjoying traveling light.

Pack those clothes that you do not use anymore, wear them a last couple of times during your trip and then give them away to poor communities, local charities, or cleaning staff at your accommodation, etc.

If you go shopping, buy organic handmade clothes. Look for fair trade purchases, supporting local artisans and smaller businesses.

Every time you buy something, ask yourself: “Where will this money go – to locals and small businesses or to huge corporations that are destroying the environment and are depriving local people of their deserved benefits?”

Minimalism

During your workation/staycation, buy, consume, and use as few things as possible. Look for an alternative to buying this item: borrow, rent, fix, substitute it with something else or make it yourself.

Adopt the rule of digital minimalism once week, for instance. Disconnect, eliminate distractions, block notifications, quit social media, try to reduce your screen time by 80-90% for one week, go off-grid, and spend as much time outside as possible.

Slow Travel

Don’t be just a visitor. Create your home away from home. Stay longer in one destination.

Immerse yourself into local culture. Experience close contact with the locals. Participate in art workshops, language classes or other events.

Avoid crowded tourist traps, go off track. Stay away from popular destinations, especially during bank holidays. Go to the mountains when everyone is at the beach and vice versa.

Reduce your carbon footprints. Consider cycling and walking instead of driving a car. Try paddling and kayaking when possible.

Do not overschedule your agenda with activities. Slow down, go within, be in the present, retreat, try doing nothing, let go, unlearn, and immerse yourself into stillness.

OTHER WAYS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE

Meditate daily.
Don’t give people things as a present, give experiences.
Ask your loved ones not to give you unagreed presents.
At home, put each thing that you use back to its place.
Make a grocery list to spend less time at the supermarket.
Get out in nature regularly. Walk barefoot on the grass if the weather allows.
Do not use any digital devices 1.5 hours before going to bed.
Plan your morning the night before.
Plan your upcoming week the previous weekend.
Plan your meals in advance to ensure healthier choices.
Start each morning with an empowering routine.
Make a mini garden on your window, balcony, or terrace.
Make more ethical purchases (organic food, slow fashion, vegan shoes, cruelty-free cosmetics, fair trade products, etc.).
Shop in local farmer’s markets, organic food stores, package-free supermarkets, remnant supermarkets.
Borrow or hire things instead of buying new (e. g., repair tools, skiing equipment).
Buy secondhand when possible. Give your unused stuff to a secondhand shop.
Change your attitude toward shopping. Think of each purchase as an investment that is supposed to serve you and work for you for a long time.
Buy once and buy well. Choose things that are durable and will last.
Carry a refillable water bottle / coffee cup with you.
Try capsule wardrobe and learn to appreciate each clothing item.
Study habits stacking.
Set your priorities and never compromise them.
Do the hardest / most important work task at the beginning of your workday.
Learn to say ‘no’ to anything that is not in congruence with your values.
Stop comparing yourself to others. Dare to be different.
Explore zero waste possibilities.
Avoid impulse purchases. “Sleep on it” and come back the next day if you are still sure you want to buy.
Try a week or a month of no shopping.
Minimize your exposure to advertising. Unsubscribe from cable TV, newsletter lists, catalogs and magazine subscriptions, etc. Get a ‘No Junk Mail’ letterbox sticker.
Remove toxic people from your life. Spend more time with those who inspire you and elevate your spirit.