The pulse of a trip from when I was in my twenties, when this blog began, to currently in my thirties, has changed. When I did a trip with my best friend, we sampled Europe under the time restrictions of two weeks, given our job schedules. We experienced 11 cities, in just 16 days and toted around our backpacks. Sometimes the urgency of packing so much in is because it’s so hard to coordinate schedules and time we get with friends is so precious, especially amid life changes, and we just have so much we want to see and experience together. With new back aches that come with age, I cannot even fathom that. Nowadays, I yearn for staying in one place for longer and having a home base. Slow travel to me in this phase, is having one hotel room and the freedom to explore the vicinity fully. Slow travel can also include day trips to peripheral sites. Ironically, even when unplanned, our slow travel culminated in days of 6 to 10 miles walked. Usually over 20,000 steps!

Copenhagen was my first slow trip. It was nice to have this trip with my sister to really bond and indulge in our time together, since that too is becoming limited with our adult responsibilities. We had six full days to experience the wonders of this nordic city. A lot of major cities will have either an official tourist deal or vendors that offer package deals. Luckily, Copenhagen has the Copenhagen Card which offers many attractions and cruises inside and outside of Copenhagen. And most importantly it offers unlimited transport, which can quickly add up if you buy tickets on your own, never mind the hassle of buying tickets. We opted for 120 hours, or 5 days, for $160 each. We went to over twenty attractions with this card, hence our jam packed slow vacation. I made my sister watch some travel shows and documentaries about the city itself, so we were a bit prepared. I really wanted to try Galoppen in Tivoli as we saw Richard Ayoade and Noel Fielding play it in the Travel Man show. You get a set of balls, roll down down towards slots (sort of like skee ball but not?) and certain slots will move your horse figurine faster or slower. It’s an old carnival game and relatively cheap to play and provided us a few minutes of laughs.

While we hit up the major spots like Tivoli Gardens and the Designmuseum and Glyptotek Museum, a lot of the memorable times were sitting down for a meal. Because my sister is my built in best friend, we are able to enjoy each other’s company with conversation, silence, and even grumpy moments in between. Most grumpy moments are either because of my hunger or boredom or inability to withstand weather that is too hot or too cold, so much kudos to her patience. With our slow travel, we enjoyed train rides, ranging from ten minutes to almost an hour and a half. We had to walk a bit to get to the Open Air Museum and walked through a residential area. It was lovely to see school children on trips roaming free within museums. It showed us that Denmark is very child-friendly and the people are trusting of society. We saw that people took their time while shopping, and enjoyed eating in as dining out is rather pricey. People genuinely seemed to enjoy their lives and appreciate their community.

Another thing that surprised me about slow travel was the idea of meals. If you’re into Michelin star meals, there’s tons to be found here. But aside from that, we found good food everywhere. We were able to sit and enjoy our meals. There wasn’t the sense of impending deadlines or meticulous time schedules to follow. We ate fresh food, sometimes food on the go (for the experience, not out of necessity) and took the time to savor. I think that’s the key word in all this. Is to savor the meals, the moments, and the present experience. There was less of onto the next and the next. It was just an enjoyable week to see my sister and see new sights with her.

Slow Travel in Copenhagen