"Be open to adjusting, learning, changing and evolving"
What does “slow travelling” mean?
Slow travelling is about really getting to know a place you are in, to a point that if you talk to a local about your experience of where they live, they can relate to what you’re saying and might even agree with what you’re saying. If a friend comes to visit, you can show them around. You can talk about what’s unique, beautiful and special about that place. Something that you can do is going back and forth in the same place you’ve been, even a main street. What do you notice today differently than you noticed yesterday when you walked down that street? What do you see differently? How are you evolving the impressions of places? I try to come with no expectations, no assumptions and no research. I knew absolutely nothing about Bulgaria. I just flew in. I didn’t know where to stay, where I could eat, what to do or see. The advantage is that you really get to know a place, rather than having an experience that is not real. You have the potential to really grow from the experience. You tend to get invited to do things that you wouldn’t otherwise being invited to experience. If you get to hang out a little bit, you get to know some locals and they are like “Hey, do you want to come over and have dinner at my place?”. Hanging out with locals, doing what they do, the way they do it, like they do it. It’s slower. They are not in a hurry, like tourists are. In general people want to help people. They want them to enjoy what they enjoy. You can have a great time with them, experiencing their way of life. In this way I have had much more authentic experiences that didn’t cost nearly as much as what people usually pay.
What initially motivated you to travel?
I was working for a company from home. I realized that I had become very comfortable with that way of life. I had a nice home, a nice car, clothes and other things. There was no reason for me to leave home. I had made a very comfortable and convenient life for myself. It was emotionally, mentally and spiritually very limited, though. I was living a pre-set life, following patterns and scripts. It wasn’t particularly challenging. It felt too comfortable, safe, monotonous and convenient. We need to go outside this “bubble”, also the tourist bubble. In fact, there is a “tourist bubble” wherever you go. They’re creating a space for you to give you what you want. You pay for it and it’s not necessarily authentic. It’s a version of what they think you are looking for. When you’re outside the “bubble” you can explore, discover new things, try new things, be challenged, be inspired and grow. I basically said “I can do my job from my computer”, which is called now, but not at the time, being a digital nomad. I decided I would leave and I would continue to try to work. The job was very technical, legal work. Then, I discovered I couldn’t sit on a beach in Brasil surrounded by beautiful women and do a technical job without making mistakes. I decided I was going to downscale my life, living more like a backpacker, reducing my expenses and doing local things. That would allow me to continue to travel.
How do you support your travels?
I just continued to travel off of the money I had saved. Also, I have discovered things of value that I know are much more valued elsewhere. I buy them, I take them and I sell them. I’m not spending a lot of time doing that, what I’m really spending time doing is being careful with my expenses. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy good meals, I do, but It’s not an every-day thing. I’m going to spend money for something unique and special.
Do you have any project in mind?
One time I came up with this idea called “global playground”. I became very interested in “adventure playgrounds”. They are not these touristic playgrounds. They are not playgrounds where everything is nicely put together, very safe and polished. That's very safe but not fun. You create an adventure playground where kids can help build their own playground. This is what kids want: to create a space for themselves. You can look at the world in this way, in terms of this playground. I also became very interested in the refugee situation in Syria. I came up with this idea that I wanted to build an adventure playground for this Syrian kids and the refugee children, because they had nowhere to play. I wanted to learn more about building playgrounds and I found a guy who did this, in Denmark. Through Workaway he told me to stay with him to learn how to build a playground, working a minimum of 6 hours a day. He gave me a room and fed me. He taught me a lot about building and I took that knowledge to talk about the subject in Germany and other countries. I also got invited to an MIT conference to talk about building playgrounds for refugee children.
Travelling might be challenging. Do you ever feel like you have to go out of your comfort zone?
The idea is to struggle, to be in a space of discomfort. That forces you to stretch, to go outside your comfort zone. Sometimes you see people that want to live out their own culture, in other countries. They are like “I’m going to drink the beer of my country in this country”. How are you exposing yourself to things outside of your comfort zone? how are you opening yourself to be in change by being in this new experience, other than being in the comfort of your cultural bubble? You want to be open to “What do I have to learn from these people that I’m around? What are they doing differently? How are they doing it differently?". Sometimes things are really uncomfortable. In theory, going outside of your safe space, of where you live and how you live, is supposed to challenge you, question your value and how you live in the world. It makes you think “Is there another way to exist in the world? another way to enjoy the world?” Most people just want to live out what they have been taught and shown and play that out wherever they go. That’s not travelling. Why are you going to another country, then? You could just stay home and do that.
Do you usually travel by yourself?
Now I’m travelling with Mike Spencer Bown. He’s been to every country and he is known as the Most Travelled Man. He did it by backpacking, camping and people hosting him. I met him because I used to share some writings and photos on the internet, before Instagram. He friended me because he liked the stuff I was posting, and we exchanged some messages. I didn’t know he was the Most Travelled Man when I met him online. He said “If you are ever in my part of the world, I would like to meet you in person”. Recently he took a bus from Turkey to meet me in Sofia, Bulgaria and here we are. Now we’re travelling together, but In general I like travelling by myself. I like to follow my gut and go with what I’m feeling. I might have a plan to go somewhere and then I see something and I say “Wait, what is that?” and I completely change my plan. If I’m with somebody, they have to be cool with that. Sometimes people want to have a plan and follow the plan.
What’s “wrong” with plans when you travel?
It’s very similar to when I had planned my entire life, what I was going to do for the next 25 years. A therapist asked me what might happen with things I didn’t think about, and how I was going to adjust for that. I was going to have these blinders on where I go from point A to point B without seeing what is being offered to me? the potential and the possibility in the moment? You are missing things because you have these plans. Those questions made me question this mode of planning. I’m not saying plans are bad, but they should change and adapt.
Does it ever get lonely travelling by yourself?
When you travel to different places you have never been, if you are really experiencing those places, having these new amazing experiences, it’s really easy to be entertained. You meet people on the road and you have really quick, intense, meaningful connections with some of them. Generally we live with an expectation of wanting to explore and discover, be open and break the habitual patterns. That forces you to be in the moment and see what’s being offered to us and not just going around like robots. I’ve watched many people travelling together: bestfriends, girlfriends and boyfriends, etc. After extended travels together they are very very close or they break up. It’s one thing to live day in and day out with someone, but it’s a whole other thing when you go out for dinner during the weekends. When you have a regular day in and day out with someone, there’s no hiding, no running away. You’re pretty naked and vulnerable.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to travel but doesn't know how to get started?
I would tell them it's important to learn how to travel where you live. What I mean by that is to start to learn to notice, be curious and be in awe of what's around you. To go to places that intentionally put yourself outside of your comfort zone. To be open and not focus too much on planning everything, but more figuring it out when you get there. Go there, observe and learn. You should maybe have some ideas, plan some things, but be open to adjusting, adapting, learning, changing and evolving.
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