Interested in a Music and Markets Tour? We’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking ahead to summer – perhaps Amsterdam this year?
I recently read something that truly resonated: “Slow travel was a trend before Covid hit, but it’s savored travel I’m seeking now—enjoying everything to the very fullest.”
Savoring, as far as I’m concerned, takes time, and that’s where Slow Living comes in: staying in a place long enough – in a home, not a hotel – to savor details, daily life, off-the-beaten-track spots, local tastes, a leisurely stroll, one sunset after another….what would you add to the list?
We’re savoring life in Split Croatia at the moment, in a marvelous apartment with the most fabulous view, drawing me again and again to the balconies or windows. One evening we both stopped what we were working on and just stood and watched the blazing orange ball of the sun slip into the western sea – priceless!
Over the years we’ve savored life in a Cambridge flat, a Parisian pied-a-terre, an Amsterdam canal-side townhouse,
or a Barcelona apartment, shopping the local markets, becoming a regular at the café, riding a bicycle to the park, or just sitting in the sun on a balcony.
Long before Airbnb, VRBO was our go-to site to find homes in the places we wanted to spend time in. Seduced by the idea of a place of our own, we then bought a village house in the south of France and that led to another way to live like a local in a desirable spot: Home Exchange! Years ago these sites offered only the options of Reciprocal (exchange at the same time) or Non Reciprocal (exchanging at different times) house trades, but now have a Guest Points program, which is working well for us during the time we are not allowed entry into France and can’t enjoy our places, La Belle Cour and Ambiance d’Aix for ourselves. Several European families or couples have been in our homes for a week or more, seeking a more inviting place to socially distance, allowing us to build up our Guest Point stash for when we can travel.
Savoring life allows time to try all the bakeries in town, we hear from our renters and exchangers at La Belle Cour in Vias, to find the BEST croissant!
Living in our home in France, home exchange or rental has allowed us time to feel like a local while in a Venice apartment in a totally untouristed part of town,
to learn from a neighbor in Vias how to make a south-of-France specialty, Petits Farcis (meat-stuffed vegetables), to sample how the local wine tastes with the local food, to get a tip from a gowned student near our river-side Cambridge apartment to try the corner coffee shop, to keep looking up and around on our daily walk and discover a new-to-us sight, to connect the dots in our current city – oh, THAT is what we see from our window!
Several things top our list of requirements in places to settle for a while: a well-equipped kitchen, a view, walking distance to sights, transport, shopping and markets, a comfortable bed, and of course good wifi.
Our top floor apartment in Split has met all of these requirements and more…I wonder where will we savor life next?
We have fond memories of our visit to Vias and our stay at La Belle Cour. I use my sketches of the property and surrounding area on my note cards. Much appreciated by the recipients. I tried pasting a photo but, didn’t work. Anyway, keep up the good and interesting work. Fun blog on Kirk’s part re. Croatian wines. CA
We love your beautiful paintings of La Belle Cour – I would post one if I could!
You live a very happy life.
Greetje
I also love slow travel and living somewhere that is easy to walk to and absorb local life. Split is just like that and all the markets there are so lively and fun to explore.
How wonderful this all sounds. I’m an Airbnb superhost in Southern California but would love to convince my partner to try a home exchange. Loved Split although I was there so briefly.
You seem to have truly embraced the idea of slowing down and just enjoying the moments that too quickly slip away. Thanks for taking us on this tour of a captured moment in your life. The landscape that surrounds you is amazing.