In month 4 of my adult gap year, Mason and I spent three weeks in Thailand, and it felt like a three-month trip. Here’s how to plan travel that slows time down, with our route as the example.

My three slow-travel rules

1. Make a loose plan, so your trip has some adventure and learning in it.
2. Don’t overbook. Only one plan per day, so life can unfold or you can relax the rest of the day.
3. Learn local. Do something where you learn local customs or traditions, eat local food and meet local people.

Tip 1: Fewer bases, longer stays

Our route: Bangkok for 2 nights, Hua Hin for 11 days, Koh Samui for 7, then back to Bangkok. The flights there are so long that we wanted a long trip and to lean in to the culture. Bangkok was the flight hub, so we gave it a couple of nights to explore when we landed. (We arrived at 2:30 am and it was bumping outside. Big, bright, loud, busy at all hours. It was wild.)

Tip 2: Build the trip around something you love

Hua Hin was our hangout for 11 days because Mason had been following a gym there and wanted to visit. It’s how we built the whole trip. It was a CrossFit and Muay Thai gym, so we did both. My first Muay Thai session at Elite Fight Club made me feel completely alive.

Tip 3: Use your routine to meet people

Training at the same gym day after day, we built relationships with the team and other athletes and made great friends from all over the world. A routine turns you from a tourist into a regular.

Tip 4: Be honest about how you actually travel

Koh Samui was supposed to be the lay-on-the-beach relax place, but we aren’t great at that lol. We’re both kind of party animals and like to be active. So we walked everywhere, went to Muay Thai fights at Phetchbuncha Stadium, found cool bars and restaurants, and trained at another gym, PunchIt. Plan for the travelers you are, not the ones on the brochure.

Tip 5: Eat where you are

In Bangkok the food was incredible, ready fast and available everywhere. We wandered night markets for som tam and khao soi, and yes, mango sticky rice.

Tip 6: Make room for the small moments

We visited temples in Bangkok, near Hua Hin and on Koh Samui. There was a rainy elephant banana feeding at Monsoon Valley Winery that still makes me tear up. At the Hua Hin Marriott bar I Googled Chuck Norris’s age and got “2483,” which is how I learned Thailand counts years from the Buddha’s passing. And a fruit seller in a market looked at my face and said, “You are carrying too much.” These only happen when you’re not rushing to the next thing.

Tip 7: Bring the pace home

I’d like to try Muay Thai again, though I’m not sure it’ll stick (and I don’t want to fight or spar). What did stick is the slower pace: we now take a midweek hike every week.

Want to map a slow route with your time and budget? The Scenic Route Planner is built for that. And if you’d like to travel slow with us, join the Getaways waitlist.

xoxo Amy 🤎

Related: Adult Gap Year Ideas: Career Break Travel for When a Vacation Isn’t Enough and How to Plan a Career Break You Can Actually Afford