The antithesis of slow travel is to try to do everything because you’re worried of missing out on something important. When you travel, especially when you spend time researching your destination on social media and in magazines, there is always the temptation to do too much. To eat in every ‘must-visit’ restaurant, to bathe in every bay, to hire a car and drive around trying to see ‘everything’. We think that we should tick off bucket lists for each place that we visit, whether it’s to feel a sense of accomplishment or to show off online.
To travel slow, we have to let go of that FOMO. We may fear that we are missing out, when really we have discovered the true secret of a perfect trip away: it’s about quality, not quantity. It’s impossible to see absolutely everything, so you should concentrate on the parts of travelling that you most enjoy. Whether that means spending all your time swimming in the ocean or taking cultural excursions to nearby museums and galleries – live in the moment rather than worrying that you are missing out on something else.
When you’re travelling, ignore your phone and guidebooks and concentrate on the here and now. Try to stop yourself from worrying about what you will do next and allow yourself to enjoy being present in the moment. If you are enjoying what how you are currently spending your time, you shouldn’t have to plan for what you want to do in an hour or that evening. Allow yourself to linger and to forget about checking the time.
Realistically, you can’t do everything. Even if you’re visiting a small place and plan on rushing around, there will be things that you miss and things that you wish you’d lingered over. This fear of missing out isn’t exclusive to travelling, and it’s important to realise in all aspects of your life that is best to focus on enjoying the moment rather than worrying that you aren’t doing enough.
Let go of the notion that you have to have a ‘perfect’ holiday. No one has a completely perfect travel experience, even the people that you see gushing over their postcard-perfect trips on Instagram. If you have a bad meal, eat someplace different the next night. If you take a day trip somewhere that you don’t enjoy, allow yourself the freedom of lounging by the pool the following day. Try to stop looking back over your experiences and thinking ‘I should have done this’ or ‘I should have eaten there’ – the fear of regret is just as strong as the fear of missing out.
You need to accept the fact that every person visiting the same destination will have a different experience. Just because someone you follow on social media enjoyed a particular restaurant, doesn’t mean you are missing out if you choose to dine elsewhere. Travelling is a personal journey, and you want to return home with your own memories, not someone else’s.
This doesn’t mean that you have to stop reading travel websites or delete your Instagram account. Allow yourself to be inspired by other people’s travels, but free yourself of the notion that you will be missing out if you don’t do everything that they did. You know yourself better than anyone, so do what you want to do. If that must-visit restaurant serves Indian food but you prefer Vietnamese, go for the Vietnamese. If you’d rather wander around back streets keeping your eyes peeled for the places that the locals love, leave your guidebook at home and forget about those ‘must-see’ sights.
The only way to get rid of your FOMO is by accepting that you can’t do it all. You can travel to the places that interest you the most and spend your time doing the things that you enjoy – but you can’t realistically visit every place and see everything. Make your own personal bucket list of where you want to go and what you want to do on your travels, and enjoy yourself without worrying that you’re missing out on something else.