Planeta Forum

[planeta]

Slow Travel: Conversation with Martin Hughes

Martin Hughes is the author of two new books that extol the sensory wonders of slow travel. The first two titles from Affirm Press feature Melbourne and Sydney.

Slow Guide Melbourne
http://www.slowguides.com.au

Slow Guide Sydney
http://www.slowguides.com/sydney.html

I learned about the books from Melbournian Tom Walter -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomwalter -- who told me about these new books that featured a burro on the cover. I checked out the Slow Guides blog and fell into a slow email chat with Martin who agree to join us in this online conversation.

REFERENCE

Australia - Planeta.com
http://www.planeta.com/australia.html

Australia - Planeta Wikispace
http://planeta.wikispaces.com/Australia

[planeta]

Launching the Q&A ...

Martin, can you introduce yourself and share your views on the benefits of slow travel?

[martin]

Hello, hope this is working. And thanks for the invitation to chat (not that I usually need an invitation!). I guess 'slow travel' for me is about exploring things on a micro level. I spent years as a travel writer and photographer for Lonely Planet, doing new city guides for Europe. What used interest me most was the texture and sense of a place, stuff I usually had to delete from the final text.

Instead of providing lists of new things to see and do, I was drawn to the idea of describing new ways to feel and be, and really connecting with the soul of a place. Our Slow Guides are essentially a reaction against the popular media's obsession with 'now' and 'next'; we're trying to inspire people to step back and celebrate what's local, traditional, natural, sensory and most of all gratifying about their little patch of the world. How's that for starters?

[planeta]

Thanks, Martin

One of the reasons I love your books so much is the focus on sensorial experiences. Where I live -- Oaxaca, Mexico -- there is a great respect for slow food. Here's an example, an indigenous Chinanteco dish called Caldo de Piedra, literally 'stone soup' from the town of San Felipe Usila.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1usn_Eu015E

Two questions

From your perspective, what is the connection between slow food and slow travel?

Also, what your favorite slow food dishes in Melbourne and Victoria?

[martin]

Well, it was Carlo Petrini, the founder of Slow Food that first put a positive spin on slow for me. I created a series of books for Lonely Planet, called World Food. They celebrated the culture of eating and drinking in different countries and encouraged travellers to truly immerse themselves in a place rather than just skim across the surface. I was always excited by the potential of slow and the World Food series (which was critically acclaimed and commercially ignored) was a very early twist on the theme.

I read Carl Honore's book, In Praise of Slow. I really appreciated but thought it was all too theoretical. The idea for our books was to take the philosophy of slow food and apply it practically to lifestyle, help people discover their own slow groove.

I don't think there are any particularly slow dishes from Melbourne, although the slow food scene is very strong. In fact, a Taste of Slow festival starts this weekend -- http://www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au

As creative as its chefs are, Melbourne for me is more about the raw materials; the best lunch I've had so far this year was on a lavender farm last weekend. We had bread straight from the oven, rocket picked that morning, tomatoes from the vine, cheese made just up the road, good company, an unhurried atmosphere and lovely surrounds.

After lunch, we bought buckets of fresh fruit from a delightfully chatty elderly couple who'd spent the morning picking apples, pears and stone fruit from orchards and neighbours gardens around the area. We took the scenic route home and made a compote. Very simple, very special.

[planeta]

Martin, I trust you have eaten well and sold some books at the festival!

A follow-up -- How did the Taste of Slow Festival go? Also, is this type of slow event a model for other places?

[martin]

Hi, apologies for my tardiness but I've been in the Australian outback researching for a new book. The festival went pretty well although not as well as expected really. I might get into trouble with local slowies if they read this, but the festival was a little disappointing. It has been fabulous in recent years, when it was a joful and organic event staged in the grounds of an old convent. This year the Taste of Slow festival was taken over by the much larger and much more commercial Melbourne Food & Wine Festival (because it was being funded by the state government, which is preoccupied with the bottom line). It lost a little of its soul for me, being more commercial, central, and theoretical. We gotta make it fun! Influence by delight, and infect people with our enthusiasm! Or so, I reckon.

[planeta]

I am walking down the street and talking up these ideas and a friend asks, is 'slow travel' something aimed at the over-40 crowd? Young whippersnapper! How would you respond?

[martin]

au contraire! Although, it must be said, the idea of slow travel does seem to get more traction among older folk. But that brings us to the point of celebrating slow: to inspire people to appreciate life more slowly on their own accord, rather than wait until it's foisted upon them by deteriorating health, retirement or whatever. Isn't that the decision we all have to make. Are we rushing frantically towards a time when we've set ourselves up to revel and relax (hoping we make it), or are we going to make the most out of life today?

[planeta]

Happy World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development! It's a week of celebration with International Museums Week and tomorrow's International Day for Biological Diversity.

As I was reading another wonderful book, Civic Tourism by Dan Shilling, I came across this wonderful line: "Because the whole is more than the sum of its parts, those who study nature's ecosystems recognize diversity as a key to healthy 'wholes' and 'ones.'"

I'd like to ask you the same question I'm asking Dan: Do you have any tips for improving our respect for cultural and environmental diversity in tourism?

[martin]

Use your guidebook to see which places to avoid, seek out authenticity, learn some local lingo, don't be afraid to take a risk, and rail against anything that panders to the lowest common denominator of tourism.

But don't patronise others, don't be a travel snob. Be positive about your experiences, not negative about theirs. Make them want to travel like you, not run in the opposite direction. I'd suggest.

[planeta]

Martin, are you aware of the growing popularity of the word 'slow' that is percolating around the world? My Melburnian friend Tom Walter alerted me to Slow TV -- http://www.themonthly.com.au/tm/video -- and I am hooked.

I love informative content-rich sites and clicking on the talk by Clive Hamilton about 'Consumerism, Self-Creation and Prospects for a New Ecological Consciousness' -- http://www.themonthly.com.au/tm/node/1047 -- led me in turn to a lecture series called Rethinking Our Place in Nature -- http://www.acu.edu.au/ACU_National/Schools/philosophy/the_wednesday_lectures/the_2008_wednesday_lectures

There's more on Slow TV including Helen Garner -- http://www.themonthly.com.au/tm/node/1000 -- on her influences and inspirations. We can't get Helen's books easily in the Americas, so this video is a great introduction to her thoughts and wisdom.

Quick question - Are things really this cool in Australia ... and is there a chance you would be interested in making a collaborative video conversation?

[martin]

Well, no, I don't think things are really this cool in Australia. It's certainly dynamic and bursting with new ideas but it's not an idyll of slow by any means (as demonstrated by our new workaholic prime minister, who's burning out the civil service by making them work around the clock).

I am aware of the growing popularity of the word 'slow' that is, as you say, percolating but I'm not sure what kind of brew we're going to end up with. Slow, in the context we use it (the opposite to fast), is a loose term as it is, and difficult for many people to get their heads around. I'd be concerned about the overuse of the word merely for marketing purposes. Slow TV is a great site, a terrific forum for ideas a la the Ted Talks. But apart from a few individual themes, there's nothing particularly slow about it. And it obviously makes it harder for us to promote our idea of 'slow' (living more and fretting less) when a big local publisher applies the term to the audivisual component of its website.

So these two elements of slow are working against each other in a sense, which will only make it more difficult for a sense of slow to permeate the mainstream. If this is happening in a city like Melbourne, imagine how many mixed messages will be produced globally?

What do you think?

[planeta]

Quick questions - What is the future of the 'Slow Guides' series? Will there be more titles or second editions?

[martin]

We're currently working on slow guides to London and Dublin, and plan on publishing two North American titles in late 2009.