Taking it slow

“Life is a journey, not a destination.” So said American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson - a motto that’s echoed in several pieces this week, with our writers focusing on the journey on slow travel trips across the UK and Europe.
Helen Pidd embarked on a 10-day Interrail trip with her 75-year-old mother - heading from Manchester to Oslo. Armed with first-class passes (which surprisingly don’t cost much more than second-class tickets), they travelled from Brussels to Hamburg and on to the seaside town of Tisvildeleje, via regional train and tram. Next up was Gothenburg, the Swedish lake district and Oslo. It was a bonding holiday, with time for long chats and lazy dinners. Despite not having spent as much time together since Helen left home in 1999, disagreements were occasional and “largely about how early Mum wanted us to arrive for every train,” she says.
Elsewhere Matt Collins writes about a road trip from the UK to Trentino in the Italian Alps with his wife and two small boys in tow - camping along the way. Are long car journeys, young kids and camping the unholy trinity of travel, he wonders. “There were challenges aplenty but, whisper it, we actually had fun, too,” he concludes.
In the UK, author Paul Miles spent 16 months travelling the length of England’s waterways in his narrowboat, covering 517 miles of canal and 220 locks. “Days and miles stretched and yawned as county borders were crossed,” he writes. “On a train or in a car, it would all be a blur. By boat the scenery unfurled at 3mph and sometimes I stayed for days in one place.”
Enjoy your travels - just remember it’s the journey that counts.