The other day I was telling an old friend about a wonderful trip I took by train and he asked why I enjoyed it so much. The bunks were cool, the food was great, the scenery was amazing, and there was time to take it in and enjoy it. I attribute my appreciation of slow travel of all sorts to being a sailor and crossing oceans at a speed barely faster than one could walk.
In the spring of 2021, Picton Castle is scheduled to set sail on a year-long voyage around the world. Under sail alone, our speed averages about 4-5 knots per hour. For those not familiar with knots, that’s about 5.75 miles per hour, or 9.25 kilometres per hour. To put that into perspective, average human walking speed is 5 kilomtres per hour. The World Voyage is about 30,000 nautical miles, so that’s a lot of ground to cover at a slow speed. As the slogan on some of our t-shirts say, “we may be slow but we get around.”
There’s a movement to do things more slowly in our lives these days that seems to be catching on. Heard of “slow food”? Kind of the opposite of what we all know “fast food” means, so using local ingredients and traditional cooking. The process begins long before you sit down at the dinner table to eat, the preparation and work to get to that point is part of the process.
Likewise, slow travel is being recognized as a legitimate way to travel, encouraging connection and sustainability. A voyage in Picton Castle is very much about the process of getting to our destination. Of course the destinations are amazing as well, but with the slow travel approach it’s more about earning your way there, appreciating it more because of the time and effort it took to get there, and the sweet anticipation of seeing something you’ve been working on for a while come to fruition.
According to theartofslowtravel.com, here’s the definition of slow travel:
“Slow Travel is a mindset that rejects traditional ideas of tourism and encourages you to soak in your environments and keep yourself open to new experiences.”
Sounds pretty much like a voyage in Picton Castle to me.
We’re now accepting trainee applications for the upcoming World Voyage in Picton Castle. Join the crew for a year-long voyage, or for a three-month leg. No sailing experience necessary, but you do need to be willing to take it slow.
