Budget Slow Travel

By Patrick Robertson

Last month I wrote about how I go about finding accommodations on our trips. I start with Home Exchange and if there is nothing there for me, I go to Booking.com. The website always serves me up a long list of places to pick from.

I use the filters to narrow the choice down to a few places then investigate each one to find the best one for our needs and wants.

For independent travel, it is a bit of an art picking places. Looking at the pictures and reading the reviews of the accommodations is critical. After a while you get to interpret the pictures and reviews.

It is important to determine who is writing the review. Different groups of people have various needs and expectations. For example, families with young children will write different reviews than the 20-year-old backpacker who is there for one or two nights and spends most of their time out and are just there to sleep.

We spend most of our evenings in where we have our happy hour, cook dinner and relax after a full day of exploring. We want a big balcony/veranda/patio to enjoy our evening taking in the view.

Booking.com  has a great loyalty program. The more you book the more of a discount off the price you get starting at five per cent and going up to 15%. The major feature though is the ability to cancel until just before the actual date. For the most part, you cannot do that on Airbnb.

We decided to spend a week in Salerno at the southern end of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. I was able to find a wonderful bright apartment close to the ferry terminal and train station with a wonderful sea view in an authentic local neighbourhood that has a street market for food shopping and two Michelin Star restaurants that are actually moderately priced.

There is a lovely large terrace and a fully functioning kitchen. The price for a week is $1,200. Last day for cancellation is one week before arrival. I booked it.

We decided on Salerno as it is the main hub along the Amalfi Coast so we can take ferries each day to a different location. We are planning day trips to Amalfi, Positano, Capri, Sorrento, Ravello, Pompeii (pictured above), and Posteum and a few days exploring Salerno. It is not a tourist destination like Sorrento so there will be fewer people who speak English so we will have to brush up on basic Italian.

The Amalfi Coast is one of the most popular spots in Italy for foreign tourists. We are not that keen on crowded tourist places but as October is the end of the season, the numbers of tourists will be way down. So for us, it is the perfect time to see this UNESCO heritage site that has experienced the over-whelming surge of mass tourism.

One of the principles of slow travel is not to add to the negative aspects of mass tourism so off-season travel makes us happy. Another thing about travelling in off-season is the more relaxed attitude of the shop keepers, servers, and other service personnel. People in general are more relaxed and able to give you the time of day.

The Amalfi Coast towns are the most spectacular from the water. Looking up from the ship at the multi-coloured building climbing up the steep mountainside will be a spectacular visual experience and we are looking forward to it. The experience will be much like riding the water buses around the Venetian lagoon. That was an incredible visual experience that is etched into my memory.

Next month, day trips along the Amalfi Coast.

– Patrick Robertson is a travel writer and long-time resident of Fernie. He is an expert in planning independent travel and finding budget travel deals. Go to his website for more information and pictures of this trip to Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta.

Read more travel articles like this HERE. Like him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/budgetslowtravel for travel tips.

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