The Road Less Traveled

   It has been about four years since we made the switch from vacation apartments to agriturismo for our vacation accommodations. At the beginning we were finding vacation apartments to be both small and impersonal. Hundreds of people living in tiny spaces next to each other for a week or more at a time, yet never coming into actual contact with each other. Children can't really go out and play because there aren't known and trusted people around. There is no public area where people meet and get to know one another. They just exist side by side.

    I am not saying that I don't enjoy my privacy when travelling. I value it very highly. I do not want to have a club atmosphere but neither am I a big fan of the artificial atmosphere of vacation apartments with their close quarters . We decided to try out an agriturismo and were suprised by how much we liked it. The family acts as hosts in a way, drawing guests together for breakfast, around the pool or in the garden. And best of all you have the run of the place. The greater freedom is especially nice for children and their parents who like to have a break once in awhile. That first stay convinced us. We enjoyed the out of doors feeling, the community spirit, the animals and pets, and the privacy of apartments at the same time.
  An agroturismo gives the traveller the chance to learn something about the life of a region from within. We have stayed on olive farms, at vineyards, and a horsefarm. Each one had something unique and intriguing about it. Watching the vines being tended each morning, tasting the olive oils pressed from different types of olives, being around the horses. A feeling for the land and it's gifts.

  From these rural locations we plan city trips as well as museum visits.
   Since our move into the city center two years ago we have used these trips as a balancing component to our busy schedules. The smells, daily rhythm and food are a happy contrast to the bustling, excitement and culture of city life. Both are wonderful, and both balance one another. Staying outside of the cities we plan to visit results in more pre planning. We can no longer step outside and be surrounded by opportunities for tourism. We must locate what we want to see, and then go and see it. We see both more and less than before, more specific things we are interested in and less exciting bustling tourism.


 How do you travel? Are you a busy traveller, seeing everything there is to see or a slow traveller? Let me know in the comments.


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