🌿 Slow Travel for the Design Minded

This year, I will write more about my travel ethos. I think everything is getting sick of the same old boring travel logs - they want to experience a feeling, an aliveness, an escape from their usual mindset. Not to mention, no one wants to fly halfway across the world only to check into a stuffy, uninviting, luxury hotel without a connection to the local culture. For me, travel is about being immersed in nature - in simple luxury - and being able to finally take a deep breath. Travel is about feeling taken care of in a well-designed hotel, exploring new local foods, and meeting inspiring people. All of this requires an open mind, attention to detail, and I might even be so bold as to say - good taste. All of which I’ve cultivated in this community of readers.

There is no better time for authentic experiences as Italy faces a tourism crisis. Do the throngs of people who spend so much money to visit Florence, Rome, Venice, and the Amalfi Coast actually have a good time? Will they get to experience authentic Italian culture? As someone who lives in Italy, it’s not hard for me to find unique gems and hidden escapes - and I want to spend my time covering and focusing on these stories, rather than the highlights of the main trails.

All that said, once per month, I’ll put together a list of slow travel tips for my readers to make sure we’re juicing each other up with natural, bohemian escapism.

🌿 Featured Hidden Destinations

Last summer, my friend did a ten-day trip through Montenegro and reported back that travel and tourism seem to be booming there. She saw lots of construction of new hotels along the Bay of Kotor. I don’t often hear about Montenegro, but when I investigated, I found that Montenegro has a tourism development strategy that centers around a few pillars, the three that caught my eye being increased infrastructure, year-round sustainability for locals, and green tourism. I have to say, the Bay of Kotor looks unbelievably stunning, and not to mention, there are plenty of national parks to explore. The coastline is filled with delicious seafood - a sunny day with oysters and white wine by the water seems like the perfect spot to me. You can fly into Podgorica (MNE) or Tivat (MNE), or my friend flew in and out of Croatia and drove down (although she reported crossing the border was hectic and time-consuming).

💎 Hidden Gem / Authentic Stay Review

We loved our stay at Il Ghiottone Umbro. A Danish couple who worked and owned restaurants in Copenhagen has opened a culinary cooking school and small B&B in the Umbrian town of Todi. We were welcomed with homemade cookies in our room, and a small candle brought a sense of hygge to the rainy and cold November weekend. The three-course breakfasts were to die for: think perfectly sliced pineapple accompanied by homemade Danish rolls, muesli yogurt, and homemade pastries. I recommend arriving by car and exploring the nearby towns of Orvieto, Perugia, Assisi, and Arezzo. There is nothing like Umbria in the fall for fresh olive oil.

🍕 Local Culture and Artisan Spotlight

My neighborhood has been popping up with lots of new, inventive pizza shops. First, we tried OWAP, which stands for One World, All Pizza. The founder, pizzaiolo Mauro Espedito, left Napoli at 19 and started traveling the world to make pizza. After stints in Australia, NYC, Miami, Paris, Barcelona, and Northern Europe, at 32, he has returned home to open his new pizzeria. I loved the seasonal pie - it was rich and heavy with provola cheese and local Caserta pork sausage, but sweetened with a pumpkin cream sauce base.

We also tried the newly opened Raf Bonetta. A young, inventive pizzaiolo has perfected the doppia cottura - a way to cook dough to achieve contrasting textures. In this case, he’s created a pizza dough that’s crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. Another classic Neapolitan dish, the montanara, a little dough ball that is fried and then baked, was recreated by making the dough with vegetable charcoal. I loved these little tweaks that really “shock” the traditional Neapolitan. Another highlight was the recreation of the classic friarielli (a bitter green) and sausage. He turned the montanara upside down by making the friarelli into a green sauce, smothering it onto the middle of the bread before filling it with sauce and cheese.

Neapolitan food tends to be extremely conservative. There is usually no straying from the famous DOP Margherita or Diavola. I love how these chefs are breaking free from the chains of traditional cooking and getting experimental.

🌊 Sustainable Travel

I loved this article by about her experience vacationing at a nude camp in Austria.

I have definitely fallen into the Ayurvedic trap - spending more for facials or attending kundalini yoga classes. This is nothing compared to the two weeks spent in Nepal doing an Ayurvedic cleanse called Panchakarma. Ghee, anyone?

I always love receiving ‘s newsletter. This week she focused on travel trends for 2026. TLDR; people want to be bored.

✍🏻 A quote I’m chewing on this week

“Any time you see the government inflicting violence on people, take a pause, and then ask yourself, is this really necessary for my survival, my community’s safety, and for my well-being?”

Be gentle on yourselves this weekend, everyone. I hope you’re off to a slow and cozy start to the year. If you’re interested, check out my new article on Find Away Abroad about living in Napoli.