For a long time, travel lists such as the Master Ranking of NomadMania have been considered as promoting more superficial, quick trips that prioritise quantity over quality and promote a selfish, ego-boosting style of travel. As NomadMania strives to provide a host of very different ways of seeing travel, in line with our commitment to sustainability, we are launching our SLOW travel listing.
It is our hope that this new way of considering travel will encourage our community to opt for travelling at a slower pace, at least to a certain extent. By rewarding travellers who immerse themselves in a country’s culture over an extended period, we hope to inspire a deeper appreciation for meaningful travel experiences.
We would especially like to thank our friend and UN Master from Denmark Henrik Jeppesen who was the one to initiate the idea of a way to focus on slow travel.
Let’s explore how the SLOW list works and the positive impact it has on rankings and scores.
The SLOW List Explained
The SLOW list focuses on countries rather than NomadMania regions, encompassing 196 countries (including UN 193, Taiwan, Palestine, and Kosovo). We exclude the Vatican due to the impracticality of an extended stay there. We offer three variations of the SLOW list: SLOW11, SLOW31, and SLOW101, denoting the number of days spent in a country overall.
To be eligible to ‘claim’ a country as ‘slow visited’ for ANY of the 3 lists, you must have spent 7 days continuously within a country on one of your trips there. We will accept a few hours border crossings as ‘continuous’ if it is an isolated event and doesn’t include an overnight. For example, if you spend 9 days in Slovakia but go across to Austria for two hours on Day 5, this still counts as 9 days in Slovakia. We leave this to a traveller’s best judgement.
Understanding the SLOW List
To illustrate how the SLOW list functions, let’s consider a few examples.
Suppose you have visited Oman four times, spending the following number of days on each trip:
- Trip 1: 3 days
- Trip 2: 17 days
- Trip 3: 6 days
- Trip 4: 9 days
The total number of days is 35, with a continuous 7-day period observed during the second and fourth trip. Therefore, you can claim Oman on both the SLOW11 and SLOW31 lists.
Now, let’s say you have visited Guyana five times, spending the following number of days on each trip:
- Trip 1: 5 days
- Trip 2: 2 days
- Trip 3: 4 days
- Trip 4: 6 days
- Trip 5: 2 days
The total number of days is 19, but you haven’t spent a minimum of 7 continuous days in Guyana. Hence, you are not eligible to claim Guyana on any of the SLOW lists.
Continuing with the examples, imagine you have visited Laos once and spent 12 days there. Since you have more than 11 days, including a minimum of 7 continuous days, you can claim SLOW11 for Laos.
Effect on Rankings and Total Scores
Once you have examined all 3 SLOW lists, your TOTAL SLOW is an aggregate of SLOW11, SLOW31 AND SLOW101. This is the number that will be presented as part of your profile under your SLOW score.
SLOW list is also available in our Master Ranking.
NomadMania will incorporate the SLOW score into the criteria for determining The Biggest Travellers (TBT) rankings. By acknowledging the significance of slow travel, we aim to celebrate and highlight those who prioritise meaningful connections and immerse themselves in the destinations they visit.
Embrace the joy of slow travel, and let the SLOW list guide you towards enriching adventures around the world.
