The Real Secret to Long-Term Travel in Europe: Our Slow Travel Lifestyle
Timeless Wanderers: Posted August 7, 2026
The Question We Get Asked Most Often
Whenever we tell people about our life travelling through Europe, there is one question that comes up again and again.
“How do you actually make it work?”
People often assume there must be one big secret.
Maybe it is finding cheap accommodation.
Maybe it is knowing the right places to go.
Maybe it is having enough money saved.
Maybe it is simply being lucky.
The truth is, there is no single secret.
Our lifestyle has been created through many small decisions that work together.
It is about the choices we make, the way we plan, and the mindset we have developed after years of travelling through Europe.
Long-term travel is not about escaping normal life.
It is about creating a different way of living.
We Didn’t Discover a Shortcut — We Built a Lifestyle.
When people imagine travelling Europe for months or years, they often picture complicated planning.
A perfect itinerary.
A long list of destinations.
Every detail organised before they leave home.
But our experience has been very different.
The system we use today was not created overnight.
It evolved through trial and error.
Through places we loved.
Through lessons we learned.
Through experiences that showed us what worked — and what didn’t.
Over time, we discovered that long-term travel became easier when we focused on a few important principles.
Not travelling faster.
Travelling slower.
Not seeing everything.
Experiencing more.
Not constantly searching for the next place.
Creating a lifestyle we actually enjoy.
The Six Choices That Changed The Way We Travel
Over the years, we’ve learned that six simple things make this lifestyle work:
1. Travel Slowly, Not Quickly
Giving ourselves time to truly experience places.
2. Follow The Seasons
Choosing where to be based on the time of year.
3. Create Bases
Staying longer instead of constantly moving.
4. Spend With Purpose
Understanding where our money matters most.
5. Use Opportunities Like Housesitting
Finding ways to make long-term travel sustainable.
6. Leave Room For Flexibility
Allowing the journey to unfold naturally.
Table of Contents
Slowing Down Changed Everything For Us
When we look back at how we travel today, there is one decision that changed everything for us: we stopped trying to see so much.
For years, like most people, our European trips were limited by time. You have two or three weeks, so you try to make the most of them.
A few nights here.
A few nights there.
Then on to the next place.
We saw plenty, but we were always moving.
Once we started travelling for longer, we realised we didn’t want to keep travelling that way. We wanted to stay somewhere long enough to get comfortable.
Long enough to find our favourite coffee shop.
Long enough to work out where to buy groceries.
Long enough to take the same walk a few times and start recognising people along the way.
That’s when slow travel really clicked for us.
We realised that staying longer didn’t mean we were missing out. It actually meant we were experiencing more.
Instead of asking, “How many places can we fit into this trip?” we started asking:
“What would happen if we stayed here for a while?”
That simple change has shaped almost everything we do now.
We Don’t Need To See Everything
One of the hardest things about travelling through Europe is accepting that you simply cannot see it all.
There is always another town.
Another country.
Another beautiful road.
Another place someone tells you that you absolutely must visit.
We understand the temptation because we have felt it ourselves.
But after years of travelling, we’ve become much happier leaving some places for another time.
We don’t need to tick every box.
If we really enjoy somewhere, we’d rather stay a little longer than leave just because our original plan says it’s time to go.
And sometimes that means returning to places we already know instead of constantly searching for somewhere new.
For us, familiarity has become part of the fun.
Slow Travel Gives Us Time For Everyday Life
This is probably the biggest difference between travelling slowly and taking a traditional holiday.
When you’re on holiday, the sightseeing is usually the main event.
When you’re living somewhere for a while, everyday life becomes part of the experience.
You still visit the famous places.
You still take day trips.
You still go out for dinner and explore.
But you also have ordinary days.
You do the washing.
You go grocery shopping.
You sit down with a coffee.
You cook dinner.
You take a walk because you feel like walking, not because it’s on the itinerary.
And strangely enough, those ordinary moments have become some of our favourite parts of living in Europe.
This Is Where Our Lifestyle Starts
Everything else we do comes back to this idea.
Because once you decide you want to travel slowly, other decisions become easier.
You start looking for longer accommodation.
You think about where you want to spend different seasons.
You consider housesitting.
You think about your budget differently.
You stop worrying about how many destinations you can squeeze into a year.
And you start asking a much better question:
“Where would we actually like to live for a while?”
That’s the foundation of our system.
We don’t try to make our lives fit around travel.
We have built our travel around the kind of life we want to live.
And that is what has allowed us to spend so much more time in Europe without feeling like we’re permanently on holiday.
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After more than 30 years of travelling to Eurpe—and loving it so much we decided to make it our home—we now live here and explore at a relaxed, local pace.
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2. We Plan Our Year Around The Seasons
One of the biggest changes we’ve made to the way we travel is learning to stop thinking about Europe as somewhere we visit and start thinking about it as somewhere we live.
That means the time of year matters.
We don’t want to be everywhere at the same time, and we certainly don’t want to spend our year chasing good weather from one place to another.
Instead, we look at the seasons and ask a simple question:
Where would we most like to be at this time of year?
For us, that might mean Tuscany when the weather is right for exploring, time in the mountains when we’re ready for skiing, and moving elsewhere in Europe when the seasons change.
It’s not a strict timetable.
Things change.
Plans change.
Sometimes an opportunity comes along that we hadn’t expected.
But having a general idea of where we’d like to be gives us a starting point.
We Don’t Try To Make Every Season Perfect
This is something we’ve learned over time.
There is no perfect place for every month of the year.
And we don’t need one.
Sometimes the weather isn’t ideal.
Sometimes a place is busier than we’d expected.
Sometimes we arrive somewhere and realise we’d rather be somewhere else.
That’s all part of travelling.
The important thing is having enough flexibility to make changes when we need to.
That’s one of the biggest advantages of slow travel.
We have time to adjust.
The Seasons Also Help Us Decide Where To Stay
Once we know roughly where we’d like to be, we can start looking at accommodation.
This is where our different options come into play.
Sometimes it might be a longer-term rental.
Sometimes we return to somewhere we already know.
And sometimes housesitting becomes the perfect fit.
We don’t have to make every accommodation decision a year in advance.
We can look at what’s available and choose what makes sense for that particular part of the year.
The Season Often Decides The Experience
We’ve also learned that visiting the same place at different times of the year can feel completely different.
Tuscany in summer is not the same Tuscany you experience in spring or autumn.
The mountains in winter are a completely different experience from visiting them in summer.
Even towns we’ve visited many times can feel different depending on the season.
That’s one of the reasons we enjoy returning to places.
We don’t always feel like we’ve already “done” them.
There’s always another side to see.
We Leave Plenty Of Room To Change Our Minds
This is important because our plans are never set in stone.
We might have an idea of where we’ll spend the next few months, but we’re always prepared to change it.
Perhaps we discover somewhere we really like.
Perhaps a housesit becomes available.
Perhaps we simply decide we want to stay where we are a little longer.
We’re not trying to run a perfectly organised travel operation.
We’re trying to enjoy our lives.
And sometimes the best decision is simply:
“Let’s stay another week.”
That is something you can only do when you aren’t rushing from one booking to the next.
The bigger picture
Planning around the seasons gives us a loose framework, but it doesn’t control our year.
That’s exactly how we like it.
We know roughly where we’d like to be.
We know what we want to experience.
And then we leave enough space for life to happen in between.
For us, that’s the sweet spot between having a plan and still being free to change it.
Staying Longer Changed The Way We Experience Europe
One of the biggest changes we’ve made to the way we travel is that we no longer feel the need to keep moving.
When you first start travelling through Europe, it’s easy to think that you should always be heading somewhere new.
New town.
New hotel.
New country.
New experience.
But we’ve discovered that staying put for a while can be just as exciting as moving on.
In fact, some of our favourite places in Europe are the ones we’ve returned to again and again.
Lucca Became One of Our Bases
Lucca is a great example.
We’ve spent so much time there that it stopped feeling like somewhere we were visiting.
It became a place where we could settle in.
We know our favourite places for coffee.
We know where we like to shop for everyday things.
We have our regular walks.
We know the streets we like to wander through when we don’t have anywhere particular to go.
And we can leave the house without needing a plan for the day.
That’s what having a base means to us.
It isn’t about staying inside one place all the time.
It’s about having somewhere that feels familiar while you explore everything around it.
A Base Doesn’t Mean You Stop Exploring
This is something people sometimes misunderstand about slow travel.
Staying in one place for several weeks or months doesn’t mean you’re stuck there.
Quite the opposite.
A good base gives you somewhere to return to after exploring the surrounding area.
When we’re based somewhere, we can take day trips without packing our bags every time.
We can visit another town for the day, explore a wine region, go for a long lunch, or spend the day sightseeing and then come back to our own bed.
That makes a huge difference.
We Don’t Have To Start Again Every Few Days
There is also something very practical about having a base.
Moving constantly takes time.
You have to pack.
Travel to the next place.
Find your accommodation.
Unpack.
Work out where the supermarket is.
Figure out the local transport.
Start again.
When you’re travelling for a couple of weeks, that’s part of the adventure.
When you’re travelling for months or years, it can become exhausting.
We’d rather spend that time actually enjoying where we are.
Bases Also Help Us Keep Our Costs Under Control
This is another important part of our system.
Staying longer can give us more accommodation options and means we’re not constantly paying for transport between destinations.
It also makes everyday spending easier.
We’re not eating out simply because we’re staying in a hotel with no kitchen.
We can shop locally.
Cook when we feel like it.
Have a normal day.
That doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy restaurants and long lunches — we absolutely do.
It just means they become something we choose rather than something we have to do because we’re constantly on the move.
We Don’t Have One Permanent Base
Our idea of a base is also flexible.
We don’t need to spend an entire year in one place.
We might have a base in Tuscany for part of the year, spend time in the mountains during ski season, and then move elsewhere when the weather or opportunities suit us.
That’s where the seasons, accommodation and housesitting all start working together.
Each part supports the others.
The Freedom To Stay Longer
Perhaps the best thing about having a base is the freedom it gives us.
If we love a place, we don’t have to leave simply because we’ve seen the main sights.
We can stay.
We can have a quiet week.
We can explore somewhere we missed the first time.
Or we can simply enjoy being there.
That’s something we never really understood when we were travelling on short holidays.
You don’t always need to be doing something for travel to be worthwhile.
Sometimes, just living somewhere for a while is the experience.
And that’s another important part of our system.
We don’t measure our travels by how many places we manage to visit.
We measure them by how much we enjoy the time we have.
And that leads perfectly into the next part of the lifestyle:
4. Spending Money On The Things That Matter
One of the biggest misconceptions about long-term travel is that you need to have a huge amount of money behind you.
We don’t.
What we’ve learned instead is that you need to know where your money is going and decide what is actually important to you.
For us, long-term travel isn’t about trying to spend as little as possible.
It’s about spending our money on the things we care about and being sensible with the things we don’t.
We Don’t Try To Save On Everything
This is important.
You can make travel miserable if you’re constantly worrying about every euro.
That’s not the life we’re trying to create.
If we really want to have a lovely lunch somewhere, we’ll have it.
If there’s an experience we really want to do, we’ll pay for it.
If we find a beautiful place to stay that feels right for us, we’re not automatically going to choose the cheapest option.
But we also don’t need luxury all the time.
We’ve learned the difference between something that adds to our experience and something we’re paying for simply because it’s there.
Staying Longer Helps
This is one of the reasons slow travel works so well for us.
When you’re moving every few days, you’re constantly spending money on transport, short-term accommodation, meals out and all the little costs that come with being on holiday.
When you stay somewhere longer, life becomes much more normal.
We can shop at the supermarket.
Cook at home.
Walk instead of taking transport.
Have a coffee rather than an organised activity.
And then spend money when something really appeals to us.
It’s not about depriving ourselves.
It’s about having choices.
We Look At The Whole Year, Not One Trip
This is another big change in the way we think about money.
We don’t look at every destination as a separate holiday.
We look at the year as a whole.
If we spend more in one place, we know we can balance that with a less expensive period somewhere else.
If we have a particularly expensive month, it doesn’t mean we’ve blown the budget.
We’re looking at the bigger picture.
That gives us much more flexibility.
Housesitting Has Become Part Of That Picture
This is where housesitting fits naturally into our system.
After more than three years and 50+ housesits, we know how much of a difference it can make to our accommodation costs.
But we don’t see housesitting simply as a way of getting somewhere to stay for free.
That’s only one part of it.
We get to live in residential areas, look after wonderful animals, experience places we might not otherwise have visited, and have a completely different kind of travel experience.
And because accommodation is often one of the biggest expenses when travelling long-term, housesitting can make a significant difference to the overall cost of our year.
We Spend Money On Living, Not Just Travelling
This might be one of the biggest differences between our life now and the holidays we used to take.
We’re not trying to create a holiday every single day.
We don’t need a restaurant every night.
We don’t need an activity every afternoon.
We don’t need to visit a major attraction every morning.
Sometimes our best days cost very little.
A walk.
A coffee.
A trip to the market.
A drive through the countryside.
Cooking dinner at home.
And then, when something special comes along, we’re happy to spend money on it.
That’s what spending with purpose means to us.
It’s not about spending less.
It’s about spending on the things that make our life better.
And this is where our whole system starts to come together.
Slow travel helps us stay longer.
Staying longer helps us manage our costs.
Planning around the seasons gives us choices.
And housesitting gives us another way to reduce one of our biggest expenses.
Which brings us naturally to one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle:
5. Why Housesitting Became Such A Big Part Of Our Travels
When we first started housesitting, we weren’t thinking about building a long-term travel system.
We were simply looking for a way to make travelling through Europe more manageable.
What we didn’t realise at the time was just how important housesitting would become.
After more than three years and 50+ housesits, it has become one of the tools we use to make our lifestyle work.
But there’s something we want to make clear.
For us, housesitting has never just been about free accommodation.
If that was all we were looking for, we probably wouldn’t have done more than 50 sits.
It Gives Us Somewhere To Live, Not Just Somewhere To Sleep
There’s a big difference.
When we housesit, we’re living in someone’s home.
We’re shopping locally.
Cooking meals.
Walking the dogs.
Getting to know the neighbourhood.
Finding the nearest café.
Doing the ordinary things that make a place feel real.
And because we’re often there for a longer period, we get to experience an area in a completely different way.
We’ve stayed in places we might never have chosen for a normal holiday.
We’ve looked after dogs and cats who became part of our stories.
And we’ve had experiences that simply wouldn’t have happened if we’d been staying in hotels.
It Has Changed The Way We Look At Accommodation
Accommodation is one of the biggest costs of long-term travel.
So finding a way to reduce that cost can make a huge difference.
Housesitting has allowed us to stay in places without paying the usual accommodation cost, while giving us something far more valuable than a hotel room.
A home.
A kitchen.
Space to settle in.
And usually, some wonderful animals to keep us company.
That can make a big difference when you’re travelling for months rather than weeks.
But Housesitting Is A Commitment
We also don’t want to give anyone the impression that housesitting is simply free travel.
It isn’t.
You’re responsible for someone’s home and their pets.
People are trusting you with something incredibly important to them.
We’ve learned that being reliable, organised and respectful matters just as much as finding good sits.
You have to enjoy the responsibility.
You have to be happy looking after animals.
And you need to understand that you’re agreeing to live your life around someone else’s needs for a while.
For us, that’s part of the appeal.
More Than 50 Sits Have Taught Us A Lot
When you’ve completed more than 50 housesits, you start to learn what works for you.
We’ve learned which types of sits suit us.
We’ve learned how much information we need before accepting one.
We’ve become better at planning our travel around sits.
And we’ve learned that the people and animals can be just as important as the destination.
Some sits have taken us to places we absolutely loved.
Others have simply been good experiences that taught us something.
That’s the reality of travel.
Not every experience has to be perfect to be worthwhile.
Housesitting Fits Into The Bigger Picture
This is the important part.
We don’t plan our entire year around housesitting.
We use it as one piece of the puzzle.
Sometimes a housesit fits perfectly between two destinations.
Sometimes it gives us a longer stay somewhere.
Sometimes it helps reduce our accommodation costs during an expensive part of the year.
And sometimes we accept a sit simply because we love the location or the animals.
That’s why it works so well for us.
It’s not the whole system.
It’s one part of a bigger way of travelling.
And this is something we’ve learned from doing this for so long:
You don’t need one solution that solves everything.
You need several things that work well together.
Slow travel.
Seasonal planning.
Good bases.
Sensible spending.
Housesitting.
And, perhaps most importantly, the flexibility to change your plans when something better comes along.
That’s the next part of our system.
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6. Leaving Room For Life To Happen
One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned from travelling long-term is that the best moments often come from things we never planned.
When you’re travelling for a short holiday, your schedule is usually fixed.
Flights are booked.
Accommodation is arranged.
The days are planned because your time is limited.
Long-term travel is different.
You still need a plan, but you also need space for life to happen.
Our Plans Are A Starting Point, Not A Rulebook
We like to know roughly where we’re going and what we want to experience.
But we don’t plan every day months in advance.
We’ve learned that being too rigid can mean missing some of the best opportunities.
A place might surprise us.
We might meet someone who suggests somewhere we’ve never heard of.
A housesit might become available.
We might simply realise we are enjoying somewhere and want to stay longer.
When you have time, you can say:
“Let’s see what happens.”
And that is a wonderful feeling.
Some Of Our Best Memories Were Never Planned
Looking back, many of our favourite moments weren’t things we had carefully organised.
They happened because we weren’t rushing.
A conversation with someone local.
A recommendation from a friend.
A small village we decided to visit for the afternoon.
A quiet morning walk.
A place we discovered simply because we had nowhere else we needed to be.
Those moments are difficult to plan.
You have to leave room for them.
Flexibility Also Makes Travel Easier
This doesn’t mean we never make plans.
We still look ahead.
We still consider seasons, accommodation, budgets and where we want to be.
But we don’t treat our plans as something that cannot change.
Sometimes a plan works perfectly.
Sometimes it needs adjusting.
That’s normal.
In fact, after years of travelling, we’ve learned that changing direction is not a problem.
It’s part of the process.
We Have Learned To Trust The System
This is probably the biggest difference between when we started and where we are today.
At the beginning, every decision felt important.
Where should we go?
How long should we stay?
What if we make the wrong choice?
Over time, we’ve learned that there is rarely one perfect decision.
If something doesn’t work, we adjust.
If we love somewhere, we stay longer.
If we want something different, we move on.
The system works because it gives us options.
The Freedom Is In Having Choices
This is what long-term travel has given us.
Not a perfectly planned life.
A flexible one.
We can decide based on the season.
We can decide based on opportunities.
We can decide based on what feels right at the time.
And after years of travelling through Europe, we have learned that sometimes the best plan is simply being open to changing it.
Read Our Full Guide On
10 Mistakes to Avoid When Planning Long-Term Travel in Europe
Changing The Way We Thought About Travel
The biggest change we made wasn’t about money, accommodation, or planning.
It was learning to think differently about travel.
For years, we looked at travel the way most people do.
A trip had a start date.
A return date.
A list of places to see.
A limited amount of time to fit everything in.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
Short holidays are wonderful.
But when we started travelling for longer, we realised we needed a different approach.
We couldn’t keep thinking like we were on a two-week holiday.
We had to start thinking like we were creating a lifestyle.
We Stopped Trying To Make Every Day Count
This might sound strange, but one of the best things we learned was that not every day needs to be exciting.
When you’re on holiday, there can be pressure to make every moment special.
You feel like you should be exploring, sightseeing, or doing something memorable.
But when you live somewhere for a while, ordinary days become part of the experience.
A quiet morning.
A walk around town.
Cooking dinner at home.
Sitting outside with a coffee.
Doing normal things in a different place.
Those moments are not wasted time.
They are the reason slow travel feels so different.
We Learned That Familiarity Is A Good Thing
There is a common idea that travellers should always be searching for somewhere new.
New country.
New city.
New experience.
But after years of travelling through Europe, we have discovered that returning to places we love is one of the best parts.
Going back to Tuscany.
Walking streets we already know.
Returning to a favourite café.
Seeing a place change with the seasons.
It doesn’t make the experience less special.
It makes it deeper.
We Stopped Chasing The Perfect Trip
The perfect trip doesn’t exist.
There will always be things that don’t go according to plan.
The weather might change.
A place might not be what you expected.
Something you were excited about might not happen.
But long-term travel teaches you to accept those things.
Not every day needs to be perfect for the overall experience to be wonderful.
Some of our favourite memories have come from ordinary moments or unexpected changes.
We Started Valuing Time Differently
This is probably the biggest lesson of all.
When you have limited holiday time, the biggest question is:
“How much can we see?”
When you travel slowly, the question changes:
“How do we want to spend our time?”
For us, that has meant choosing fewer places, staying longer, and allowing ourselves to enjoy the little things.
Time has become more valuable than trying to collect experiences.
This Is What Made The System Work
All the practical pieces matter.
The planning.
The budgeting.
The accommodation.
The housesitting.
But without the mindset shift, none of it would have worked.
Because long-term travel is not just about staying somewhere longer.
It’s about being comfortable with a different pace of life.
And once we made that shift, Europe started to feel less like somewhere we were visiting and more like a place where we could actually live.
8. Why This Lifestyle Still Works For Us Today
When we look back at how we travel now compared to how we travelled years ago, the biggest difference is that we have stopped trying to force travel into a certain shape.
We have found a way of travelling that fits our lives.
It isn’t about following a strict formula.
It isn’t about copying exactly what we do.
It’s about understanding the ideas behind it and adapting them to your own situation.
Because the truth is, everyone’s version of long-term travel will look different.
The System Has Changed Over Time
One thing we’ve learned is that your travel style doesn’t have to stay the same forever.
What worked for us a few years ago might look slightly different today.
Our plans have changed.
Our priorities have changed.
We’ve learned more about what we enjoy and what suits us.
That’s part of the beauty of this lifestyle.
You don’t have to have everything figured out before you begin.
You learn as you go.
We Built A Lifestyle, Not Just A Travel Plan
This is probably the biggest lesson we have learned.
A travel plan focuses on places.
A lifestyle focuses on how you want to spend your time.
For us, that means:
- having the freedom to stay longer when we love somewhere
- choosing places based on the season
- creating familiar bases
- finding ways to make travel sustainable
- leaving space for unexpected opportunities
These things work together.
No single part is responsible for making it possible.
The Secret Is Not One Thing
If someone asked us today:
“What is the secret to travelling Europe long-term?”
We wouldn’t point to one answer.
It isn’t housesitting.
It isn’t careful budgeting.
It isn’t choosing the cheapest options.
It isn’t planning every detail.
The secret is creating a system where all the pieces support each other.
Slow travel.
Smart choices.
Flexibility.
Curiosity.
And being willing to do things differently from the usual way of travelling.
We Still Love Discovering New Places
Living this way doesn’t mean we have stopped exploring.
Quite the opposite.
We still get excited about new destinations.
We still love discovering a new town, trying a local restaurant, or finding a beautiful road we haven’t travelled before.
The difference is that we no longer feel pressure to do everything.
We can enjoy a place properly.
And we can always come back.
Our Advice To Anyone Dreaming Of Long-Term Travel
If long-term travel through Europe is something you’ve dreamed about, our advice is simple:
Don’t wait until you have the perfect plan.
Start learning what matters most to you.
Think about where you would like to spend time.
Consider what kind of lifestyle you want.
Start with small steps.
The life you imagine doesn’t have to appear overnight.
Ours didn’t.
It was built through years of decisions, experiences, and learning what worked for us.
The Real Secret
The real secret to long-term travel in Europe is not finding a way to escape everyday life.
It’s creating an everyday life that you enjoy living.
For us, that means slower mornings, longer stays, familiar places, new discoveries, and the freedom to choose what comes next.
And after all these years, we wouldn’t want to travel any other way.
Frequently Asked Questions About Long-Term Travel in Europe
1. How do you afford long-term travel in Europe?
Long-term travel is possible because we don’t approach it like one long holiday.
We travel slowly, stay longer in places, create bases, and make thoughtful decisions about where we spend our money.
For us, the biggest difference has been changing the way we travel. Staying longer often reduces costs because we aren’t constantly paying for short stays, transport between destinations, and the extra expenses that come with moving all the time.
We also use housesitting as part of our overall travel system, which helps reduce accommodation costs while allowing us to experience places in a much more local way.
2. How long can you travel through Europe?
The length of time you can travel through Europe depends on your personal situation, passport rules, finances, and the type of travel you want to do.
For us, travelling long-term has meant creating a flexible lifestyle rather than planning one long trip.
We move with the seasons, choose longer stays, and build our year around what works best at the time.
The key is understanding that long-term travel doesn’t have to mean being constantly away. It can also mean spending several months each year exploring Europe at a slower pace.
3. Is slow travel in Europe cheaper than a traditional holiday?
It can be.
Slow travel isn’t automatically cheap, but it often allows you to make smarter choices with your money.
When you stay longer, you usually have more accommodation options, fewer transport costs, and the ability to live more like a local.
You can shop at markets, cook some meals at home, and avoid the pressure to fill every day with expensive activities.
For us, the goal isn’t to spend as little as possible.
It’s about spending money on the things that matter most.
4. How do you decide where to stay in Europe for longer periods?
We look at several things:
The season.
The location.
The cost of living.
What we want to experience.
And whether the place feels right for the type of lifestyle we want at that time.
Sometimes we return to places we already love, like Tuscany.
Other times, we discover somewhere new.
Having flexibility means we don’t need to find the “perfect” place every time. We simply choose what works best for that stage of our journey.
5. How does housesitting help with long-term travel in Europe?
Housesitting has become one part of our overall travel system.
After more than three years and 50+ housesits, we have seen how valuable it can be.
It helps reduce accommodation costs, but it also gives us something much more important — the chance to live in real homes, experience local neighbourhoods, and become part of everyday life somewhere new.
For us, housesitting is not just about saving money.
It’s about the experiences that come with it.
6. Do you need to plan everything before travelling Europe long-term?
No.
Planning is important, but we have learned that being flexible is just as important.
We usually have an idea of where we would like to be, especially when it comes to seasons and accommodation.
But we always leave room for changes.
Some of our favourite experiences have come from opportunities we couldn’t have planned in advance.
A good plan gives you direction.
Flexibility gives you freedom.
7. What is the biggest challenge of long-term travel?
The biggest challenge is often not the practical side.
It’s changing your mindset.
You have to move away from thinking like you are on a short holiday where every day needs to be filled with activities.
Long-term travel requires a different approach.
You need to be comfortable with ordinary days, changing plans, and creating a routine while living somewhere new.
Once you adjust to that, the experience becomes much easier.
8. Can ordinary people create a slow travel lifestyle?
We believe they can.
Everyone’s version will look different.
It might not mean travelling for years or living in another country.
It could simply mean taking longer trips, spending more time in fewer places, or creating more freedom in your schedule.
The important thing is starting with the question:
“How do we want to spend our time?”
That is where our own slow travel lifestyle began.
Before the book — get the free kit. Everything you need to understand the basics and start planning with confidence.
Your First Step Towards Long-Term Travel in Europe
The moment everything changed was when we booked a place for a month instead of a week and discovered we were paying half the nightly rate. By the second week, the neighbour had invited us in for a drink, we knew the shortcut to the market, and we were, briefly and genuinely, part of the street.
The 90-Day Slow Travel Starter Kit
Start Your Slow Travel Journey With Our FREE 90-Day Slow Travel Starter Kit
If reading our housesitting journey has made you wonder whether a slower way of travelling through Europe might be possible for you, the first step is simply to start exploring the idea.
When we began our own journey, we didn’t have every answer.
We didn’t know exactly where we would go, how long we would stay, or how all the pieces would come together.
What we did know was that we wanted to experience Europe differently.
We wanted more time.
More connection.
More opportunities to discover the everyday moments that make a place special.
Over the years, we have learned that creating a slow travel lifestyle is not about one big decision.
It is about small choices that gradually create more freedom.
Choosing to stay longer.
Learning how to plan around seasons.
Finding ways to travel more sustainably.
Understanding what matters most to you.
The Resource We Wish We Had When We Started
Our FREE 90-Day Slow Travel Starter Kit was created to help you begin thinking about your own European adventure.
It brings together the lessons we have learned from years of travelling slowly, creating a flexible lifestyle, and finding ways to make long-term travel possible.
Inside, we share the questions we believe every aspiring slow traveller should ask before taking the first step.
It is not about following a strict formula.
Your journey will be completely your own.
It is about helping you move from:
“I would love to do this one day…”
to:
“Maybe this is something we can actually plan.”
Start your slow travel journey with our FREE 90-Day Slow Travel Starter Kit and begin exploring what could be possible.
Over Coffee with Sally and Gary ☕
If we were sitting down together over coffee, the one thing we would tell you is this:
Don’t wait for everything to be perfect.
We certainly didn’t have every answer when we started.
Our lifestyle was created one decision at a time — one destination, one season, one experience at a time.
The biggest change wasn’t learning how to travel more.
It was learning how to travel differently.
Slow down.
Stay longer.
Be open to changing plans.
And enjoy the everyday moments along the way.
Because those ordinary moments often become the ones you remember most.
We hope our experiences show you that long-term travel through Europe isn’t only for a lucky few.
It starts with a dream, a little planning, and the courage to create something different.
See you somewhere in Europe. ☕🌍
Sally & Gary
Final Thoughts: Creating A Life We Love Living
When we look back at where this journey started, we never could have imagined exactly where it would lead us.
We didn’t wake up one day with a perfect plan for long-term travel in Europe.
There was no magic formula.
No secret shortcut.
Instead, we made one decision at a time.
We changed the way we thought about travel.
We learned what worked for us.
We discovered that staying longer, travelling slower, and creating a flexible plan allowed us to experience Europe in a completely different way.
After spending years exploring Europe, building bases, following the seasons, and completing more than 50 housesits, we have realised something important:
Long-term travel is not really about how many places you can visit.
It’s about how you choose to spend your time.
The best memories often haven’t come from ticking something famous off a list.
They have come from ordinary moments.
A morning coffee in a town we love.
A walk through familiar streets.
A conversation with someone we met along the way.
A quiet afternoon enjoying where we are.
Those are the moments that make a place feel like home.
Of course, our way of travelling won’t be right for everyone.
Everyone has different responsibilities, dreams, and priorities.
But we do believe that many more people could create a version of this lifestyle if they stopped thinking they needed to do it the traditional way.
You don’t have to see everything.
You don’t have to travel quickly.
You don’t have to wait for the “perfect” time.
Sometimes it starts with simply asking:
“What kind of life do we really want to create?”
For us, that question changed everything.
Leaving Australia and creating a new chapter in Europe wasn’t always easy, but it has been one of the best decisions we have ever made.
We are still learning.
We are still discovering new places.
We are still changing our plans and finding new ways to make this lifestyle work.
And that’s exactly what we love about it.
There is always something new ahead.
The real secret to long-term travel in Europe isn’t a destination.
It isn’t a budget.
It isn’t one clever trick.
It’s building a way of living that gives you the freedom to experience the world at your own pace.
And after everything we’ve learned, that is what slow travel means to us.
Not travelling more.
Not travelling faster.
Simply having more time to enjoy the places we love.
Before the book — get the free kit. Everything you need to understand the basics and start planning with confidence.
Europe looks complicated from the outside.
The Schengen rules. The visa questions. The accommodation puzzle. Where to base yourself, how long to stay, how to make the money work. The more you look into it, the more it seems like something that requires months of research and a perfect plan before you can even think about leaving.
The 90-Day Slow Travel Starter Kit
Ready to Turn Your Dream Into a Plan?
Inside you’ll discover:
The first planning steps
Understanding the Schengen Rule
How we choose where to stay
Practical slow travel tips
Download Your FREE Starter Kit
Want to Go Even Further?
If you’d like to learn the complete system we’ve developed after years of travelling Europe full-time, take a look at our new book.
How We Actually Travel Europe Long-Term
Discover the Book
Every long-term traveller remembers the day they finally decided to go.
We hope this is yours.
See you somewhere in Europe.
PLAN YOUR ADVENTURE
These are our favorite companies we use when planning a trip, they consistently have the best prices, great customer service, and overall, are better than their competitors.
BOOK YOUR FLIGHT – Going is a great search engine if you are flexible about your travel destination and dates. Sign up for their newsletter and get the latest deals on destinations around the world. GOING is our new go to.
TRAVEL OPTIONS
CAR RENTAL – We recommend using DISCOVER CARS when booking a RENTAL CARS, they work with hundreds of companies worldwide to help you find the best car for your needs.
TRAINS – TRAINLINE – is our favorite, this site is very reliable and easy to use.
BUS – OMIO – this website allows you to book train or bus tickets to travel from city to city the best and cheapest way. FLIXBUS is another terrific website with routes between 20 European countries.
ACCOMMODATIONS
BOOKING.com – is our go to for hotel searches around the world, we find they always have the cheapest rates and offer different payment options. In addition, VRBO is another terrific website for all types of accommodations.
HOSTELWORLD – is great if you’re traveling on a budget, and if you need a cheap place to stay.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
SAFETY WING – offer some of the most competitive and affordable plans tailored for your needs. SAFETY WING cover travellers from over 140 countries and make it easy to buy, extend and claim, even while travelling.