Photo Courtesy: Brasada Ranch
Changing Travel Mindset
Rather than simply escaping, travelers are seeking more meaningful ways to engage with a place
This is sacred land,” said my guide, Franklin Martin, a member of the Navajo Nation’s Zuni Edgewater clan, as I looked out at the river bends, flat-topped mesas and vermilion-colored buttes of the Grand Canyon from a remote vantage point few tourists ever see.
The canyon’s East Rim is accessible only by guided tour through a vast, undeveloped stretch of Navajo-owned land. During the all-day excursion, we stopped along the way to learn about Navajo history and local wildlife.
With no restaurants or cell service, I felt far removed from the frenetic pace of modern life. For Martin, the canyon’s beauty extends beyond the superficial.
“The canyon is like a temple to us,” he said.
I began to see the canyon less as a destination for rafting trips and challenging day hikes, but more as something deeper.
Slow travel doesn’t require weeks of vacation, but it does ask travelers to ease up and engage with a place in a more meaningful way. From astrotourism experiences viewed through a historical lens to culturally rooted stays exploring Indigenous places and foraging retreats that encourage travelers to embrace their inner hunter-gatherer, these three ideas for more mindful travel offer the ultimate luxury in today’s hyperconnected world.
Stargazing With a Side of History
Humankind has looked to the night sky for inspiration and answers throughout history. Celestial travel with a historical perspective makes stargazing adventures even more educational and transformative.
The ancient Maya civilization is famous for designing massive temples to track the sun, moon and planets. Some of the most impressive Maya archaeological sites are in Belize. Guided tours of Caracol in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve lead visitors through notable landmarks, including Caana, or “Sky Place,” and its observatory, where travelers can gain insight into the Maya calendar, constellations and spiritual connection to the night sky.
Travelers are offered a new perspective when night falls and they experience the stars much as the Maya once did. With remote offshore islands and extensive protected rainforest, Belize has exceptionally low light pollution. Booking a night-diving excursion at the Belize Barrier Reef, with star-filled skies above and nocturnal marine life thriving below, is an unforgettable nighttime adventure. Several local tour companies—often found through accommodations— offer a variety of diving excursions and PADI dive courses.
Scotland is one of the world’s most underrated stargazing destinations, with designated reserves scattered across the Highlands. At the Dark Sky-designated Tomintoul and Glenlivet area in Cairngorms National Park, the surrounding mountains create a natural shield from light pollution. The park’s history includes ancient settlements, Highland clans and whisky smuggling routes. On multi-day walking vacations, visitors might encounter 4,000-year-old rock art and burial cairns, castles, the royal estate of Balmoral and the Abernethy Forest, while also experiencing meteor showers and, possibly, the aurora borealis. Experienced outfitters can organize itineraries that include everything from moderate day hikes to stargazing sessions and stays in Victorian inns and quaint guesthouses in the park.
Photo Courtesy: iStock-1494301302.jpg
Explore Indigenous Places of Importance
The largest Native American Reservation in the United States, the Navajo Nation, covers much of Arizona’s northeast corner. Visiting the remote region with unpolluted night skies and majestic California condors offers many opportunities to experience slow-travel through an Indigenous perspective.
Marble Canyon Lodge, a 1926 roadhouse turned outdoorsy base camp with organic, modern décor, gives guests the inside scoop on lesser-visited locations near the Grand Canyon and other Southwest landmarks. Through partnerships with local Navajo-owned tour operators, guests can responsibly tour Indigenous lands with companies such as Franklin’s Sacred Edge Tours and the female-run Deer Spring Tours, which organizes visits to the less-touristy Secret Antelope Canyon and a little-known viewpoint overlooking Horseshoe Bend. Other perks of a stay at the hotel roughly 45 minutes from Page, Arizona, include storytelling fire circles in the evening and local specialties like blue corn pancakes at the lodge’s Lonely Jackrabbit restaurant.
Mindful travel through an Indigenous perspective is not limited to remote areas. While Vancouver, British Columbia, is a sophisticated city with gleaming glass towers and a busy harbor, it is part of a region that is home to more than 200 First Nations, each with distinct stories, languages and traditions. Visit Stanley Park, a 1,000-acre rainforest in the city center, to learn about the Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) nations, and how Indigenous communities harvested food, medicine and materials from the forest canopy.
Photo Courtesy: Brasada Ranch
Taste of Place
The ancient practice of foraging is experiencing a renaissance, fueled largely by a growing desire among travelers to spend more time outside.
At Brasada Ranch in Central Oregon, chef Karl Holl showcases a passion for foraged ingredients through menus and immersive experiences. Even in the arid high-desert climate, treasures can be found. Between moongazing sessions—Brasada’s 3,000-foot elevation offers clear, open sightlines—and horseback rides with rimrock views, guests can request a special foraging tour with Holl, searching for plants across the property, including western juniper, sagebrush, rye, elderberry, wild strawberry and huckleberry.
The fruits of those efforts are on display at the resort’s Wild Rye restaurant and Foraged Dinner Series, where dishes like Juniper Braised Lamb Shank with rye risotto, pickled morels and fermented ramp chimichurri feature the region’s bold flavors.
“I’m always looking for ways to highlight wild, foraged ingredients in the prime of the seasons,” said Holl.
Biodiversity hotspots such as the California coast offer a wealth of opportunities for a foraging-focused vacation. On the Central Coast, former commercial fisherman Spencer Marley, of Marley Family Seaweeds, takes visitors on sea-foraging tours. While exploring the tide pools of Cayucos, guests learn everything from identifying edible marine algae to the history of Asian American seaweed harvesters in California.
Mendocino’s varied microclimates yield a wide range of wild ingredients. At properties like Inn at Newport Ranch, guests don wellies and raincoats in search of morels, porcini mushrooms, chanterelles and other wild fungi. Knowledgeable guides point out both edible and poisonous mushrooms.
The day’s bounty is celebrated through seasonal tasting menus featuring foraged mushrooms and other local ingredients. Think fermented rice and maitake mushrooms, or Stemple Creek beef tenderloin with grilled onions and seaweed. 
Casey Hatfield-Chiotti is editor-in-chief of Oregon Media. A longtime travel and lifestyle journalist, she covers food, wine, hotels and outdoor adventure. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes, Travel + Leisure, Sunset, Afar and other national publications.
Travel Deals
