Settling In
to Lucca
“Travel is often about movement, but slow travel is about stillness — about choosing to stay long enough in one place that it starts to feel like home.”
What I enjoy most about slow travel is the act of settling in: unpacking my suitcase, finding a routine, and creating a sense of belonging, even temporarily. When we return to the same place, it’s even easier — it feels more like coming home than arriving at yet another unfamiliar Airbnb.
Settling in involves finding the right balance between bringing a few necessary comforts from home and fully embracing a different culture and lifestyle. While we shop, eat, and exercise differently while abroad, I still have to bring a few essentials from home — my trusty French knife, a mini rubber spatula, and a small whisk — tools I never seem to find in travel rentals.
Living abroad means following a different routine than we have at home, and developing that routine is a big part of feeling settled. For example, we walk a lot more here in Lucca. We choose not to rent a car, so we walk or ride our bikes — less than a mile to the local grocery store, even closer to the fresh produce market and other specialty food shops.
If we want to explore beyond the city, we can take the train or bus. The station is about a kilometre from our apartment, and in 20 minutes we can be at the beach, 30 minutes to Pisa, or a little over an hour to Florence. There are also plenty of charming villages within an hour’s train ride, so we save money on car rentals and improve our health by walking and biking more.
Another way we settle in is by looking for local events happening while we’re here. When is the weekly market? What concerts can we attend? What festivals will be celebrated? This year, the Lucca Half Marathon happened the first weekend we were here — it includes a non-competitive 10km walk, so we signed up to participate with the locals.
On May 20, Stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia — Italy’s version of the Tour de France — will hold a time trial that starts in Lucca. There’s also a French Market one weekend, and a Medieval Festival on another. By joining in with local cultural events, we feel more connected to the community.
We also try to eat with the seasons and in early May, that means fresh artichokes, asparagus, and strawberries. In Italy, much of the food is local, so we don’t need to buy produce that’s been picked before it’s ripe and shipped thousands of miles. The result? Outstanding freshness and flavour.
And so we’ve spent our first few days here focused on finding our rhythm. We arrived Tuesday afternoon after about four hours of train travel from Rome. Still jet-lagged and fuzzy-brained, we grabbed a few essentials at the Conad convenience store — water, coffee, milk, beer, and cookies — then picked up our favourite focaccia pizza from Alice’s.
After a few days of walking, shopping, cooking, and simply finding our rhythm, it already feels like we belong here again. The routines come back easily, the ancient cobblestone streets feel familiar, and our days unfold at a slower pace.
In the end, slow travel isn’t just about seeing new places — it’s about giving ourselves the time and space to truly belong somewhere, even if only for a while.
I love the impromptu 10km walk! It’s such a different experience to not have that list of things to do and see. Sounds like you are “setting a good pace” so to speak.
I love the concept of slow travel. You really get to feel at home in one location.