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Has Hustle Culture Commandeered Our Vacations?
On slow travel, consumerism, and experiencing the soul of a place
In February of 2023, I took my first ever trip just for me. I had always dreamed of visiting Portugal for its rich history, architecture, language, and culture. After spending most of my life as a broke post-secondary student, and then finally having a job with good earnings but a global pandemic to keep me at home, I was finally able to book the trip of my dreams. I was going to Lisbon and I was going alone, for three weeks, to discover the city as fully as I could.
It was in the process of booking this trip that I started to uncover the way that hustle culture had embedded itself into our holidays. I wanted a vacation, but I wanted an experience that did not feel rushed or pressured. I was only planning on going to Lisbon and surrounding areas like Sintra, Nazare, and Obidos.
Every person I told about my laid-back trip had the same response:
“You’re there for three whole weeks, aren’t you going to also go to Spain or France?”
Is three weeks truly a long time, or has it been decided by the media and our own fast-paced lives that we need to take in as much as we can with every second of a trip?
