The birth of Slow Travel

Slow Travel was born from an idea as crazy as it was captivating—an idea that took shape and turned into an incredible journey: we crossed Ethiopia in an Ape all the way to the Omo Valley, the cradle of civilization. We did it in slow motion, traveling by tuk-tuk.
 

How did Slow Travel begin?

It’s like the difference between fast food and slow food: is it better to eat a bland hamburger in 5 minutes, or to enjoy lunch seated at a beautifully set table with a good glass of wine? The World in Slow Motion means traveling slowly, observing what you see, taking part in what you document, and enjoying the journey itself.

“The World in Slow Motion” is a format created by the Taurinorum Team, a travel crew led by Ludovico de Maistre. The format promotes a way of traveling that is “slow, ethical, and mindful”: when you travel slowly, you travel well and you go far. You have time to document, interact with people, reflect, take photographs, and immerse yourself in what you are experiencing.

For the first Slow Travel journey, the team covered 2,500 km across southern Ethiopia aboard three Ape vehicles (here you can find the documentary account of the trip, available on Amazon Prime Video). Gabriele Saluci and Erica Rossi were selected to take part: it was there that they met, and it was there in Ethiopia that the first core of what is now Sto Gran Tour was born.

Gabriele is the creative director and storyteller of the documentary series that was about to be born, while Erica, an expert in international cooperation and communication, oversees the social side of the project. 
 

The birth of the Rai 3 TV series

After returning from this journey, the television series “Slow Travel” was born: a way of telling travel stories without filters, in a fun and authentic way, using vehicles that never go faster than 50 km/h—slowly, just as the name suggests.

“Rai 3 welcomed us into the new Kilimangiaro team as if we were their children. We’re still young, but we give it everything we’ve got, and our enthusiasm, passion, and determination are rewarded by the trust of the show’s writers.”

Gabriele managed to bring together videos from his adventures over the previous years, and so the show debuted with 13 episodes, each 12 minutes long. Ethiopia, Mongolia, Vietnam, Nepal. It was the first year, and no one yet knew how it would turn out. 

Over the years, the series grew, with journeys all over the world.
In 2019, the Slow Travel team expanded as Erica Rossi and Marta Lombardelli officially joined the series, bringing a female perspective. They appeared on air telling the story of Malawi by bicycle.

Today, the Slow Travel team is celebrating its fifth season as the official documentary storytellers of Kilimangiaro on Rai 3.