TravelDay buddy

Soren

@slowdays · he/him · Chiang Mai, Thailand

Fewer stops. More time to settle in and make a place your own.

  • Nature
  • Longer stays
  • Breathing room
  • Slow pace
  • Mid range

Soren is a drawn, fictional companion written by TravelDay. The places below are real entries in our catalogue, and each one names the guide it came from.

How Soren travels

I rent by the month. The first week I am useless, the second week I know which corner sells fruit before seven, and by the third week the day runs itself.

I plan two things a day and leave the rest open. A walk in the morning while it is cool, one room or one hill in the afternoon, dinner at a place I have already been. Repetition is the point. I would rather know one warung well than eat at seven.

I skip the sunrise convoys and the day tours that pack four sights into six hours. If a place is worth seeing I will get there on a slow morning when everyone else has gone home.

  • Slow travel
  • Long stays
  • Nature
  • Walking
  • Remote work

Cities Soren keeps going back to

  • Chiang Mai

    Thailand

    My base. Cheap months, cool mornings, and hills ten minutes from a desk.

  • Bali

    Indonesia

    I stay inland around Ubud, where the day still belongs to the village.

  • Medellin

    Colombia

    One valley, many neighbourhoods, and a metro that lets me take them one at a time.

  • Lisbon

    Portugal

    Hills and river light. I go in winter when the queues have gone.

  • Cape Town

    South Africa

    A mountain inside the city, which is the shortest commute to quiet I know.

What Soren recommends

Bali

  • Moksa Plant-based Restaurant and Premaculture Garden · Restaurant

    Plant based cooking on a permaculture garden outside Ubud. It is a slow meal and a walk through the beds afterwards, which is the right shape for an evening.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. Listed among Lonely Planet's must-see restaurants in Ubud

  • Melting Wok Warung · Restaurant

    A small warung with a short menu. I eat here twice a week when I am in Ubud and never feel like I am spending.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. Listed as Melting Wok among Lonely Planet's must-see restaurants in Ubud

  • Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA) · Museum

    Balinese and Javanese painting in a garden you can sit in. Go late in the afternoon and stay until the light goes.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. Featured on Lonely Planet's list of Ubud attractions

  • Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary · Nature

    The sacred monkey forest in the middle of Ubud. Go at opening, keep bags closed and food out of sight, and walk the lower path by the river where almost nobody goes.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. Featured as Ubud Monkey Forest on Lonely Planet's list of Ubud attractions

  • Museum Puri Lukisan · Museum

    The oldest art museum in Ubud and a good hour out of the heat. Four pavilions, a pond, and no crowd most mornings.

    • Seen in Lonely Planet. Featured on Lonely Planet's list of Ubud attractions

Cape Town

  • Table Mountain National Park · Nature

    A national park you can walk into from a city street. Check the wind before you commit to a ridge, and take more water than you think.

    • Seen in SANParks. The national parks service lists 22 mammal and 250 bird species in the park and a new universal access walkway at the summit

Lisbon

  • Martinho da Arcada · Restaurant

    An old room under the arcade on Praca do Comercio. I sit outside with a coffee and let the square do the work.

    • Seen in Visit Lisboa. Listed by the Lisbon tourism board as a historic restaurant on Terreiro do Paco

Medellin

  • Carmen · Restaurant

    The one meal I book ahead in Medellin. Colombian produce cooked plainly enough that you taste where it came from. Reserve a week out.

    • Seen in Eater. Included in Eater's 26 essential restaurants in Medellin, April 2024

Plans you can copy

Seven nights in Ubud without hurrying

7 nights · April to October · Slow pace · Mid range

One base, two things a day, and the same warung twice. The point is to stop moving.

  1. Day 1

    Arrive and walk the middle of town

    • Puri Saren Agung Ubud Palace · Afternoon · Sight

      The palace at the crossroads. Ten minutes is enough on day one, and it tells you where everything else is.

    • Melting Wok Warung · Evening · Meal

      Short menu, small room, no decisions to make after a flight.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Listed as Melting Wok among Lonely Planet's must-see restaurants in Ubud

  2. Day 2

    Water temple, then paintings

    • Saraswati Temple · Morning · Sight

      The lotus pond temple behind the main street. It is an active temple, so cover your shoulders and knees and stay outside the inner courtyard.

    • Museum Puri Lukisan · Midday · Museum

      Four pavilions and a pond. The middle of the day is for shade.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Featured on Lonely Planet's list of Ubud attractions

    • Moksa Plant-based Restaurant and Premaculture Garden · Evening · Meal

      Book ahead and take the walk through the garden before you sit down.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Listed among Lonely Planet's must-see restaurants in Ubud

  3. Day 3

    Monkey forest early, museum late

    • Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary · Morning · Nature

      Be there when it opens. Bags closed, no food in hand, and take the river path at the bottom.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Featured as Ubud Monkey Forest on Lonely Planet's list of Ubud attractions

    • Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA) · Afternoon · Museum

      Stay for the garden rather than the galleries if the day has been long.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Featured on Lonely Planet's list of Ubud attractions

  4. Day 4

    Terraces before the buses

    • Tegallalang Rice Terraces · Morning · Nature

      Go before eight. Several viewpoints charge a small donation to enter, and the far side of the valley is quieter than the car park side.

    • Neka Art Museum · Afternoon · Museum

      Balinese painting arranged so you can see how the styles pulled apart. Quiet on weekday afternoons.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Featured on Lonely Planet's list of Ubud attractions

  5. Day 5

    Cave and spring

    • Goa Gajah · Morning · Sight

      The elephant cave and its bathing pools. Sarongs are provided at the gate.

    • Tirta Empul Temple · Afternoon · Sight

      An active temple where people come to bathe as part of worship. I watch from the side and leave the water to them.

  6. Day 6

    Up to the lake

    • Danau Batur · Morning · Nature

      The crater lake is an hour and a half north and ten degrees cooler. Cloud usually closes in after midday.

    • Melting Wok Warung · Evening · Meal

      Second visit of the week. By now they know the order.

      • Seen in Lonely Planet. Listed as Melting Wok among Lonely Planet's must-see restaurants in Ubud

  7. Day 7

    One last lake temple

  • Seen in Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet's Ubud page lists the palace, the monkey forest, Pura Taman Saraswati and the town's art museums

Six nights in Medellin, one neighbourhood a day

6 nights · December to March · Slow pace · Mid range

I take the metro one stop further each morning and let the afternoon go slack.

  1. Day 1

    Arrive and walk the water

    • Parque de Los Pies Descalzos · Afternoon · Walk

      Shoes off in the sand and water channels. It is a park built for doing nothing, which is the right start.

    • Carmen · Evening · Meal

      Book this before you fly. It is the one expensive night of the week.

      • Seen in Eater. Included in Eater's 26 essential restaurants in Medellin, April 2024

  2. Day 2

    The old centre

    • Museo de Antioquia · Morning · Museum

      Start here and then stand in the square outside with the bronze figures for a while.

    • Parque de los Deseos · Afternoon · Walk

      Students, water, and a planetarium behind. Sit on the steps until the heat drops.

  3. Day 3

    Green morning

    • Jardín Botánico · Morning · Nature

      Free to walk in, shaded, and full of people doing nothing in particular. My favourite hour in the city.

    • Parque Explora · Afternoon · Museum

      Next door to the garden, so it costs you no travel. Loud with school groups before three.

  4. Day 4

    The harder history

    • Museo Casa de la Memoria · Morning · Museum

      The museum of the city's conflict years. It is heavy, it is honest, and it is the reason the rest of the week makes sense. Give it a slow afternoon after.

    • Parque de San Antonio · Afternoon · Walk

      The square with the two Botero birds, one of them torn open. Read the plaque and then keep walking.

  5. Day 5

    Modern art and the river

    • Medellín Museum of Modern Art · Morning · Museum

      An old steel mill turned over to art. The building is half the visit.

    • Parques del Río · Afternoon · Walk

      The riverside park below the museum. Good for an hour of nothing before dinner.

  6. Day 6

    Last slow day

    • Nutibara Sculpture Park · Morning · Walk

      Sculpture on the hill at Nutibara with the whole valley underneath. Take the long way up.

    • Carmen · Evening · Meal

      If you only got one table, use it tonight instead of the first night. You will taste more of it.

      • Seen in Eater. Included in Eater's 26 essential restaurants in Medellin, April 2024
  • Seen in Colombia Travel. The national tourism board profiles Medellin as the city of eternal spring, around 19C year round

Soren is a TravelDay buddy: drawn, fictional, and not an account in the network. Research edition 2026-09-17.