“Slow down.” This is the simple message of the Slow Movement. In today’s high-speed world of fast food, jet planes and instant communication, we are losing touch with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth, says the Slow Movement. Like ‘slow food’ and ‘slow media,’ ‘slow travel’ is a part of the movement. And here’s what the WHL Group staff thinks about it.

Yes, we did use spirits while making small delicious cheese pies, called ‘kalitsounia,’ in a traditional hillside village of western Crete, Greece. Koula Barydakis, our ebullient chef instructor, began our local cooking lessons by pouring a shot of raki for herself and her students as we toasted the traditional Cretan diet, one of the healthiest in the world.

Who has never tried enchiladas, guacamole or tacos? Very few people. Fittingly, Mexican cuisine was in 2010 listed by UNESCO for its Cultural Intangible Heritage, gaining Mexico recognition for its traditional dishes that retain the names, ingredients and cooking practices dating back to the pre-hispanic era and incorporate influences and contributions from other cultures.

Beer is the ultimate social drink and there’s no better time to enjoy it than in October, a month during which, all over the world, the old, the young, the fat, the slim, the good, the bad and the ugly all come together for ‘Oktoberfest’-inspired beer-appreciation marathons. In a tribute to Oktoberfest, The Travel Word brings you a selection of seven surprising brews from different parts of the world.

Today we belatedly mark World Food Day, which was celebrated yesterday, October 16, in honour of the date in 1945 when the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization was established. The theme was ‘Food Prices – From Crisis to Stability,’ an attempt to spotlight the need for global practices that can prevent the devastating price upswings we have seen all over the world. We therefore look back at some of the fantastic local-food contributions that have been made on The Travel Word.

I weighed the advice of a local tour operator in Cusco, Peru. He was helping me plan the next leg of my trip to La Paz, Bolivia. “I suggest you take an airplane,” he said. I considered my options: a 14-hour overnight bus ride or a one-hour flight. “I think I’ll… take the bus,” I said. I made my decision for a combination of reasons, including my concerns about airplane travel: its heavy carbon emissions and its insulation from the local experience of place and journey in which I believe.

An elderly woman wearing traditional dress accosts me as I focus my camera on the exterior of the church. She wags her bony finger at me and ominously hisses “No…no…no….” She unnerves me so much I quickly hide my camera. We are near San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico, in a town called Chamula, where the indigenous Tzotzil people earnestly protect their society and way of life.