Instead, we become overstimulated and exhausted--even when we think we're taking time off. The root of the word vacation, stress and mind-body guru Joan Borysenko likes to remind people, comes from the Latin word for vacate, to create a vacuum. "It's a time to empty out, not fill more in."

Actually, increasing numbers of fast-trackers, fed up with this time-deprived society, are embracing that insight. An entire Slow Movement has emerged over the past 20 years, starting with Slow Food. Spearheaded by food writer Carlo Petrini in Italy and championed by renowned chef Alice Waters in this country, Slow Food emphasizes high-quality ingredients--especially organic and locally grown foods. Its focus on taking time to savor good cooking has helped position it as a healthful alternative to the fast-food, eat-and-run lifestyle.

After Slow Food came Slow Cities, to promote the development and preservation of sustainable urban environments. Which means encouraging cities to build and maintain centrally located public areas where community members can walk and breathe and sit and chat over a drink or coffee at locally run (rather than globally franchised) cafes. Then, because too many of us are too time strapped and time stressed to enjoy that pleasure, there's Take Back Your Time, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle that focuses on what its name suggests.

And of course, there's Slow Travel, which speaks to the leisurely wanderer within. It's not just a less hectic vacation; it's a different style of travel. "You stay in one place, pretend you live in the area you are visiting, and do the things the locals do," explains Pauline Kenny, who with her husband, Steve Cohen, founded the website SlowTrav.com in 2000. You do so by establishing a vacation home base--at a rental, apartment swap, hotel, or B&B--for a week or more, then branching out to explore close-by surroundings.

Like Honore, Kenny emphasizes that vacationing in the slow lane doesn't mean driving to a destination at the speed of a tortoise--though it does encourage a slow and steady pace that allows you to complete each day feeling refreshed rather than depleted.

No zooming. This is the opposite of what Kenny calls "zoom" travel: the "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium" mode, in which you pack and unpack in a different country every day. "Everyone needs to figure out what they want from a trip, what interests them, and make their own 'must sees,'" Kenny explains.

Her "must sees" include exploring different neighborhoods, spending time in local cafes, buying local produce and experimenting with regional recipes, and taking country hikes and walks. She and her husband just returned from England, where they began by spending three nights in Bath, getting over jet lag while leisurely exploring the historic town. They then rented a car, drove to the cottage they had rented in Wiltshire, and--having researched the lay of the land in advance--played the following week more or less by ear. Without having to drive more than 30 minutes in any direction on any given day, they took their time as they visited the stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury, got to know locals at nearby pubs and markets, walked along old canal paths, and took moderate climbs to view ancient hilltop drawings. True, they saw only one small corner of England. But they saw it in depth--as visiting residents rather than fly-by-night tourists.