Before you go, decide: What do you really want to see?
Pick a home base — in the city, in the country — and do easy, nearby day trips.
Consider renting a villa or apartment. It's a doorway into local life, allowing you to shop for groceries, find “your” café, or even remain in your PJs all morning, just reading the local newspaper. It also keeps packing/unpacking to a minimum and averts “one-night stands” in a city.
Let go of the urge to see everything or check off the obligatory top-10s. Soak up the moment of “being there” rather than rushing between hot spots. Make the trip about depth, not width. You don't have to have a drink at Harry's Bar in Venice.
If you feel like a siesta or reading by the fireplace, go for it.
When you're back home and friends ask what you did for your holiday, say “nothing” with a clear conscience. “Travel for yourself; not for how it sounds to others,” wrote one slowtrav.com post. “You figure out what suits you best, what you want to do and see, the pace you like — then plan and do your trip accordingly. Sort of like life!”
Sources: slowtrav.com; interviews
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