Microtravel

This is a timely and original book that explores and historicizes the phenomenon of ‘microtravel’, a term coined to designate slow, more focused journeys, often within a limited radius, that allow new forms of experiencing the world. This has become a common experience in today’s world, in the light of health crises and a growing need for more sustainable modes of travel.

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic imposed immobility on large sectors of the world’s population, with confinement becoming an everyday reality. The lives of those who previously enjoyed the privileges of being ‘fast castes’ ground to a halt, while at the same time the displacement of more vulnerable populations along well-established migration corridors has been radically reduced. The result has been a recalibration of the scale of journeying, with travellers slowing down their journeys and readjusting their relationship to the proximate and nearby. This situation has provided an opportunity for those who study travel and travel writing to rethink their objects of study and approaches to them. This volume explores and historicizes the phenomenon of ‘microtravel’, designating slower journeys within a limited radius which allow, and sometimes necessitate, new forms of experiencing the world.