Exploring the Consequences of Mobility: Reclaiming Jet Lag as the State of Travel Disorientation

Abstract

This paper explores the consequences of mobility for those engaged in long-distance, high-speed travel. It reclaims the notion of jet lag and repositions it as the broader phenomenon of 'travel disorientation' which involves geographical dislocation, circadian disruption, psychological disorientation and cultural displacement. It is through this temporary disorientation that long-haul travellers experience heightened awareness to difference, increased capacity to witness and an inability to control physical and affective capabilities. The paper identifies the need to explore these provisional worlds of experience and to this end introduces the notion of 'the state' as a way to conceptualise the conditions that join us to and define our relations with the world.