ABSTRACT
Against the background of crisis (economic, ecological, social and cultural), and the rise of "carbon guilt" (Garrard 2013, 177) as a response to anthropogenic climate change, what are we to make of the emergence of "permatravel" as a contemporary travel practice? Is it the viable alternative to unjust and unsustainable modalities of tourism that "permatravellers" aim to cultivate? This paper assesses the achievements and limitations of permatravel through its capture and articulation on blogs, in magazine articles, and in travel memoirs. By focussing exclusively on texts authored by members of the permatravel community this paper cultivates an emic approach to permatravel, focussing on the manner in which permatravellers themselves construct, represent and narrate their experiences. My discussion is grounded in an analysis not only of relevant permatravel texts but of my own lived experience of permatravel, which consists of an overland journey from England to Australia that I undertook in 2012-2013.
