Airplane Mode: Travels in the Ruins of Tourism

Gorgeously written, with a sharp wit, this is a compelling exploration of travel in the ruins of colonialism, climate change and capitalism.

‘A lively and wide-ranging book … Habib [is a] ruthlessly honest and funny observer.’

New York Times

An illuminating personal and cultural history of travel, Airplane Mode asks: What does it mean to be a joyous traveller when we live in the ruins of colonialism? 

The conditions of travel have long been dictated by the colours of passports and the colour of skin. For Shahnaz Habib, travel and travel writing have always been complicated pleasures. Habib threads the history of travel with her personal story as a child on family vacations in India, an adult curious about the world, and an immigrant for whom round trips are an annual fact of life.

Woven through the book are inviting and playful analyses of obvious and not-so-obvious travel artifacts: passports, carousels, bougainvilleas, guidebooks, trains, the idea of wanderlust itself. Together, they tell a subversive history of travel as a Euro-American mode of consumerism – but as any traveller knows, travel is more than that. As an immigrant whose loved ones live across continents, Habib takes a deeply curious and joyful look at a troubled (and beloved) activity.

‘Should be required reading.’

Los Angeles Times

 

‘Habib is also brilliant at evoking the quieter pleasures of travel … this “need to see for oneself what the world was like”.’

Financial Times

 

‘A memorable and unique travelogue that explores what it means to explore the world through the lens of colonialism, capitalism, and climate change.’

Debutiful

 

‘Fascinating, wide-ranging and insightful … who gets to travel and what makes us so keen to travel in the first place?’

Annabel Abbs, author of Windswept and Sleepless

 

‘In interweaving the personal and political stakes of travelling as a migrant, Habib gives us an urgently needed reimagining of the genre.’

Jessica J. Lee, author of Dispersals

 

‘An enlightening and entertaining debut essay collection.’

Smithsonian Magazine

 

‘Insightful, funny, moving, politically astute … Habib’s book is rich and her narrative voice analytic, historically informed, and passionate … [She] compels us to engage in the politics of travel.’

International Examiner

 

‘With a perceptive eye and in fluid, intimate prose, Habib nimbly demonstrates how “the more we dig into the history of modern tourism, the more the pickax hits the underground cable connection with colonialism.” Jet-setters will be captivated and challenged.’

Publishers Weekly (starred review)