AIRPLANE MODE

A wide-ranging, politically acute inquiry into the history of travel and tourism, as seen by a south Indian writer and translator.

Attending a lecture by a travel videographer on "the travel habits of different demographics," Habib heard him proclaim, “Europeans travel in August” and “cruises are for retired Americans.” Then came the kicker: “People from the Third World do not travel; they immigrate.” Born in Kerala, India, now living in Brooklyn, the author is a traveler and an immigrant, sometimes a tourist, as well. All these perspectives play a role in this collection of essays. Habib opens by contrasting her experience as a traveler with that of a white woman she met in Turkey, segueing into a history of guidebooks and an interrogation of the association between travel and privilege. “But what if," she wonders, "instead of being a hole in the self, [lack of privilege] is more akin to a window? A crack through which the light gets in, a third eye that reveals the magic-mushroom hybridity of the world we live in?" Another essay describes her months as a new mother in Brooklyn, finding solace in aimlessly riding buses; Brooklyn, she proclaims, is "a flaneur's paradise." Most essays combine the history and historiography of travel with engaging personal narratives—e.g., her white American husband getting foiled in his plan for a romantic trip to Paris because his brown wife cannot get the paperwork in time. Habib includes funny stories about craving Thai food in Barcelona and her biophobia (fear of nature). A wonderful afterword explains "Why I Use ‘Third World In This Book.’ ” Although some find the term derogatory, she argues, “To speak of the Third World is to bring it into being…It’s not offensive to me. Its nasty women, bad hombres, and shitholes are dear to me.

Enlightening and entertaining.