As a result of my ethnography of public transport in the UK, part of the Travel-Time Use research project, I created a ‘Travel Remedy Kit’ to validate the findings of the project, and to create new (and improved!) travel experiences on public transport, particularly trains. We have made the design of the Travel Remedy Kit available for others to try. For the full details, including academic positioning and theory, please read our book chapter. Then continue to explore the kit, which comes in two parts…
Travel Remedy Kit – Card Game
This set of cards helps you to imagine and consider a journey from the moment of departure to the moment of arrival. These cards establish the story of the journey, and all the aspects of the the experience that may need ‘remedying’. They provide different ways of thinking about your journey, inspired by the results of the ethnographic research, and then help to identify potential items you might carry in a kit to ‘remedy’ your journey.
You can download the full set of cards, and instructions for how to play the game below.
Design Your Own Travel Remedy Kit
You create the ‘Travel Remedy Kit’ itself from suggestions made through playing the card game. Each kit is tailored for each individual journey, to ‘remedy’ the experience and create a new experience of the journey.
This is an example of a kit that was created for one of our research participants.
This particular kit contained:
Landscape Guide (with photographs taken from the train and histories of monuments en route)
Travel Remedy Kit booklet (containing maps, timetables, station plans, suggestions for activities)
Emergency telephone numbers
Neck pillow
Eyeshade
Earplugs
Snack Pack (special treats for the journey including something to drink)
Music/game player
Book (recyclable and can be left for other passengers)
Notebook and pen
Kit bag
Reference
Watts, L. and Lyons, G. (2010) Travel Remedy Kit: Interventions into Train Lines and Passenger Times, in Buscher, M. Urry, J. and Witchger, K. (eds.) Mobile Methods, London, Routledge.