'I would much rather be still here and travel in time': the intertwinedness of mobility and stillness in cottage living

Abstract

'I would much rather be still here and travel in time': the intertwinedness of mobility and stillness in cottage living MAJA LAGERQVIST Lagerqvist, Maja (2013). 'I would much rather be still here and travel in time': the intertwinedness of mobility and stillness in cottage living. Fennia 191: 2, pp. 92−105. ISSN 1798-5617.Along with urbanisation and modernisation, the use of second homes has increased in the Western world. This can be seen as part of the increasing mobility of people in society, but also as part of a search for stillness and escape from modern urban society. Recently, scholars in geography and other disciplines have argued that mobility and fixity are two sides of the same coin. This paper aims to explore the complex, manifold and often paradoxical relationship between mobility and immobility in practices of dwelling and seeking stillness in a highly mobile society. It elaborates on how mobility and stillness, in both space and time, are intertwined and mutually influence each other by analysing second home usage of old cottages that formally were dwelling houses of poor tenant smallholdings in Sweden. How do mobility and stillness exist and interact at these cottages and what parts do the cottages themselves have in this? This is studied through interviews with cottage users regarding their daily life practices and encounters with history and materiality at the cottages. These cottages are easily thought of as places of immobility where time has stood still. However, the paper shows that these cottages are places that continuously emerge through entanglements of mobility and stillness and of present and past times. The practices and experiences of mobility and stillness at the cottage are much integrated in and directed by the cottages' specific geography, history and materiality, and the activities and thinking of their users because of these characteristics. The users go to the cottage to be at a place where they, with the help of the preserved materiality and history of the cottages, can feel rooted and still. At the same time the cottages offer imaginary time travels and experiences of other times and lifestyles.

Tourist guide reflections on the spatialities of mass tourism: a case study of Finnish package tourism in Crete

“…Although both have 'travelled' to the same location, the guides have applied for working (there) as a guide and practise that profession by spending their seasonally organized everyday life in the same place their clients have come for a short holiday (Crick 1989;Gmelch 2003). Both positions are products of these processes and dialogue between mobility and stillness (see Franquesa 2011;Lagerqvist 2013). "If you are here as a worker, there is not much more to do or see after visiting the sights but the basic life works very well here" (Interview 7).…”

“…This highlights the mobile character of these places, where almost nobody stays permanently. Although part of everyday life (seasonal) for locals does take place in the resorts, an idea is given that it would be preferred if their non-workrelated life would be visible as well: as in the villages outside the resorts where people are said to live traditional lives in a setting in which time seems to have stopped and offer sensations of 'pastness' (see Lagerqvist 2013). The seizing the moment effect is based on physical features, but also on the atmosphere that is sensed while in the place.…”

“…There is a link between intensive and extensive spatiality, and some guides would prefer intensive spatiality to occur after the extensive spatiality: "If you go to those small villages, the atmosphere is totally different […] the scent that you get there [in the mountain villages]… the air is so different, is fresh there compared to here in Platanias Agia Marina" (Interview 6). The trips from Finland to relaxing Crete and from the tourist resort to the 'stillness' of the local village are however a result of choices which require moving (see Franquesa 2011;Lagerqvist 2013).…”

“…People are making decisions regarding travelling and places they visit with various motivations in dialogue with their needs and wants: "They ask which are the good restaurants and are there grocery shops, cashpoints, pharmacies, doctors and issues like this that are linked to their own security and running of their holiday because it is everyday life for that one-week-holiday" (Interview 2). This refers to the resort as a holiday home for tourists, resembling a form of cottage culture (see Lagerqvist 2013;Hiltunen & Rehunen 2014).…”

Belonging, pausing, feeling: a framework of “mobile dwelling” for U.K. university students that live at home

“…It is important to understand the localities, or perceived immobilities, discussed earlier in this paper as being more than simply relational to others' mobilities (Adey 2017), particularly in terms of the privileging of certain mobilities over another's. Hence, stillness can usefully be recognised as a process of movement or a consequence of mobility and immobility (Lagerqvist 2013).…”