City Research Online

Abstract

The desire to travel, to purposively change location and take timeout from one’s usual everyday routine, has been linked to the desire to explore a more authentic, more personally meaningful existence (Figler et al., 1992; Kirillova et al., 2016). These are existential desires that have been shown to be lacking for individuals experiencing existential crisis, a crisis of living that creates significant anxiety by bringing to the fore issues related to lack of certainty around identity, meaning and purpose in life (Butėnaitė et al., 2016; Yang et al., 2010). The aim of this thesis is to examine the experience of travel following existential crisis in order to shed light on the underlying psychological and existential phenomena that inform this experience. To achieve this, seven semi-structured interviews with adults who self-identify as having experienced existential crisis and consequently travelled were conducted. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) examined people’s lived experience of travel after existential crisis and revealed four superordinate themes: ‘Seeking external and internal change’, ‘Connecting with one’s authentic self’, ‘Living in the present’ and ‘Impact of travel on existential crisis’. Through an in-depth exploration of these themes, the work aims to add to the field of Counselling Psychology by learning about the ‘therapeutic’ elements of travel that can aid the working through of existential crisis, and how this can be applied to client’s facing similar difficulties.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology School of Health & Psychological Sciences > School of Health & Psychological Sciences Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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