With the exodus of societies tha t have once again become dispersed, travel is a form of widowhood or widowerhood that encourages each and every one of us to no longer see what once tied us to, rooted us in, a common past, country, neighbourhood, neighbours, family or spouse. lhis is also what the end of private life is, this endless translation of the intimacy of the sedentary homebody into the extimacy of transportation wh�reby. the traveller is not so much a new nomad as a pas: senger in the middle of getting a divorce, carried away by the inevitability of everyday exile . .. .
To try to facilitate reconciliation proceedings, a company in Brussels called Fasten Seat Belts airs on airport screens a series o f video clips in �enty languages. lhe clips are designed to make . 'good manners' easier to achieve in foreign couhtries, with j ust a few key phrases . . . As th e woinan in charge of the proj ect poi n ts out: ' I t's funny, people are travelling more and more, but some of them behave exactly as they do at home. 1hey' re always in shorts and thongs and only speak their native language.' 1
THE GREAT ACCELERATOR
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