The experience of visiting home and familiar places

This paper identifies and seeks to explain a relatively novel topic in tourism studies: individuals’ experiences in returning to previous places of significance and familiarity in their lives. The topic is labelled VHFP (Visiting Home and Familiar Places) and is linked to but conceptually independent of VFR studies. It is argued that VHFP can be understood by considering foundation work in neuroscience as well as integrating contributions from human emotions, memory, time perception and the psychology of possibility. Several studies are proposed to develop this topic by employing varied paradigms of inquiry and a range of familiar and innovative methods.

► Visiting Home and Familiar Places is developed as a new construct.
► The relationship between VFR and the new term is clarified.
► Novel concepts from affective neuroscience are considered.
► The nature of time perception is also explored.
► An expansive set of research possibilities are outlined.