Series: Insomnia: Hotel Noir
I am exploring the emotional ambiguity created when I am traveling, the disconnectiveness that occurs when staying at
hotels. The stay may be for just overnight or perhaps an extended stay, but never the less, there is a temporary loss of
connectiveness with others.
The emotional impact can be further affected by my changes in the time zones, difference in food, culture and weather, the
temporary facilities, and even the bed I need to sleep in to achieve my nightly energy and psychic renewal. For me, some
aspect of Insomnia occurs.
I initiated this series in 2006. I already had a lot of experience with frequent traveling, as it was required while I work with
large multi-national corporations. My travel has resulted in both short stays and long interment durations away from my
family. I have also had to endure trans-continental travel that resulted in nine to fifteen hour time zone changes, essentially
reversing my concept of what constituted "day".
At the extreme, a twelve to nineteen hours of transit time for a trans-continental trip can heighten my disconnection, with
plenty of time during the flight to reflect on the ensuing changes. Trans-continental travel can be exciting with the exoticness
of the New, but the changes in language, customs, food, accommodations and time zone can also be extremely disorienting.
For the long trips there and the subsequent return, the change in time zones alone can bring about insomnia as a body tries
to adapt to the forced changes to rhythm and cycle of life.
Even with traveling with others, I feel the isolation and the loss of connectiveness with my family. Intellectually I can
rationalize the changes and anticipate the re-connection. I now have tools for maintaining some connectivity with the use of
the Internet and cell phones. But that connection has been only be a temporary relief.
The suggestion of this disconnection and separation is what I am striving for in this series.
Best regards, Doug Stockdale