Travel at the end of life: The flight will kill him

This article examines how travel figures into the coordination of end‐of‐life care. Drawing on interviews with palliative care professionals at two hospitals in the Paris region and the author's own family's experience of planning a last journey for an ageing grandfather between Pakistan and the United States, it explores the ethical, logistical and temporal dimensions of end‐of‐life travel. Palliative professionals supporting immigrant patients who wish to die in their countries of origin engage in what one doctor described as bricolage , piecing together financial, institutional and clinical resources to realise these journeys. Using intimate ethnography to bring personal and professional accounts into conversation, the article argues that enactments of belonging at the end of life require careful coordination across families, health professionals and community networks, and that the timing of such travel is shaped by the uncertain progression of terminal illness.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Anthropology Today
Published
2026-04-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.70063
Primary Topic
Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Travel at the end of life: The flight will kill him

David Ansari
Anthropology Today
Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
article

Travel at the end of life: The flight will kill him

David Ansari
article en

Abstract

This article examines how travel figures into the coordination of end‐of‐life care. Drawing on interviews with palliative care professionals at two hospitals in the Paris region and the author's own family's experience of planning a last journey for an ageing grandfather between Pakistan and the United States, it explores the ethical, logistical and temporal dimensions of end‐of‐life travel. Palliative professionals supporting immigrant patients who wish to die in their countries of origin engage in what one doctor described as bricolage , piecing together financial, institutional and clinical resources to realise these journeys. Using intimate ethnography to bring personal and professional accounts into conversation, the article argues that enactments of belonging at the end of life require careful coordination across families, health professionals and community networks, and that the timing of such travel is shaped by the uncertain progression of terminal illness.

Anthropology TodayVol. 42(2)
Openalex Percentile: Top 28%
Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
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