Travel-related humour and COVID-19

Abstract

This study aims to provide an overview of humorous travel-related memes shared during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 80 Internet memes were content analysed for emergent themes. The findings reveal three major themes: playful aggression, making fun of one’s longing for travel, and making fun of new travel realities. The identified themes were linked to the existing literature to better understand the memes being studied. The analysis of memes provides a methodologically agile way to study conditions that may otherwise be overlooked, e.g., peoples’ travel-related desires and concerns while in lockdown.