This chapter includes:

• The quality of holiday time.

• Social implications of time measurement and time keeping.

• Holiday time, needs and space.

• Gender differentials in experiencing time.

Introduction

Both Pearce (2005) and Ryan (2002) were increasingly being drawn to a consideration of time and the role that it plays in the holiday experience. The latter noted that holidays are a temporal experience in at least four ways, namely (a) they are moments of freedom from constraints from a perceived or actual lack of time commonly experienced in daily life, (b) holidays possess a chronological sequence of generally pleasurable events, (c) holiday time possesses an elasticity of time that seems to pass quickly, or where one forgets the time of day and (d) holidays are anticipated and experienced, and thus extend beyond the temporal boundaries of the actual length of stay at the holiday destination (Ryan, 2002a: 202). Accepting for the moment these observations, one can observe that a distinction exists between objective time as measured in the ticking of a clock, and an experiential pattern of time where some things are remembered as meaningful, while others are mindless or meaningless (Pearce, 2012). There is hence a psychological construct of time and also a sociological construct that reflects a cultural consensus as to the parameters of time. For example, the culture of many indigenous peoples like the New Zealand Māori possess senses of personal identity associated to intergenerational linkages across time and related to time, whereas arguably modern western man talks of a pragmatic and functional aspect of time when referring to 'time management'.

This chapter examines time to suggest that our interpretations of time represent a nexus created by emotions, social context, gender identities and much else. Finally, one can observe that through photographic and visual film images we can actually revisit memories of events of a past time.