Abstract
Leisure can be seen from multiple viewpoints. When considered in its subjective and philosophical dimensions and as a state of mind, it is an integrated experience that bears the potential to bring on positiveness, motivation and personal development. Given this, leisure can be especially meaningful for individuals, including academics, for whom intense busyness and pressure have become the norm today. This article is an account of a special episode amid my leisure-involving PhD journey – the re-encounter with geographer Yi-Fu Tuan. Through my experiences and critical reflections on this re-encounter, I demonstrate how leisure, when integrated into the research process, can offer enlightenment which further facilitates learning, research and reflection. The aim is to further our understanding of the position and role of leisure within academic research, recognizing its potential to lead to higher quality work, as well as the academic fulfilment and personal wellbeing of the researchers themselves. In addition, the essence of leisure has its various manifestations in Yi-Fu Tuan’s work and philosophy. This can be an encouragement for academics to embrace leisure and also shed light on leisure researchers’ work.