Close encounters? Mobile methods, (post)phenomenology and affect

There has been a recent upsurge in mobilities research relating to embodied movement, and a corresponding interest in adapting methods to acquire data while on the move. At the same time, many of the questions being asked relate to non-representational aspects of movement, notably the sensory, emotional and affective. While approaches that attempt to enable the researcher to ‘be, see and feel there’ such as mobile video ethnography are becoming more popular, they have not been without their critics. Situated within literature on affect and (post)phenomenology, this article critically examines the go-along to weigh up what we might gain and lose from using such methods. I demonstrate the ways in which such methods have the potential to enhance recollection, empathy and our ability to research ‘quiescence’ through the elicitation of detailed verbal accounts. Acknowledging their shortcomings however, I discuss the potential contribution that bio-sensing technologies may make in conjunction with go-alongs. Ultimately, I argue that despite the value-laden nature of such technologies and the history of anthropometry they are situated within, if used sensitively such tools may be used to promote positive logics of affect and mobility.