Chapter 3: Prawn
Prawns have the redeeming characteristic of turning pink when cooked and this, I’d suggest, largely explains why we eat them.
Some people like to stay at home. There’s a comfort to it. Big decisions can be deferred. Travel enriches the mind, but it also results in a degree of angst and vulnerability. The process of travel is always stressful to a degree, even when it becomes second nature. The Covid-19 lockdown taught us just how important it is, for some of us at least, to know that we can travel. When it’s denied, life can get very claustrophobic indeed. Travel is like a door left open – we can choose to walk out any time we choose. Knowing that gives many of us a sense of freedom and liberty, even when we’re home. Travel is an enabler for change and discovery. Or it was before governments started playing with Chinese-style lockdowns.
But many choose to stay, or are happy to stay, at home, mixing in largely the same social circles. There’s a trade-off, obviously. With experiences taking place in such a narrow frame of reference, it’s possible to be sucked right into the parish pump.
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