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When a reader asked me what I missed about Britain, I did not hesitate-and therefore frankly-said how close I am to other countries. After some self-blame (“You are not so rootless when the naturalization form is passed”), I realized that if I came from France or Germany, I would say the same. The country is not the focus. The glory of the region is.
In this season, the lofty and unique places of Europe’s geographic concentration afflict those who no longer own it more than most seasons. Copenhagen tryst, San Sebastian cuisine: I only know the spectacle density of Southeast Asia. For reference, a one-way flight from Washington to Los Angeles is an hour longer than a round-trip flight from London to Rome.
This feature of European life is special enough. There are reasons to think that it will become a complete definition.
For most people, there will be fewer and fewer air travel in the future. The public health regulations at the time had nothing to do with this. If most or even many business trips succumb to Zoom, then the valuable allowance for economy class seats will disappear.
At the same time, unless there is a flash of light for electric aviation, green reasons for imposing higher taxes (or even direct restrictions) on flights will be established. It is useless to speculate on the price of transatlantic airfare ten years later. But if we do not regard 2019 as the most democratic moment in the history of air travel, it will be attributed to some wonderful innovations in the coming years.
This is the most reasonable situation. Worst of all: The areas they can travel through without flying will restrict vacation options for everyone except the wealthy almost all the time. The diversity and interestingness of a person’s area will become important in a way that has never been seen since the beginning of the jet age.
By then, Europe will stand out in the world. Yes, Brazil, the United States and India can claim to have as much internal territory as the continent—race, terrain. With a population of approximately 250 million, the Indochina Peninsula covers three civilizations in Samuel Huntington’s provocative rough map.
Nevertheless, with 40 countries, almost the same number of official languages and a population of 5 billion, in a region roughly the size of the United States, it is difficult for Europe to completely compress stimuli. That was before we adjusted its non-air transportation methods: meteor trains, level roads, waterways in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Only when this continent has a river the size of the Nile winding through it, it can better adapt to the world of declining air travel.
Fortunately, this regionalization of travel is not destined. New demand from Asia’s still growing middle class may change the economic situation of airlines, just like losing old business flyers. As for the green tax and flight rationing, voters are likely to say good things until the eternal fate of accommodation is calling.
However, if this is the future direction of development, then a small continent full of railways, tar roads, and treasures will become a suitable place to live. And-I say this is an “Ode to Joy”-the rest of the trembling-whether you join the European Union or not.
The friction in the short trip to the mainland after Brexit has nothing to do with the original distance. Two and a half hours to Paris is still two and a half hours to Paris. “A continent we will never leave,” Boris Johnson described Europe in the strange and poignant ending of his letter of resignation as foreign secretary. His views lacked originality, but were corrected in the geological truth.
Ultimately, unless the ticket price becomes expensive, the most enthusiastic pilots will save money on other things. I am just a green belt for wanderlust, and even I would give up one or six boxes of Pommard to feel the heat and humidity of Bangkok. More and more middle class will be bound by the increasingly expensive sky. Living higher in one area than in other areas will give them a kind of probation. Compared with the winner-takes-all America, modern Europe often promotes itself as the most mediocre place. Strict economic boasting may turn into geographic boasting.
Email Janan at janan.ganesh@ft.com
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