In recent months we’ve watched Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk launch themselves, people they choose, or whoever buys a $25 million ticket into space for 30 seconds of weightless bliss. Meanwhile, Facebook announced the possibility of a virtual world where we could find connection by simply slipping on a pair of goggles.
These extravagant attempts to leave the surface of our world could be seen as examples of billionaire excess. Except that many of us of more modest means often embrace other forms of escape—a trip to Hawaii, a Netflix binge, a lake house, a ski trip, a long bike ride—anything to escape our regular reminders that we are not in control. This impulse has been even more pronounced in this time when COVID has grabbed hold of every part of our lives.
But escape has different meanings depending on where our feet rest. I remember when I was seven or eight, living in a little house with my mother and brother. After weeks of government cheese and mail that made my mom cry, one morning she woke us up and said, “We’re going to see your aunt in Florida.” After 12 hours of Michael Jackson and Led Zeppelin and McDonald’s stops, my brother and I found ourselves running to a beach, where we played and played and played in the sand and the sea.
