Kai:
Over the weekend, I stumbled across @soya_jones’ Instagram Story of his cycling trip through Iran. He’s an Irish bikepacker, pedalling through a country that most Western media presents as a malevolent enigma; and what does he find? People offering iced water while driving by in their car, families inviting him into their homes, workers downing tools to give him a tour of their workshop.
My own experience during my Big Walk across Germany a few years back was quite different. I was often met with a kind of polite wariness – raised eyebrows at the guy with a backpack trudging along country roads, sideways glances in small towns where strangers are noticed and noted. It wasn’t hostility, just… suspicion. The sort of reception that comes from societies where trust has been systematically outsourced to institutions or corporations, and where individuals have become cautious of each other as a result.