I flew into Budapest late one afternoon. The sensible thing would have been to stay overnight in the city and get the train down to the village the next morning.

That would have been the sensible thing to do.

And it would have been easy, too.

More convenient.

But I wanted to get back.

To the village.

To the place where I can go days without talking to anyone (other than himself).

It’s like stepping into another world.

I’ve mentioned how I’ve only recently discovered the brilliant Swedish author Fredrik Backman and A Man Called Ove. 

Well, in another of his books, Anxious People*, I read something that made me appreciate how lucky I am.

‘I buy distance from other people.’

The psychologist had never heard that response before.

‘How do you mean?’

‘Expensive restaurants have bigger gaps between the tables. First class on aeroplanes has no middle seats. Exclusive hotels have separate entrances for guests staying in suites. The most expensive thing you can buy in the most densely populated places on the planet is distance.’

The idea of buying distance seems crazy.

Having to pay for it, like.

I used to day dream about winning the lottery and buying an island somewhere. Somewhere I could live. Undisturbed. Far from the madding crowd.

But I didn’t need to win the lottery.

And I didn’t need to buy an island.

And the beauty of it all is that I control that distance.

I’ve a lot to be grateful for.

*A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined. Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next. Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.