Eric Weiner: “Financial crisis is a great opportunity to start our lifes anew”
Here is the second part of my interview with Eric Weiner, foreign correspondent and author of the terrific “The Geography of Bliss” (cover of German edition see above) for which he traveled the world in search of the happiest places (the first part is here). This time I wanted to know what Eric thinks about travelling as opposed to relocating, Nation Branding and using a post-geographical lifestyle to deal with the challenges of the financial crisis. Let’s say he was a bit sceptical concerning the latter two …
Looking at the financial crisis many people will not want to take any additional risk. But shouldn’t it be just the other way around? Isn’t this economical situation an opportunity to re-invent ourselfs (probably in a different place) and be happier?
Yes! And I think this is the untold story of the financial crisis. i.e. that it presents a great opportunity to start our lives anew.
It seems like you enjoyed your travels as much as thinking about the best place to be. Is this probably the happy medium: Travelling a lot instead of relocating?
Yes, provided that you travel well. By “well” I mean a) traveling alone (you’re more vulnerable that way), b) Plant yourself in one location rather than hop around and c) Avoid five star hotels.
Do you think that with the Internet, collaborative working environments, etc. relocating could become a part-time activity, e.g. summer in the city, winter in in the sun? Or: Living in the countryside but still having a high profile job in the city and only occasionally going to the office?
You know, people have been talking about these post-geographic options for a while. But they never seem to come to fruition. I think that’s because geography does matter. We need to live and work in the same place. As I write this, I’m in Silicon Valley in California. These people are the apostles of tele-commuting but nearly all of them choose to lie and work here! I think that proves my point. Geography matters.
What do you think about ‘City and Nation Branding’ as well as ‘Quality of Live rankings’ such as the one, Monocle magazine does? Do these things indicate a growing tendency of people wondering: Where in the world can I be happy? Or is all this really just armchair travelling?
I’m a bit skeptical of nation branding. It’s really a fancy way of saying “nation marketing.” I mean, that’s fine if there is some substance to back up the marketing. But if it’s just empty salesmanshaip you’re not going to fool anyone. Quality of life rankings are interesting, and they often (though not always) jibe with happiness rankings. But–and I think some people get confused by this–they are NOT the same thing. Quality-of-life studies look at subjective measures: e.g. pollution, schools, crime, etc. Happiness surveys look at SUBJECTIVE measures. One measure, actually: How happy are you? Presumably, a country with a high quality of life would also be a happy one but not always. We humans are, after all, subjective creatures. And that is what I find most interesting.
