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Reader B writes:

Hi Rob,

I was wondering if you’d heard of or seen the film, The Last Journey (2024). It’s a Swedish documentary about a man and his friend who takes his elderly dad, a former French teacher on a trip to France to try to bring him back to life.

It made me think of a lot of Escapological ideas: the power of travel to affect us, interest in other cultures and ways of life, the joy of old tech (cine films and cassettes are a big part as well as an old Renault 4) and how a rewarding life is/should be about more than just accumulating money and stuff.

One of the lines that stuck with me was a piece of advice the teacher gave to one of his students, “It’s better to get on the wrong train than get stuck at the station”.

I think we are all fearful of making big changes and the consequences of those not working out which can make us stay in terrible jobs we hate for years or get stuck in indecision mode.

Anyway, it’s a great movie and struck a chord and made me laugh too. Having looked after my parents in their later years (an escape from the office in some respects) it was interesting to see aspects of that [life] on screen. I’m not sure whether the next Mission Impossible will have Tom Cruise ask a co-star if he will help wash his dad… I feel it would make a change from OTT stunts though and inject some much-needed realism into the franchise.

Best of luck with the return of the magazine.

Kind regards,
B

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Thanks B! I had not heard of the film until you introduced me to it, so thank you very much. Meanwhile, seeing the care you gave to your parents as an escape of sorts makes me think of radical care work. And well done to you for doing it.