Summer reading suitcases

If every book you took with you while travelling was enjoyable, you might accidentally read through them all - and be, once again, faced with the horrifying prospect of actually talking to your family

Once upon a time, there used to be a particular joy and terror associated with going on summer holidays. This had nothing to do with where you were going or what you planned to do; the fear and anticipation centred entirely around the process of packing. Packing for a trip, like policy-making, requires choices. Hard trade-offs. These have to be made with firmness, decision, and when in possession of all the facts. However, when it came to picking reading material for the trip, all these valuable qualities tended to vanish. 

There was only one real hazard to travel at that point.