Gaiman’s Skye jaunt shows how wealthy don’t play by same rules

Money can mean the difference between enjoying the sunshine and being moved on by police, writes Laura Waddell

If the hollowness of 2020 internet mantra “be kind” wasn’t already apparent, it plumbled new depths of vacancy tacked on to author Neil Gaiman’s blog post in which he justified a 11,000-mile journey from New Zealand to Skye, passing through international airports of Los Angeles and London on the way. The roads were quiet on the drive from London to the locked down island, he reported, speaking as the protagonist of everyone else’s reality.

They were quiet, of course, because others are by and large sticking to the rules in an effort to safeguard collective health. Instead of commanding others to “be kind”, how about signing off with a nod to being less spectacularly selfish? Being less ostentatiously entitled to flaunting the rules? Just a little more aware that others are also making agonising sacrifices to stay at home, in many cases away from loved ones, without contravening the guidelines which are meant to safeguard the lives of fellow human beings? At the very least, a link to the Skye community response team currently fundraising to support the island’s health workers wouldn’t have gone amiss.

After being spoken to by police and receiving a massive online backlash, including many disappointed devotees, Gaiman has since apologied for his actions, describing the journey as a “mistake”. Of course, the guidelines have always been clear, and the reasons for holiday homers being told not to trek up to the Highlands and put pressure on health services were always blatant, but to actually blog about the experience suggests there was little expectation of negative consequences.

You may, like me, not particularly care to know the details of Neil

Gaiman and Amanda Palmer’s marriage, and yet we do, because after being spilled across the internet it was tracked further by Gaiman’s footsteps, cited as catalyst for his grand adventure, the raison d’etre for traipsing through the pandemic-stricken world into a small Scottish island, the starting pistol for a 39 Steps-style jaunt across the land, watched by incredulous, cooped-up locals.

On Monday, 18 May, in the apology post, Gaiman blogged “I’ve been living in the UK since 2017”, having also tweeted in recent days about being registered as a taxpayer and voter in Scotland. Four days earlier, on the 14th, it was “once the world opens up and travel gets easier Amanda and Ash and I are looking forward to being together again in Woodstock. (Yes, I’ve seen the newsfeed headlines saying I’ve moved to the UK, and even that we’re divorcing. No, I haven’t moved the UK.” (sic)

At a time when renters are struggling to stay afloat, but governmental support is going to landlords, one can only imagine that owning property on more than one continent makes it easier to feel at home in multiple places, no matter how little time is actually spent in residence, fresh from, say, fluttering around receptions at the Edinburgh Festival with a ukelele under each arm.

We are not experiencing this era as one, but still, our actions must be in sync to stop the spread of Covid. Pointing a gloved finger at individuals generally doesn’t help, not least because it’s unlikely anyone has done everything perfectly, all of the time. Curtain twitching has led to unsavoury neighbour-shaming for not clapping on Thursdays. It’s easy to anger quickly, particularly when frightened. But frustration is inevi