ABSTRACT
The sense of inconvenience due to remoteness might descend suddenly, for instance, when the ability to drive one's own car to cover long distances is threatened as a consequence of acquired disabilities, or when family members move to “centers” that are distant. Distance is never static as developments in the world shape the meaning of distance, even in remote areas. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that distance can unexpectedly become necessary and desirable. The mentality of people living in remote areas tends toward the exceedingly self-reliant in any case and when systemic demands of what one might term “super-resilience” are heaped upon such mentality, the level of expectations directed at individuals becomes patently unreasonable. The concept of distance deserves to become more widely used in the “toolbox” of social research within and beyond the sociology of ageing.
