Several expats around the world have found themselves stranded away from home due to COVID-19 restrictions. Those who are homesick could now get a real breath of fresh air, literally.
The situation is particularly difficult for expatriates from the United Kingdom, a country with which some fifty other nations have cut air links since the discovery of a mutation in the coronavirus that would spread much faster.
Faced with this situation, a British company, My Baggage, had the idea of bottling “fresh air” from different regions, namely England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The 500ml air bottles retail for 25 pounds (around $ 43).
The company can also meet special requests. This was the case of a man from Wales, who requested to receive a cylinder of air from the mountains of Snowdonia in the north of the region.
Special editions featuring air from the London Underground and a Norfolk fish and chip restaurant are also available.
The My Baggage team explains that the project was inspired by the results of a study linking smell to emotional memory.
“We wanted to help Brits abroad reconnect with their home country and we know from published studies that our sense of smell is capable of evoking many emotions.”
The company says the majority of purchases were made by family members or relatives of Brits who find themselves abroad.
The company is not the first to turn to the economy of bottled air. In Canada, Vitality Air sells canes of fresh Rocky Mountain air to Chinese buyers for over $ 50 for two eight-liter bottles.