From the Editor’s Desk: Bagged (Premium)

In the 25 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, I traveled extensively for work and for pleasure. And when that came to a screeching halt in March 2020, the only question I had was when we would return to normal. But as the weeks turned to months and then from months into over a year and more, it became painfully clear things would never be the same.

Pleasure travel resumed: Thanks to a U.S. ban on visitors from Europe in mid-2021, we gave up on the hoped-for return of summer home swaps, did a bit of research, and ended up in Mexico City. The rest, as they say, is history, and aside from a single trip to Paris in October 2021--a belated 30th anniversary trip my wife and I had first booked in February 2020, on the eve of the pandemic and then delayed--that's been our sole international destination ever since.

As for work travel, my experience is common to those who were road warriors before COVID: It never really came back. And then it came back in limited form. And now, suddenly, my work travel opportunities have expanded dramatically. I'm heading to Berlin for IFA in early September, and I've had several other offers for travel, including some that would be sponsored by other companies.

That's what I wanted ... in 2021. But today, three years later, and four years after the chaotic COVID summer of 2020, it's not what I want anymore. I went from missing work travel to getting used to not traveling for work. And the few times I have traveled for work over the past few years--oddly, all three flights so far have been to Seattle--were uncomfortable and oddly unfamiliar experiences. I've kind of lost that desire and skill.

Going to Mexico so much hasn't helped in that regard: We've settled into a comfortable rhythm of always taking the same basic flights, sitting in the same seats, and having the same pain-free experience in which we can hit the ground running, with a place of our own waiting for us, full of our stuff. It's great. But it's not the same as before, and now I'm not sure if I want it to be the same anymore. I will be judicious in accepting or rejecting future travel requests. Berlin, for example, was a no-brainer, it's Berlin: My wife is joining me, and we're staying for a few additional days past the show. But other travel? We'll see.

This past week, the two of us visited Washington D.C. This wasn't a work trip, our friend Stephen Rose was there for work and knows how much I love it there--D.C. is my favorite city in the United States--and asked if we'd be interested in a long weekend get-together. You bet: D.C. is just a manageable 3.5 hours away by car. As noted, my favorite city in the U.S. And in addition to all the reasons I wanted to go--the city, the sites, the restaurants, plus a chance to hang out with Stephen--this would be a good chance for me to road-test a few travel-related changes I've made recently in a no-risk way.

It was a great weekend. We're oddly busy this summer, so we kept it short--just three...