I used to travel quite a bit for work. I’d been in the top tier of an airline frequent flier program for years. Until now.
The pandemic changed my work travel habits indelibly. It really isn’t necessary to travel for work when most of the meetings you attend in person have somebody attending remotely. Why not spare yourself the hassle of travel and also attend remotely?
I’m less into personal travel as well. Every time we fly somewhere there seems to be some sort of hangup. It’s not always as disruptive as a cancelled flight but even the little things (e.g., have a very large person in the seat next to you, people who won’t use indoor voices for a conversation I care nothing about, etc.) are vexing. Driving is a little better but traffic is horrible almost everywhere you go and it feels like a waste of time.
Part of my reluctance to travel is that we just moved somewhere new and I want to spend time doing things here and investing in friendships and connections. Another part is that I really like to run, ride and, now, row. Travel can make that difficult.
Maybe my mindset will change, but for now, I’m not travelling much and life is good. A few trips to the beach and a baseball game and I’m good.