When the call came I was completely unprepared. It's not like I didn't think it would eventually happen. And it's not like I hadn't mentally steeled myself for the change it would make in my world. But all of the planning is just a hypothetical until the phone rings. And there it was: someone was asking me to go on a business trip, the first time in a year.
For sure I was most fortunate in that I was able to turn many projects over the past year from in-person to virtual, a situation that was not possible for all. That meant that since I flew back from Nashville on the morning of March 11, 2020, I have not ventured beyond a 50-mile radius from my home for work. And three quarters or more of that time I probably didn't venture beyond my basement office. By another metric I shifted my sleeping location from being 30% in a hotel to being 100% in my own bed since we started the clock 365 days ago.
But that also meant that when the ask came for me to do a simple trip to Washington, it was like I had never ventured out before. All my travel muscle memory was gone. Where was my suitcase? What's the best way to book a ticket? How much time do I need to get to the airport? Overlaid on that were the twists necessitated by the current abnormal environment. Did I need to quarantine or get tested? What seats were less risky? What did I need to pack more of (like cleaner and masks) or less of (like going-out clothes or gym togs)? And the most basic question of all: considering the current state of play, did I want to do this?
Once I looked at all the factors, and the trip skinnied down to a single day, I decided to say yes. I haltingly remembered how to check in, and updated the credit cards in my Uber account that had expired. Then early last Tuesday morning, not knowing what this brave new world would look like, I awoke and left for the airport plenty early.
It turned out it was all but empty. Additionally in the interim they had turned the old LaGuardia Airport into the new LaGuardia Airport. The parking was different, the terminal was different, the routes were different. And while extra time was needed just to traverse the new layout, it also gave me a chance to stop and stare. Back in 2014 then Vice President Biden infamously said, "If I took you and blindfolded you and took you to LaGuardia Airport in New York, you'd think, 'I must be in some third-world country.'" No more. The new structure is dazzling, and, to borrow a phrase from another famous traveler, makes you realize you are most definitely not in Kansas anymore.
The plane was also sparkling and empty. There couldn't have been more than 20 of us in the back, so each got their own bunch of rows. There was a jolt of normalcy when we pushed back and sat for 30 minutes due to a paperwork snafu, but we made up the time in the air as there were few planes jockeying for airspace and landing slots. At the other end the DC airport was equally quiet, and cars to the city plentiful and quick. While it has been on the rise, if there is a benefit to the pandemic it is much less traffic.
Once I got over the new abnormal, I began to reap the benefits of being a forced early adopter. Downtown was very empty, so getting from one place to another was quick and unencumbered by tourists. Restaurants offered quick service, and plentiful tables in and out with lots of elbow room. And when I was done, the race to the airport was less a sprint than a stroll as congestion was all but non-existent.
Travel now is but a trickle of what it once was. It will steadily increase, though experts say it will take years to get back to where it was, if it ever does. With new ways of communicating and collaborating, being there in person will be as much a choice as a necessity. But until it all shakes out, this awkward in-between phase seems less a burden, and more road warrior heaven.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford likes to travel. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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