Last week I made a business trip to visit a client in Seattle.

No big thing, you’d think. A direct flight from Atlanta into Seattle and back again with hotel and meetings in between.

There was a time when I made a trip like this two or three times a month – sometimes leaving on Sunday and not getting home until late Friday. It’s a pretty rootless existence but you get used to it – the packing, assessing who in the terminal you don’t want as your seat mate, and consoling with other travelers when the inevitable flight delays occur.

I mention this because last week was the first business trip I’ve taken since 2019, and packing for business is very different from packing for vacation. In some senses, business packing is easier. Even with business casual there’s a more limited set of clothes to pack, and unlike vacation where I pack three or four times as many books as I can reasonably read, I cut right back for business trips. However, let’s not forget the Kindle, Apple, and Kobo libraries on my iPad, so maybe I’m not cutting back as much as I thought.

I had some issues with my boarding pass not showing my Pre-Check status on the outbound leg, but overall it couldn’t have gone much better. The flights were on time, the Seattle weather was unexpectedly clear, dry, and warm, and the client was a pleasure to work with.

Overall this was a good re-introduction to traveling for business. I know it won’t always be like this. On-time flights, an aisle seat both ways, and writing over two thousand words in my downtime is a win I’m happy to take.