Home Again, and For Now...Home again, and for a while.

I am back in the heat of a Roman summer, although it does not officially begin for a few more days. It has already hit hard, and yes, the air conditioning and fans are both on. After being away as long as I was, with back-to-back working holidays, I can honestly say it has taken its toll, and it will take me a few days to recover. Still, business does not stop, and I am thankful for that.
Have you ever come home from a trip and felt like you needed a vacation from your vacation? That is very much where I am right now.
This week really began with the end of the LATA conference, which I had already written about in last week’s post. What followed was another very full stretch, with almost no breathing room in between. The only real pause came on June 11, when I had one day in London before the next event began. That day was meant to be a little personal time, a chance to enjoy Greenwich, an area I had not explored in much detail.
Of course, London had other plans.
I did manage some time at Greenwich Market and wandered here and there, but the rain really wanted the spotlight. I was prepared, because you always have to be prepared in London, but the weather won that round. In the end, I headed back to the hotel to rest rather than force the issue. Sometimes that is simply the better decision. Sometimes a quieter day is more useful than a perfect one.
Then came June 12 and SHOP, the event focused on shoulder season and off-season travel, which is exactly the kind of theme I want to see more of in this industry. Like LATA before it, SHOP brought meetings with hotels, tour operators, and experience providers, many of whom I had already connected with previously. That is both helpful and, at times, a little frustrating, depending on how focused the day is supposed to be.
When an event is designed around off-season and shoulder-season travel, I really want the conversations to stay there. In this case, there were a number of familiar faces and familiar offerings, so while the day had value, it did not always feel as targeted as it could have. That said, there were a few partners who did understand the need to spread travel beyond the traditional high season, and that is something I always appreciate.

Because that is the real issue, isn’t it? Many destinations are overloaded in just a few months of the year, while so much of the rest of the calendar has room, beauty, and potential. I am always looking for what I can share with clients who want to travel when places are not packed with millions of their closest friends.
I had also suggested in my follow-up that a panel discussion about the importance of shoulder and low season might have been a useful addition, especially if it offered practical ways to promote those periods more actively. I know many of the participants shared good ideas, but the day itself was meant to focus on this very topic, and I felt that balance was still missing. It did feel rushed. Perhaps more time and fewer meetings, or the same number of meetings spread over two days would have made for a better experience. Just my thoughts for next year.
From SHOP to Brussels
And then, after SHOP wrapped, the evening became something entirely different.
A few of us were whisked off by taxi and overland train, with a travel hiccup or two along the way, to London St. Pancras for the Eurostar to Brussels, Belgium. In any case, we made it in plenty of time.
The highlight for me that evening was taking the Eurostar.
We were placed in the front car in premier class for the two-hour journey, and honestly, that would have been enough. But then one other member of our group and I were invited to go up to the front and see the operation firsthand. It was a bit like being invited onto the bridge of a cruise ship to see how everything works behind the scenes.
We went up there, and it was extremely cool. We could see the tunnel, hear the explanation, ask questions, and watch the journey unfold from a very unusual perspective. We stayed there until we arrived on the other side, having spent about 15 minutes of the trip on the French side rather than the English side. It was fascinating to see how the train operates and to learn that it is now basically on cruise control, with everything computerized. So much has changed since the original Eurostar trains started more than 30 years ago.
For me, this moment hit for two reasons.
First, this was my second time on the Eurostar, but I had not experienced it since it operated out of Waterloo Station. Second, and more importantly, it took me right back to being a kid in New York City and going to the front car of the subway train. I used to love standing there, looking out through that windowed door, watching the tracks ahead, seeing where we were going. It was always a thrill for me as a kid.
So, to be invited to the front of the Eurostar and watch the train at 160 kilometers an hour through the tunnel was an amazing moment. It brought back that same feeling of wonder I had as a child.
Brussels, Again
It should also be noted that Brussels was not new to me. In fact, this was my third time there. The first was way back in 1985, and the second was just a year or two ago. In both of those earlier visits, I experienced the classic Brussels highlights: Grand Place, Manneken Pis, and the other sights that make the city so memorable.
This visit, however, offered a different kind of experience.
One of the stops was Mini Europe, which at first I thought might be a little childish, but by the end I found it fascinating. There is something surprisingly engaging about seeing all those landmarks shrunk down and knowing how much effort has gone into creating them. It ended up being much more interesting than I expected.
Then there was Atomium, Brussels’ answer to the Eiffel Tower, built for one of the world’s fairs and still standing as one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks. That was followed by ChocoStory Museum, where we made our own chocolate creations, and the FrietMuseum, where we learned about fries and what makes them special.
And yes, the fries story is always worth telling.
What we call French fries are really Belgian fries, and they are different. They are double fried, and there is a process involved. The story goes that during World War II, American paratroopers dropped into Europe, thought they had landed in France, and seeing locals who spoke French making these twice-fried potatoes, called them French fries. In truth, they had landed in Belgium, but the name stuck.
That is one of those travel-history details I love. The story is often as interesting as the thing itself.
Other highlights from the day included the Beer Museum, housed in the old city hall, which makes perfect sense, and some excellent meals, first lunch at Bouillon Bruxelles and then dinner at one of the Thon hotels. In between, we wandered here and there, but we were on the run for more than 13 hours that day, covering a wide range of experiences.
Truth be known, all of it was wonderful.

The small group of five, plus Jorge, our ETOA handler, had a very full and very rewarding day, and these are places I can absolutely recommend. Brussels has much more to offer than the obvious stops, and this day proved that beautifully.
A Sunday With a Few Bumps
The next day, Sunday, was left open. Apparently, there were supposed to be Brussels passes available to help us get around, but none were to be had. That was all right, because it was also a hotel-changing day, and I knew that Monday meant flying back home, which I was absolutely looking forward to.
I had never changed hotels at the end in my e-portfolio before, so that turned out to be an experience in itself. I ended up taking the metro to another property with the same name, though no reservation was waiting for me. Still, I did get to experience the Brussels metro, which is always useful to add to the list.
Once the hotel manager and I realized that the airport option was the right one, he arranged a taxi for me. The driver was supposed to take credit cards, but he claimed his system was not working. Lucky for him, I had euros, which I generally do not carry. So yes, a lesson learned there as a professional traveler ----- always be prepared.
The hotel was pleasant enough, and since I was really tired, it was not much of an issue at first. The only moment that tested me came later, when I was ready for dinner and the waiter-host decided to have an attitude about my choice of seat. I will not go into all the details, and I speak French, so the situation was addressed and resolved. Still, it was another reminder that nothing about travel is ever completely seamless, no matter how carefully we plan.
And maybe that is part of what makes these weeks so real. The polished moments are lovely, but the imperfect ones are often the ones that stay with you.
Home Again, For Now
In the end, it was a productive, entertaining, and educational week.
I got to reconnect with colleagues, revisit familiar places, experience new things, and collect a few more stories along the way. That is one of the things I love about this work: it is never just about moving from one place to another. It is about the conversations, the logistics, the surprises, the little frustrations, and the moments that remind you why travel still matters so much.

For now, I am back in Rome, working in the air conditioning on travel projects for my valued clients. I will still be teaching here and there, but it will simply be a hot, humid summer here. Later in August, Rosa and I will take off for another week.
Until then, I will settle back in, keep working, and enjoy the quieter side of travel for a little while.
And really, that is the rhythm of this life, isn’t it? Full, exhausting, rewarding, unpredictable, and always worth it.