It is really weird traveling during a partial shutdown –

This week, I have meetings in Rochester, Minnesota, so I drove the 6 hours here when I would normally fly. As you know, every state has different rules concerning what is open and what is not. I am staying at a Fairfield Inn and the breakfast buffet this week is now a grab and go bag of goodies, while three weeks ago, it was the full buffet. All the restaurants are pickup or delivery only and shopping is mostly shut down. Since I don’t do ice fishing or bear hunting, there is not much to do here but go to meetings and watch TV.

Here are the 10 things I miss the most from not flying for the past 8 months:

10. Eating a great steak at the best steakhouse in town – When I am home, I have very few occasions to enjoy upscale dining. When I travel, I make a point to try to find the best steakhouse and enjoy the best of the best. Just mention Ribeye, fillet, and T-bone steak and my mouth starts to water. In addition to the food, if you find an outstanding waiter, the meal becomes a joyful experience.

9. The thrill of getting a first-class upgrade – It is amazing how much I miss the simple joy of finding out I have been lucky to get a first-class upgrade on a domestic flight. It feels like winning the lottery.

8. Getting a great shoe shine – One of the simple pleasures of life is getting a great airport shoe shine. I have not flown in almost 8 months and my dress shoes look dreadful. I can’t wait to fly through the Denver airport and get the best shoe shine in the world.

7. Sneaking an Auntie Annes cinnamon pretzel at the airport – Travel is also the time you do things you would never do in a normal day like buy a 3000 calorie pretzel at Auntie Annes.

6. Sleeping in until 8 am for a late morning meeting – I am usually an early morning person who is used to getting up at about 5 AM. When I travel, I am often able to sleep in until as late as 8 AM if I don’t have an early morning meeting or flight to catch. It is fun to sleep in.

5. Test driving a new vehicle at National’s Emerald Aisle – It is always so fun to be able to pick my rental car from National Car Rentals Emerald Aisle. I always try to find a new car model that I haven’t driven before as my way of test driving new cars.

4. Business class on international flights – I have so many frequent flyer miles that when I fly internationally, I am able to use my miles to upgrade to those big lay flat business class seats in the front of the plane. I enjoy the food and drink and service of business class. It makes me feel like a movie star.

3. In-flight movies – I don’t watch many movies when I am home. When I am on long international flights, I will often watch 2 movies over the pond and 2 movies flying home. That is about the extent of my movie watching for the year.

2. Learning a new culture – Too often, we get comfortable with our own little world we live in. Travel to new cities and countries lets us see a fresh new perspective on culture, food, currency, history, architecture, transportation, language, religion, and people. Travel broadens our perspective and helps us to understand a little better why the world is what it is.

1. Dreaming big dreams – Travel is the time that I am able to dream big dreams as a serial entrepreneur; travel allows me to see new places, products, and people and think outside of the box. My staff is often wary of me when I travel as they know when I come back, I will have a list of 20 new ideas I will want to implement.

I never thought I would say this but, “I miss flying.”