About 10 years ago, when catching a flight home from a business trip, I was randomly assigned TSA Precheck on my boarding pass. I didn’t even notice until I entered the TSA security area and was directed to the Precheck line which had a handful of people in it thus skipping the 100+ people queued up for standard screening.
It was awesome.
Because I was flying several times a year for business, I decided I had to have it. On another business trip, I purposely scheduled a layover at the Atlanta Airport which was the closest place I could apply for it.
Precheck saved me many hours of frustration and aggravation. As much as I despised flying, I was grateful to at least have this one convenience.
But when I received a notice that my Precheck was going to expire, I decided not to renew it.
I have not been on a plane since shutting down my consulting business in 2018. As far as I’m concerned, it’s quite possible I will never get on a plane again.
I doubt I’ll ever travel for business, since I’m retired.
As for vacation, I am living the life I want, right here, all within a few miles of my home. If I want a change of scenery, I can drive almost anywhere in the US and would enjoy that 1000x more than getting on a plane.
If I had the opportunity to move to Australia, New Zealand, Europe or the Nordics, I would probably get on a plane again. But let’s face it, that’s just wishful thinking.
The only possibility of that happening would be if I got married to a citizen from one of those countries – that even more unlikely than flying since I don’t date and am not looking for a spouse.
And so I let my Precheck expire.
I did however, renew my passport a few years ago. At the time, I was considering letting it expire, but then I went on a few dates with a woman who loved to travel. After hearing about some of her fantastic trips, I thought, “As much as I hate traveling, it might be fun to go with her.”
So I renewed my passport. Before I even received the new one in the mail, she and I had stopped dating each other, which makes me laugh.
But, you never know. I might someday decide to make a trip to Canada or Mexico so my passport could come in handy then.
