Meetings in Munich next week are a great excuse for a weekend in Berlin. My early-morning flight out of London was massively delayed so I spent most of the day in the airport instead of Germany, but did get here in time for what mattered most: dinner with Grit, Nikolas, and Quynh-Nhu!

The four of us met 15 years ago studying politics in France and have stayed good friends ever since. We’ve all gone on to do interesting things (Niko’s a diplomat, QN was an economist and is now a medical student, and Grit is a television journalist) and live in interesting places. We never run out of things to talk about, and “keeping in touch” has been synonymous with exploring the world — here’s what I can remember off the top of my head:

• London with QN and Grit in 2003
• Dresden, Leipzig, Prague, and Vienna with Grit in 2003
• Bavaria with Niko in 2003
• Utah with QN in 2003
• New York with Grit in 2007
• All of us in Brussels in 2008
• All of us in Vienna, Hungary, and Croatia in 2010
• All of us in Berlin for QN and Niko’s wedding in 2012
• Portland, Seattle and Vancouver with Grit in 2015
• Salt Lake City with Grit in 2015
• Beijing with QN and Niko in 2015