What a privilege it is to be able to travel for work and meet these amazing people who help us be better scientists and mentors. But also a complicated balance to strike between fostering international networks and inevitable carbon emissions when flying. After Covid I had not gone back to long-distance travel, feeling that perhaps we could keep doing of our interactions online, thus hugely saving on our carbon footprints. A combination trip to a lovely conference in Oaxaca, Mexico and California (UC San Diego and UC Riverside) made me realise what I had missed: meeting new people, being away from routines and finding inspiration. It will continue to be a difficult balance to strike for us scientists whose work is entirely global and meaningful networks are spread across continents.