The last time I traveled for math was when I gave the Coble lectures at UIUC pre-pandemic (at least pre-pandemic as far as the US goes). A few months ago it seemed like one could begin to start traveling again, so I agreed to go to the Simons Conference scheduled for Jan 13-14 in NYC. While I’m prepared as the next person to acknowledge that we have to start living with the coronavirus and live our lives accordingly, traveling during might be the absolute peak of omicron in NYC seems a little unwise. Hence I sadly cancelled my trip today. I was hoping to get a chance to chat with people about Mumford 4-folds, and I had already decided on going to Rezdôra for a pasta tasting menu plus wine tasting menu. But it is not to be. It’s honestly quite surprising to me that many other people seem very happy to go to the same meeting. I can’t quite tell if they have a higher tolerance for risk or if one of us (or both) are simply not estimating the risk accurately. If it goes ahead, I hope it goes well for everyone there!
Update: Cancelled!
Meanwhile, NZMRI (all local edition) just ended and was very nice. Pity you couldn’t come.
Really sad to have missed NZMRI (and the NYC Simons meeting), but glad to hear the local edition went well. Having had two separate trips to NZ cancelled in the last two years has only increased my desire to go at some point (once it becomes possible).
In the meantime, I am looking forward to PCMI, which might be a good place to talk about Mumford 4-folds (depending on who is there).
Hopefully, we can do something when the border reopens and we have some certainty.