I went to France at the end of August. Officially it was for work, but there were really three reasons and only two of them were professional.
The first was to meet the group’s cybersecurity officers. When you hold the security role for a subsidiary, the people who define the group’s posture matter more than any document they send you. The unwritten rules live in those meetings.
The second was a project that has gone badly late. It is a full rebuild of our local Chinese infrastructure, hardware included, piloted by a French project owner in France with operator teams in French departments. I won’t pretend it’s easy to steer. When the person who owns the outcome isn’t the person who touches the servers, “late” stops being a phase and becomes part of the design.
The third reason was my parents. I live in China now, so a week with them isn’t something I can do on a long weekend.
And because we’re expecting a child, the week doubled as a shopping trip. I bought breast pumps, bottles, plushies, a stroller, washing and drying creams, a carrier you can wear front or back. The logic was European quality control, and the tax-free return of a resident in China.
I had never compared two strollers with that much intensity. Caring for a project and caring for a family use the same muscles: check the requirements, pick the dependable option, and remember that the thing you’re preparing for won’t wait until you feel ready.
The project and the baby have that in common. Neither gets fixed by heroics at the last minute; both come from boring, repeated attention long before the deadline or the arrival.
I flew back with a stroller and a list of things still to do. That’s the most honest summary of late summer 2026 I can give.