Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson,
Editor-in-Chief, Publishing Perspectives

Well, of course it’s a „labor of love“, coming to Frankfurt each year. 

And that evolves steadily.

• Your special places become more familiar. 
• Your feet become more sensibly outfitted for the distances that exhaust your FitBit (don’t forget the charger).
• Your calendar app begins to harbor little sanity breaks in your schedule, largely undetectable to colleagues.

However, your luggage evolves, too. Have you noticed this? Well, of course you have.

Part of that is not about your wardrobe. It’s learning that you need an external screen and maybe an external keyboard for your laptop to keep it all going at your hotel. Plus all those other peripherals that get you stopped by security at Flughafen Frankfurt am Main. And the cords. And the cords. And the cords. And the plug adaptors.

But something else is evolving, too. Remember the days when your Frankfurt travel kit included that really big overcoat? That thing is nowhere near your luggage now. 

In 2022, Germany had its warmest October recorded since records first were kept in 1881. (That was one fine year at Frankfurt and at Publishing „Perspectives“ we owned that story, damn it.) And yes, it’s a trend. The four warmest Octobers recorded in Germany in the last 140 years have been sweating us down in this millennium: 2001, 2006, 2014, and 2022. 

Were you taking off layers last year and wondering why you’d crammed so many sweaters into your bags? That’s because the average temperature in October was 12.53C (54.55F). German meteorological specialists are quoted in the press saying, “The fact that the extremely warm October months are accumulating is a clear indication of climate change.”

Not a hoax, nein. 

And while it’s all fluctuations and iffy predictions at this point, as we salute the 75th Frankfurter Buchmesse, we who gladly travel in order to be here are listening to our luggage. It’s getting lighter (this is good) because it’s getting warmer (not so good). 

If we don’t get serious about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by their 2030 deadline – when we celebrate the book fair’s 82nd anniversary – we may all be making appointments to meet poolside at the Agora.

Swimwear fits into any luggage. Bring your sunglasses. And pack light.

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