“Protocols change so quickly – it’s so confusing for travelers,” said Berklich, who typically travels 200,000 miles a year. “Their minds don’t have enough space to worry about the bulk of regular travel when they wonder if they will enter a country or be allowed to leave.”

Dr Wang said that traveling engages what is called “forward-looking memory,” or the ability to remember to perform a task in the future; for example, bring a passport to the airport or pack sunscreen for a trip to the beach.

“With some potential memories, once you lose that well-exercised routine, you may need to more consciously watch your packing,” she said. “Before, when you were so used to it, you hardly had to think about these things.”

William Rademacher, general manager of The Wayfinder Hotel, in Newport, RI, recalled a business traveler who had stayed at the hotel regularly before the pandemic.

“When he first stayed with us in March, the front desk agent asked him if he needed help with his luggage,” Rademacher said. “He looked around and said, ‘It’s weird, I never leave my luggage in my car.’ A few minutes later, he returned, walked over to the same front desk agent, and said he left his bag – all of his clothes and toiletries – at home.

Then there’s the extent to which Covid – and its mind-boggling requirements for international travel – has dominated travelers’ attention spans.

“We had customers so nervous about all the Covid tests and protocols that they forgot all the other vaccines needed to travel and arrived in Kenya without their yellow fever vaccine,” said PJ Scott, director of operations from ROAR AFRICA, a luxury safari. company, referring to the country’s vaccination requirements. “Customers are so focused on Covid protocols that everything else seems to go by the wayside. Fortunately, after much persuasion and discussion with immigration, they were allowed entry.