Pizza at home can beat a trip to Paris

Travel posters will tell you that meaning lives in other cities. Feed and airport lines will tell you the same thing with worse lighting. Meanwhile, a Thursday pizza night with someone you actually like can feel like the whole point of having a kitchen.

This is not an argument against Paris. Go if you can. Bring comfortable shoes. The point is that spectacle is optional. Sitting at a table you already own, phones face down, laughing at nothing important — that counts. It counts more than a photo in front of a landmark where nobody was looking at each other.

The trip is a story. The pizza night is a life.

Order in or make the dough if that is your hobby. Put on whatever music is already in the house. Leave the itinerary empty. If kids are around, let the evening be a little sticky and loud. If it is just two of you, linger after the box is empty.

You will forget half the museums. You will remember who sat across from you on an ordinary night and stayed.