Rachel Lehmann Never Travels with More than 3 Pairs of Shoes

Rachel Lehmann

The Wall Street Journal asked Rachel Lehmann a few questions about her travel habits:

How often are you on the road?

About half of the year. It’s business-related 99% of the time.

Where do you go most?

I make a point to be in Asia four to five times a year. I go to Hong Kong, Korea, mainland China, Singapore and Indonesia. I also go to Europe because we have a large base of artists there.

What are your packing essentials?

I try to pack light. I always make sure I have earplugs and an eye mask. The one thing that keeps me sane is working out. So I pack gym clothes, which my husband sometimes laughs about. He says it’s half my suitcase, which is true, but they are essential.

How many pairs of shoes do you take?

That’s the best question. Never more than three. Very often, it will be just two. I’ll be traveling in my workout shoes, and I’ll have one pair of comfortable shoes with a small heel, which I can wear with everything. That’s the best scenario. Now, if I have very extensive art fairs, I’ll have a spare pair with me, which are more dressy flats.

Which city has an interesting art scene?

Cluj-Napoca, Romania, which totally surprised me. It has a very rich cultural history, but everything stopped in the 1970s and ’80s with the Ceaușescu dictatorship. Now there is a big hunger to re-establish the importance of the area as a cultural center. You have two or three factory-style buildings where a lot of artists live. The experience is amazing—it’s very pure and new.