My strange, sleep-deprived week hobnobbing with the global elite

It began with an urgent Slack from our editor-in-chief, Jamie Heller: Can you talk now? After a panicked moment I learned she wanted to send me to Davos. I had long imagined rubbing elbows with CEOs on a snowy Swiss backdrop, and when she warned me it would mean about 30 meetings over four days and very warm snow boots, I still said yes.

In the weeks before the trip I shopped for a chic wardrobe and a new suitcase, then heard warnings from colleagues about long, icy walks after back-to-back meetings. Our lead newsletter writer, Dan DeFrancesco, showed me Fitbit data from his year there — an average of 4.5 hours of sleep a night.

As an introvert who likes warm weather and sleeping, I realized I had signed up for my own kind of hell. I arrived on Sunday before the official start and climbed steep hills to a tiny studio. Davos felt like Disneyland for middle-aged powerbrokers: locals mostly left for the week and rented out their places, and attendees streamed past in suits and snow boots.

Switzerland, Davos

davos, ceos, global elite, sleep deprivation, fitbit, snow boots, meetings, jamie heller, dan defrancesco, swiss