Hutzell: Wes Moore’s governing travel schedule, oh, the places he’ll go

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Sometimes I wonder if Wes Moore reads Dr. Seuss’ classic, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” for inspiration.

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

His personal narrative is like that. When telling the tale of Wes Moore, he presents the story of a young man who pulled himself together, with help from others, and went someplace — and who still has places to go.

So, I wasn’t surprised when my colleagues Lee O. Sanderlin and Pamela Wood examined four years’ worth of Moore’s calendar entries to reveal that one out of every five days, he ventures beyond Maryland.

Because, as Dr. Seuss and the governor’s office constantly remind me, he has places to go.

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.

This year alone, Moore’s office has sent me almost 100 advisory emails detailing his daily schedule, TV appearances and general whereabouts.

That’s a good thing for the public. Transparency is a big part of accountability.

Lee and Pam documented Moore’s nationwide ramblings, from New York to Georgia, from Oklahoma to that billionaires’ summer camp in Idaho. He’s stumped often for Democrats in other states. New York, in particular, is a major source of out-of-state contributions for the Maryland governor’s campaign treasury.

But that’s only part of Moore’s busy itinerary. By his circle’s accounting, he’s made 1,100 trips around Maryland since becoming governor.

“Governor Moore was the first governor to visit Lonaconing since 1996, the first to visit Smith Island since 1999, the first to ever visit the town of Midland, and he’s taken 211 trips to Baltimore,” said Carter Elliott IV, a Moore campaign spokesman.

“He has maintained one of the most aggressive travel schedules of any Maryland governor in history.”

Moore’s public calendar shows his most frequent trip is also his shortest. That’s the walk from the governor’s mansion, across State Circle and up the stairs to his second-story State House office suite.

Like governors before him, he uses the ornate Governor’s Reception Room as a stage for cabinet meetings, bill signings and major announcements.

And those 211 trips show that Baltimore is his second-favorite destination.

This year, he’s made the drive up Interstate 97 in the official 2025 Chevy Suburban to the Rogers Avenue Metro Station to talk about transit-oriented development, the EDCO Entrepreneur Expo, the AFRAM Festival, sporting events and more.

If he spends less time in the southern, western and eastern parts of the state, he still visits frequently for announcements, conferences and community building.

The Chevy Suburban has taken him to Frostburg, Cumberland, Westernport, Charlotte Hall, Leonardtown and Waldorf. He’s been to Salisbury, Ocean City and tiny Quantico.

“Since his inauguration, he has traveled over 119,000 miles in his vehicle, the equivalent of traveling from east to west across the entire State of Maryland nearly 600 times,” Elliott said.

So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed).

Moore’s staff points to economic development wins as a product of some trips. That’s fair.

He met with developers of the Sphere in Las Vegas and New York. A few weeks later, they announced Prince George’s County as the site of a second Sphere — and the jobs and tax revenues that come with it. Good stuff.

Questions remain, however, about the wider meaning of Moore’s travels. The easiest to answer is whether he is out of state more often than his predecessors.

Of course he is. Moore is traveling farther and more frequently than Larry Hogan and Martin O’Malley because he can.

When O’Malley left office in 2015, there was no 5G wireless in Maryland. Video calls and file storage were cutting-edge.

By the time Hogan finished his second term four years ago, Zoom and VPN were the best remote work solutions.

Today, almost anyone working almost anywhere can tap 5G or satellite WiFi to use real-time AI meeting transcription and translation, spatial computing hardware and intelligent calendars.

Maryland State Police won’t talk about the Suburban but General Motors says it comes with USB-C data and fast-charging ports across every row, multi-device setups for laptops and tablets, and Google office software.

Is he using all this? Who knows. Those who travel with Moore say he’s always working on his phone and iPad.

Maybe the governor is more efficient from the back seat of the Suburban or in a Las Vegas hotel room than Hogan or O’Malley were in the governor’s corner office.

Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. Oh! The places you’ll go!

Moore shares this with his predecessors; all three have had something to say about the country’s direction and audiences sometimes willing to listen. Like them, he’s closer to news media studios in D.C. than any other governor.

Combined with charm and eloquence, the quick drive across the state line makes him a popular studio guest.

So the Suburban takes him there a lot, more than 200 times.

The hardest question is whether Moore’s travel works for Maryland.

His staff, put on the defensive by Lee and Pam’s investigation, missed the opportunity.

Moore is Maryland’s first rambling chief executive. His energetic travel isn’t a quirk or a distraction. Being on the move is the essence of his leadership style.

He should make a case to voters in November that all who wander are not lost, and own up to being the governor who governs from the road with an iPad.

I can’t wait to see where Moore’s travels take him next.

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!