MILWAUKEE— The rowing machine from his Milwaukee home and two bikes from the Badger State have safely made it to his new home in Luxembourg, but weeks after being sworn in as the new United States Ambassador to Luxembourg, he's still waiting for his car to be safely shipped over.
"It has not arrived yet— it's still in transit because it takes [two months] to get the car over here," Ambassador Tom Barrett said. "The location where I am now, it's right in the heart of Luxembourg City— it's a very walkable neighborhood, my office is literally feet from my door, so that's been a transition. Instead of having a commute downtown Milwaukee, I literally come out one door and walk in another door [to the office]."
While Barrett still had two years remaining on his most recent term as Mayor of Milwaukee, the former congressman and member of the Wisconsin legislature said accepting President Biden's nomination to become an ambassador was simply a way to accept a new challenge.
"When people ask me about the change, I'm very quick to point out that it was never a situation where I was running away from something," Ambassador Barrett added. "It was more an opportunity where I was running to something, and in this case I was running to Luxembourg, because from both a professional standpoint and a personal standpoint, it's a new chapter in my life."
You can watch the entire interview with Barrett above.