Gov. Eric Holcomb on the pandemic, travel and eight years in office

• With Holcomb's re-election in 2020, the Republican's two terms sandwiched the COVID-19 pandemic that killed more than 25,000 Hoosiers.

What's next: Holcomb, 56, said he and his wife, Janet, are planning to stay in central Indiana after they move out of the governor's residence and are close to buying their next home.

• He said they plan to be moved in before his term ends Jan. 13.

Zoom in: Holcomb recently sat down with Axios to talk about the best (and worst) parts of being governor, as well as his plans for the future.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

🔮 I'm sure everyone is asking, but do you know what's next for you yet?

• "I have not made a decision. My wife has said she wants to have a couple months just to exhale … so we'll do that."
• Holcomb said he's not looking to slow down, though. Whatever he does next, he wants it to have the "same kind of intensity" and energy that being governor has provided him.

✈️ You did a lot of international traveling while governor. Gov.-elect Mike Braun has suggested he won't be doing as much. Is that a mistake?

• "He'll find out how his administration can be most effective. We found out … that it was extremely effective for me to be in the room. It was also very respectful to not just wait for someone to come here."
• "We've had to be, quite honestly, very selective about where we go. And it leads to … a real high probability of, if I go, something good will come from it."

🤑 What was your most successful trip, in terms of projects that you landed?

• "Going to Japan is almost like a prerequisite because there's this … baked-in heritage that we share with three auto OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and the whole supply chain that comes with it."
• "Of our about 1,100 foreign-owned businesses that are operating here in Indiana, plus 300 of them are Japanese. You could argue things would be different had not former Gov. [Robert] Orr and Lt. Gov. John Mutz gone on multiple occasions to really foster those relationships. So that has always been successful and something that we hold near and dear."
• Holcomb said one of the most recent and most successful trips was to South Korea, which was part of the work that landed a commitment from SK Hynix to invest nearly $4 billion in a West Lafayette semiconductor facility.

🏖️ What was your favorite place to visit?

• "I don't have a favorite, just because I enjoy different cultures, different approaches."
• "I enjoy our very diverse economic portfolio here. It requires you to be able to go and be productive, whether it's in India, which is much different than Luxembourg. But you could drop me in either, and if you said, 'You're gonna have to live here for three years,' I probably could."

😷 Looking back on the early days of the pandemic, is there anything you would do differently?

• "I don't think so. I know that sounds kind of bullheaded or dug in, but I think … there are so many lessons you can draw from how you handle the unknown, and it's just a much different situation."
• "We were tracking every day the spread and the rate of and [there was] partial information and federal directives would come down, and they would change, and different people would give you different data. You had really good people in their areas of expertise disagree with one another."
• "I think we did the best we could with the information that we had."
• "What separated us was we never lost our purpose or mission to try to get through it with this balance of lives and livelihoods. It drove everything we did. We said, 'This is a balance. We get it. One person's liberty does not, cannot, infringe on another person's liberty.' Where you draw that line is very contentious and understandably debatable."

🕊️ What would you say were your hardest days in office?

• "It's getting phone calls from people who have lost someone … Or standing up in front of them the day of the burial. You can't fake true empathy. Those are the hardest days."
• "I would say the close second would be when a natural disaster strikes and someone, one day, had everything seemingly going for them and that day is gone."