*** “The Smoking Trunk” is a humorous yet tender family travel essay that transforms a minor mishap into a meditation on memory, imperfection, and connection. Through a wry narrative voice and sharply observed domestic comedy, the story illustrates how ordinary travel frustrations become the raw material of lasting family lore. *** The Smoking Trunk By Harry Arabian After a week exploring Washington, D.C., our family had achieved peak tourist status. We’d seen the pandas at the National Zoo, taken the Capitol tour, and spent enough time in Smithsonian gift shops to earn honorary degrees in “Souvenir Studies.” The boys—both teenagers—declared the Air and Space Museums “the coolest places on Earth.” My wife declared the hotel laundry room “the most useful.” Packing to leave should have been easy. It wasn’t. Somewhere between our arrival and departure, our luggage had multiplied. The rental car trunk, once roomy and accommodating, now looked like it had shrunk in the D.C. h...