Pining for the Intimacy of Pandemic Pods

Social bubbles seemed like a temporary arrangement to survive a crisis. Some people don’t want to leave them. (And maybe they won’t have to.)

It was the kind of raucous night out that Reece Clark, 32, a lawyer who lives in Olathe, Kan., had been dreaming about during the dark days of 2020: a boisterous group of friends and colleagues packed into a tiny karaoke room, with music and laughter ricocheting off the walls. But even while enjoying this long-overdue party a few weeks ago, Mr. Clark felt a strange longing: nostalgia for lockdown; or more precisely, longing for the intimacy of his pandemic pod. For seemingly endless months last year, his social bubble, which also consisted of his wife, Katelyn Clark, 34, and another couple, did everything together — game nights, UberEats banquets, even a road trip through the Southwest.