I am open to any other suggestion of workflow to reach a recent (or any) directory quickly.
Dired+ lets you open a Dired buffer that shows recently used directories (commands diredp-dired-recent-dirs and diredp-dired-recent-dirs-other-window, bound globally to C-x D r and C-x 4 D r).
This is similar to the commands showing recent files (C-x D R and C-x 4 D R).
C-h C-x D r says:
Open Dired in BUFFER, showing recently visited directories.
Like diredp-dired-recent-files, but limited to recent directories. A directory is recent if any of its files is recent.
The more extensive doc string for C-x D R (recent files) says this. It all applies also to the recent-directories commands.
diredp-dired-recent-files is an interactive compiled Lisp function in dired+.el.
It is bound to C-x D R.
(diredp-dired-recent-files BUFFER &optional ARG FILES)
Open Dired in BUFFER, showing recently visited files and directories.
You are prompted for BUFFER (default: Recently Visited Files).
With a numeric prefix arg you can enter names of recent files to include or exclude.
No prefix arg or a plain prefix arg (C-u, C-u C-u, etc.) means list all of the recently used files.
With a prefix arg:
When entering files to include or exclude, use C-g to end.
The file listing is sorted by option diredp-default-sort-arbitrary-function, if non-nil. If nil (the default) then the listing is in reverse chronological order of opening or writing files you access.
Use g to revert the buffer, as usual. If you use it without a prefix arg then the same files are relisted. A prefix arg is handled as for C-x D R itself.
When called from Lisp:
ARG corresponds to the raw prefix arg.FILES is passed to diredp--dired-recent-files-1. It is used only when the command is used as part of the revert-buffer-function.
You can even sort such Dired buffers, using C-M-L (aka C-M-S-l).
