Adieu, Adiós to the 20,000 Miles I Was Supposed to Travel in 2020

Paris. Dublin. Puerto Vallarta. Belize. They were all on my docket in 2020, planned and booked. I had even applied for a visa to China. Some new to me, some old favorites. 2020 was going to be an amazing adventure.

It's been an amazing adventure organizing my garage seven times. I make no light of this pandemic (or endemic?), nor do I lose perspective on the havoc this has caused for millions of Americans who have been directly affected by illness, job losses or household chaos. COVID-19 has crashed everyone's party in one way or another.

Dashed travel plans are NOTHING compared to losing a loved one or having your economic life turned upside down.

However, I bring this "loss" up only for a little perspective. It may sound like a pathetic boo-hoo story to some that my big travel plans for the year all got cancelled. Big deal, right? It is a big deal and here's why: Travel is one of the few things in life that brings me true joy. Across the world or across the state...it doesn't matter. Checking out new stuff and seeing new things renews my spirit. No joke.

Having to cancel, one by one, each trip that was carefully saved for, planned and curated with excitement was mentally crushing. On top of the anxiety and uncertainty that COVID-19 brought as the first few months of 2020 ticked by, it was clear that very little fun would be had in 2020.

Whatever adventures I was in for, gone. Exchanged for a year full of health concerns, racial strife, social media rudeness, ugly political gas lighting.....and cleaning the garage.

Sure, some folks are comfortable now to travel where they can. Other than my own car, I'm not into it yet. Just because I CAN go somewhere now doesn't mean I think it's a good idea. My two cents.

This was bigger than any of us and COVID-19 didn't give a damn what you had planned for 2020. It told us all to take a seat. Please be smart, take good care of yourself and those around you. I hope all of us can hit the road without worry sometime soon.