It's safe to say that 2020 has been a year unlike any other in our lifetimes. Like so many people across the breadth of the planet, we had to trash most of our travel plans and adjust our lives and expectations to the reality of a worldwide pandemic. No, we did not make it to Greenland this year, nor Patagonia, Brazil or Northern Ireland, as we had planned. Our much-anticipated road trip from Boston to Newport, Oregon (on US-20 in 2020), and back east across the width of Canada also had to wait. Our “Meals on Wheels” road trip to visit and share meals with family and friends in the spring was shut down like the restaurants we hoped to patronize.
But 2020 also went a long way toward restoring a perspective we sometimes lose sight of. Though we missed the travel we love and opportunities to make memories with family and friends, we were safe, we were healthy, and we had a pleasant home to quarantine in.
Shortly before borders were closed due to COVID, we cut our trip short and fled Ecuador in mid-March. Since then, we have spent our time at home. Like so many others, we’ve reorganized closets and drawers, assembled dozens of jigsaw puzzles, read twice our typical number of books, and binged on Netflix, YouTube and Amazon. We’ve maintained our fitness routine at home and on local hiking trails and done a little letterboxing.
Anticipating 2020, we were looking forward to a fun-filled year of travel and making memories with friends and family. Just the sound of it—2020—made you think it would be unprecedented. And it was, for all the wrong reasons. Momentous family events could not be celebrated together this year—cousin Doris’s 90th birthday, cousin Bobby’s wedding, and graduations of grandnieces Karoline and Whitney and grandnephew Andrew. We mourned the death of cousin Jean in February, the elegant and wise matriarch of her family, whose presence and guiding influence are missed by many. We grieve for the many who have died of COVID and are thankful for the recovery of our loved ones and others. And we hope for better conditions in 2021.
- The North of the South (February 21-March 13). An exploration of the northern countries of South America, cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
States We Visited in 2020
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Mississippi
Countries We Visited in 2020
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Guyana
- Panama
- Suriname
Other Events in 2020
- March-December - Coronavirus self-isolation at home