Well, that was a year for the books! From a global pandemic to bringing social injustice to light, 2020 was rough. Not even remotely important in the grand scheme, like everyone else, my travel plans were shot. Unlike everyone, I had some incredible and complex trips planned in 2020. Because I’m not beat up enough about it, let’s look back on 2020 travel and ahead for what can only be for the best. Right??
Trips Taken
My 2020 travel started out with a couple of fun trips for me. I went to Las Vegas in February and discovered some great things to see and do beyond the strip.
Dune buggy‘s and colourful rocks aside, the main reason I went to Las Vegas was to check out a Golden Knights hockey game. This was literally days before the world shut down so I was glad I was able to sneak this in.
- READ MORE: Tips on Going to Golden Knights game in Las Vegas
- READ MORE: Leaving Las Vegas – 7 Great Things to See & Do off the Strip
In a similar fashion, I went directly to Toronto after Vegas and caught one of the last Toronto Raptors games before the league shut down. Again, incredibly lucky to at least get that in before months of lockdown.
Also lucky was the fact that a friends band, Hot Wax Meltdown, happened to be playing a show the same night. I am just realizing now that it was the last concert I have been to…
Last up on my positive start to 2020 travel was being able to visit my mother and some family on that same trip. I have many friends that haven’t been able to see their family in over a year so I will again consider myself lucky here.
Trips Taken Away
Once lockdown began and the situation became clear, I realized that the rest of my travel for the year was likely lost. This stings because it was going to be my most epic year of travel yet.
In April, I was going to visit Costa Rica for the first time. This was going to be another chaperoning trip and, despite being responsible for little humans, I was really looking forward to it.
Then, in early May, I was to embark on the most epic Aeroplan booking I had ever made.
Five continents in 14 countries around the world. I was going to hop my way through Central America before checking out Bogotá for a day. Then it was off to Istanbul where I was going to meet up with my brother. We were then going to visit Georgia before making our way south through Africa to Nairobi, Victoria Falls and a return to Cape Town. I even had another trip on Rovos Rail booked – the most luxurious train in the world! ?
After that, it was on to Ethiopia, Oman, Thailand, and Taiwan before heading home. Eight of these countries were going to be first-time visits for me and would have brought my total countries visited 81.
- READ MORE: How I Booked my Most Epic Aeroplan Trip Ever!
- READ MORE: Rovos Rail – The Most Luxurious Train in the World
The cherry on top was that all of those flights were in business class. This was to my last crack making the most of Aeroplan’s old rules before the big changes kicked in. It was also to celebrate a milestone birthday. Instead, I spent that on a zoom call drinking my depression away.
Double Damage
Sticking with the downside…
Losing out on these epic trips is one thing. Taking a serious hit to your business is another. Obviously, without travel, my site has suffered. I rely on the trips I take for content. This draws traffic and some funds to my site. With no one travelling, or even searching for travel for that matter, my site traffic has absolutely tanked. Year over a year my stats were growing at a nice pace. Then this:
Support local
After a sold month of reverting to a teenager where I played video games and guitar all day, I shifted my attention to my hometown. I shared my favourite restaurants to support local which resulted in some nice emails from some of the owners.
I also shared a peek into what downtown Vancouver looked like at the height ( or so we thought) of the pandemic. Although shops were boarded up, there were murals on them by local artists. This gave a bit of colour to an overall grey situation.
We Could All Use a Drink
Next up on the positive side to come out of my lockdown was finally completing my #ThisLifeinDrinks compilation.
Since 2015, Erin and I have captured the world through its cocktails, beer, and drinks. This was to be a unique way to share the world and has long been on my to-do list to compile it. So there’s that.
I also tried to be positive in what air travel might be like post-pandemic. Also, being locked down with Erin for so long, I drew lines between isolating and travelling together. If your relationship survives this, you deserve a vacation.
My EV trips and Canada
Another positive to come out of the pandemic was going ahead with a side project – MYEVtrips.com!
This was something I was loosely thinking of doing however with international travel on hold, I decided to move ahead. I purchased a 2020 Tesla Model Y, and, with travel restrictions briefly lifted, snuck in an amazing cross Canada trip.
I collected the car in Quebec City and, after spending three amazing days touring old Quebec, headed east around the Gaspe peninsula. From there I drove home, coast-to-coast in an electric vehicle and documenting my trip along the way.
Please follow along as I build up MYEV Trips and it’s social media channels!
2021 and Beyond
This cross Canada trip provided me with plenty of content to share. I am sadly behind on this as, as great as the car is, I have had to deal with getting an accident sorted and dealing with Tesla on some quality control issues. It has been a painful time suck but I hope to have this all sorted soon.
Once done I will be sharing post on both sites and, hopefully, starting a YouTube channel for MYEVtrips. Stay tuned.
Beyond that, I don’t think I will be going far in 2021. We were supposed to head back to Africa this year however that has been pushed to 2022. Fingers crossed that that goes ahead.
I do hope to “workcation” my way across Canada again this summer. My trip last fall was so much fun and with my day job largely shifting online, I’m hoping to make something work. Anything to make this year better than the last!
