2020 Overview

2020 was not the year any of us expected it to be. Coming into it, I had a lot of plans to make this the best year possible. I was planning to visit 6-8 different countries in 4 continents. Originally, I planned to visit India with a friend in May and Zambia with Medical Missions Outreach in September. When I realized I couldn’t get the time off for India, my plans shifted to include returning to Israel with stops in Turkey and Jordan as well. None of that actually happened, and 2020 became almost a curse word throughout much of the world. Normally if I had heard about murder hornets, mystery seeds from China, Pentagon-released UFO videos, strange appearing and disappearing monoliths, a toilet paper outage, or a new “country” called CHAZ, I would have thought it was all fiction, but those aren’t even the most memorable parts of this crazy year… Below I’ll try to summarize everything that happened as best as I can from my perspective:

January started out with rumors of a possible World War III as tensions rose between the US and Iran after several attacks on US military bases in Iraq. That soon ended, and then our focus shifted to natural disasters as wildfires and tornadoes left many parts of the world in ruin, including areas of my hometown. Once that came to an end, all seemed well until this virus we heard about that came from bats and was spreading around China started making its way across the Pacific to reach the United States.

With rumors of a potential outbreak happening in the country, I decided I needed to go somewhere before it was too late. I messaged my friend Nate about going to San Diego and Tijuana, with the goal of reaching my 4th and final corner of the country, something I had been working on since 2010. We flew out to San Diego, and I almost didn’t make it due to flight delays and curfew which resulted in a riot occurring on the plane. I did make it though, and the next morning, the plan was to visit the Friendship Park in San Ysidro, located right on the border with Tijuana at the southwestern-most point of the continental US. But when we got there we found out the park was closed due to health risks from a sewage leak in Tijuana. This was the first of many changed plans in 2020, and it should have been a sign of things to come. We hitched a ride with our Uber driver into Tijuana because he lived there and knew the area well. He took us to the Mexican side of that park, and I was able to stick my foot through the border wall at the westernmost point to claim my final corner of the country, though I had to go to Mexico to do it.

We then explored the three main neighborhoods of Tijuana for the rest of the day before walking back across the border to San Diego. And the next day was spent exploring San Diego, specifically the La Jolla area, before flying back to Pensacola, with many flight delays along the way. One of my Uber drivers in San Diego was a man from Isfahan, Iran. We were able to talk about our countries’ differences and about how we would like for them to get along better. I was able to share with him my interest in visiting Iran someday, and specifically his hometown of Isfahan, while he told me about how he loves America. In a world that seems more divided than ever, it was nice being able to find someone like him that wants to see change for the better. Shortly after returning from that trip, I started to feel sick, and because of the rumors about this disease spreading into California, I took a couple days off work to be sure I wasn’t spreading anything. Soon after that in March, the World Health Organization officially labeled Covid-19 a global pandemic, and the entire world reacted to it. It started spreading across Europe and the Middle East, and borders were closing one after another. When Israel officially shut their borders to all foreigners, I knew my Israel plans had to be canceled. Then soon after that, I was notified that my Zambia trip was being postponed over a year later. Then Trump shut down our borders in an attempt to keep Covid-19 from coming to the United States. It didn’t help though as soon the US became the global hot spot for this coronavirus.

Since international travel and even statewide travel was restricted, we were stuck exploring our own regions of the country. I did a lot of hiking in northwest Florida and lower Alabama as even beaches were closed down. There were even checkpoints set up between Florida and Alabama that we were stopped at every time we passed through. We were told that this shutdown would only last a couple weeks as a way to flatten the curve of coronavirus. Classes moved online, sports were canceled, social distancing was enforced, and human interaction became limited. The world had changed, and it looked like travel would be different forever. We really didn’t know anything about this virus. Many experts believed that heat would kill it, so we were sure that the Florida summer would stop it. We had hoped that by the end of summer, this would all be over, so my family booked a cruise to the Bahamas in August to replace our canceled trips. We soon got word that our cruise was canceled, so we booked another one, only for that one to be canceled a few weeks later. Then we hoped things could only go up from there… But things changed again on Memorial Day when Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, shortly after other similar incidents involving systemic racism across the country.

Protests broke out all over the country and even in many other countries calling for racial equality, an end to police brutality, and justice for George Floyd and many others. It was clear that several issues surrounding systemic racism needed to be addressed, and I even attended a protest in Pensacola to show my support. But soon these protests turned into violent riots which destroyed much of Minneapolis and large sections of other cities including Seattle, Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles. While for a moment, the entire world was united for one cause, that quickly changed when Americans started tearing apart their own communities and trying to justify it by saying it’s deserved. This only divided Americans further rather than bringing unity. And just when Covid cases were starting to decline across the country, these riots brought many people together in large groups, allowing the number of cases to start rising again. When I saw that another shutdown was likely about to start, I texted my friend Joseph and asked if he’d be interested in going somewhere over the weekend.

Because of the violence consuming many larger cities and Covid restrictions taking over others, my choices were limited, but I eventually decided to visit St Augustine, the oldest continually inhabited city in the country. We got there just as mask mandates were starting across the state of Florida and were able to visit most of the city right before it was shut down again. The highlight for me was getting to drive my truck along St Augustine Beach. We also visited the Fountain of Youth along with the nearby site of Fort Mose, the original “underground railroad” where escaped slaves would be given freedom if they could reach it. St Augustine was the site of some of the most influential, yet peaceful, civil rights protests in American history, so it was a fitting place to visit during this time.

I returned home to see tighter restrictions than when I had left in Pensacola. Fourth of July fireworks had been canceled, and then political discussions were starting because of the upcoming presidential elections. Soon it was clear that while the virus was very real and dangerous, the numbers for the United States had been exaggerated, and at this point, Covid became viewed as a political tool rather than a dangerous pandemic. Both political parties were using it to their advantage, and Americans in general were getting tired of it all. As travel started back up again around the country, I decided that I would take this opportunity to go somewhere I had been wanting to visit for a long time. I booked flights to Las Vegas and planned a Mighty 5 Roadtrip across the state of Utah. This was something I had wanted to do for years, but I never had the time since my focus had been on international travel for so long. For those wondering, I took Covid very seriously while traveling and followed the CDC’s guidelines in order to keep myself and those around me safe. While I did believe it was mostly being used for politics at this point, I understood that it was still a very real disease affecting many around the world, and I wouldn’t want to be spreading it to anyone. Travel is still possible and can be done safely, but it does require that you are extra careful and do your part to prevent future spread of the virus.

Soon I was driving through the desert in literally the middle of nowhere across Utah to my first stop at Moab. I started with Arches National Park and then visited Canyonlands. From there, I drove to Torrey to visit Capitol Reef before driving to Bryce to visit Bryce Canyon. I actually woke up in the middle of the night near Bryce due to an earthquake, but luckily it wasn’t too serious. My last stop was in the town of Springdale at Zion National Park, the last of the Mighty 5. Here, I hiked the Narrows, a long hike in the Virgin River through a narrow gorge in the Zion Canyon. I hiked about 6 miles in before falling and cutting up my leg. To make things worse, the Virgin River was infected with toxic algae at the time, and I would have to walk 6 miles back to reach the entrance through this toxic-algae water. (I knew the risk and decided not to take things a little more seriously, so it was my fault). After arriving back at my hotel, I tried bandaging my leg, but an infection started growing and the pain intensified. I wouldn’t let that stop me though, as I had a day in Las Vegas planned before flying back home.

I spent the last day walking the entire Vegas Strip, visiting most of the major casinos along it. I got to visit some places I missed back in 2014 on my last visit and got to revisit some places I had wanted to return to. While the city was open for tourism, Covid restrictions were enforced to ensure that everyone was safe. The Venetian and Caesars Palace are definitely my favorites, but they’re all really cool to see. I then made it down to Fremont Street before realizing I couldn’t walk much farther due to the extreme pain in my leg.

I finally got some antibacterial ointment to properly take care of it and flew back home the next morning, reaching my 80th flight and enough miles flown overall to circle the globe 4 times. I felt crippled for a couple weeks before my leg finally healed. After an earthquake hit Northwest Florida, we knew that 2020 could only get weirder. And the only fitting way for hurricane season to end in 2020 was for a hurricane to make its way to Pensacola. Hurricane Sally formed in the Gulf and was heading for New Orleans, but when it slowed down, we watched as the hurricane models started shifting our way. This was the most unpredictable storm I’ve ever witnessed, and we still didn’t know when or where it would hit even as it was already hitting us. Sally started gaining strength and moving east until it finally hit on the Alabama/Florida line on the exact same date as Hurricane Ivan in 2004. It was catastrophic for some areas, but luckily everyone in my family was fine.

Line crews were able to get everyone’s power back on in a decent time, but the biggest impact to Pensacola was the fact that the bridge leading to Gulf Breeze broke due to unsecured Skanska barges left out during the storm. Traffic would be awful in Pensacola for the rest of the year because of this mistake. It got to where it took me over an hour to get home after work each day. We soon realized that it wasn’t actually the end of hurricane season, and 2020 ended up seeing more named storms than any other year in history. As if 2020 couldn’t get any crazier, the presidential election was coming up, and it seemed as if our two nominees were the two least professional candidates we could’ve had. During the first presidential debate in late September, rather than answering the questions asked, both candidates decided instead to attack the other and interrupt as much as possible.

I was tired of hearing all the political discussions and decided to vote early so I didn’t have to pay attention to it anymore. And then I started looking forward to my upcoming trip to Tennessee to see fall colors for the first time. Except 2020 hit again, and another hurricane was scheduled to hit right as I was planning to leave for Tennessee. I got off work early due to Hurricane Zeta and drove up during the outer bands of the storm but made it safely. The fall colors in Dayton were beautiful, so I was glad I came up.

From Dayton I went to Chattanooga and was planning to spend a couple days there. After visiting Lookout Mountain, I really felt that I had seen everything I wanted to and considered leaving early. The next morning (Halloween) I experienced my scariest travel moment ever, which confirmed in my mind that I needed to get out of Chattanooga. I have been blessed over the years to never have had anything bad happen to me while traveling, and I’m so thankful for God’s protection. This moment could have easily gone wrong if I hadn’t reacted the way I did, but I learned a lesson that I’ll take with me on future trips. Before starting the drive home, I had to see Ruby Falls, the tallest and deepest underground waterfall in the US. It was a great experience, but I was so ready to get home after everything that happened.

Election day came, and businesses around the country started boarding up their windows in preparation for potential riots due to the election results. Votes started coming in but then suddenly stopped. Multiple states just stopped counting altogether, leaving the entire country embarrassed on a global scale while waiting for an answer. Who would become the next president of the United States? Over the next few days and even weeks, the signs of fraud became more and more obvious, leaving many to doubt the validity of the US election system. Joe Biden was declared the winner, making Kamala Harris the first declared female vice president in American history. Biden’s supporters preached tolerance but then physically attacked those that supported Trump in his attempts at getting a fair vote count in states that completely ignored regulations. Unfortunately, it seemed that the division in the US could never be resolved because those that preach acceptance the most are the most unaccepting and violent toward others. I hate how badly politics has divided America- Trump supporters vs Biden supporters, Black lives vs Blue lives, anti-masks vs pro-masks, anti-vaxxers vs pro-vaxxers. We were all forced to choose one side or the other whether we agreed with everything on that side or not. I’ve seen the ugly side of both political parties this year and wish that we could at least try to get along. God loves everyone and commanded that we show love to each other whether we agree with them or not. We should show love and kindness to both sides of these disputes equally, but unfortunately many across the country can’t seem to understand this.

December finally came, and we all wondered what the “Grand Finale” of 2020 would be like. This year was crazy! I started writing this 2020 overview back in February when I started this blog, and I had no idea how much I would have to write about. It started to sound more and more ridiculous as we got farther into the year, and I finally had to scrap what I had written and start over because it all just sounded crazy. Looking back on the year, I can only laugh at what many of the major headlines were. But while this year seems to be unforgettable and full of meme potential, it was also a heartbreaking year full of loss for many around the world. I think of all those that lost loved ones to Covid-19, those who lost their life savings after being let go from their jobs due to the quarantine, and those that suffered extreme loss from the many natural disasters and even a random explosion (Beirut) that took place around the world. I lost a roommate and friend this year which really put life into perspective for me. He was four years younger than me, had just gotten married, and had plans for his future. If there’s anything this year has shown us, it’s that we can never predict what’s coming. If you had told me this time last year that people would be travel-shamed for wanting to visit their family on Christmas because of a global pandemic, I would’ve thought you had lost your mind. Life is very unpredictable, and it has led many around the world to be fearful of what’s next. That’s why I’m glad I know the One Who is in control of tomorrow. He knows what’s coming and cares for me on a personal level. God already knew what 2020 looked like when we were celebrating the new year back in January, and He has already seen 2021 as well. I have seen His protection in my life throughout this year, and I am so thankful to Him for that. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is the only thing that can give you peace in these uncertain times.

I’m excited that 2020 is officially coming to an end, and I’m ready for a new year where we can have a fresh start. I’m hoping that my travel plans for the year will work out, but I’ve also learned I need to be a bit more flexible because borders can open or close at any time without warning. Though travel was more difficult this year, I was able to visit all 4 time zones in the continental US, complete a decade-long goal, visit both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and reach my 80th flight all in the same year, so I was able to accomplish more than I thought I could, given the circumstances. I’ll be interested to read the history books 20 years from now to see how 2020 is described, but I hope that we’ll all eventually look back and see how much we’ve grown from it. Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year!