2020 was a year that felt like a decade, yet was over in the blink of an eye. While I’m grateful that I’ve stayed healthy throughout the past year, as I write this I haven’t been farther than an hour and a half from our home in Seattle for more than twelve months. That picture above taken from the Salesforce Tower is from a work trip last February! I did not end up visiting any family last year, so once I’ve been vaccinated a visit to Pennsylvania will be one of my first post-vaccinated travels.
That being said, I have much to be thankful for. I excelled as a new lead developer on my team even with us living in a pandemic for most of the year. We launched a new product in nine months! It certainly wasn’t easy, but I’m so proud of the team I work on and can’t wait to watch our success continue. I’ll have more professional growth and learning this year as well, as my role at work is changing again.
Outside of work, I biked a lot more in 2020 and kept up my running routine throughout the pandemic. I also enjoyed virtual boxing/HIIT classes through my boxing gym, but I was not able to achieve my goal of taking swimming lessons and completing a triathlon. While I’d say I would love for this to be a goal for this year, realistically I’m excited to just get back into staggered-start trail racing — running with friends and others again would be ideal. There’s my main fitness goal for 2021: social running. Seattle will soon have a few new ice rinks thanks to our new hockey team, so perhaps I’ll even consider skating lessons!
Right before the coronavirus shut down travel and businesses nation-wide, I did manage to take a quick weekend trip to Colorado to celebrate my best friend’s birthday and visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We stayed in Colorado Springs for the second year in a row, so I also got to experience the Garden of the Gods again. It was a fantastic weekend that would unknowingly become the last time I traveled by plane last year.
And while Colorado may have marked the last of my air travel, Tym and I spent a week away at a cabin in the woods of Washington in late August when the coronavirus numbers were relatively stable. It was great to get away from Seattle for an extended period of time.
Where might we go in 2021? Besides trips to visit family and short road trips near Seattle, Tym and I would like to focus on traveling somewhere warm — possibly California. It still feels too early to plan anything concrete, so we don’t have anything lined up quite yet.
With vaccinations right around the corner, I’m feeling quite a bit more hopeful for a more social and adventurous year. Stay healthy, everyone!
— Robert