It’s amazing to think back to this time last year, in 2020, when we had no idea we were staring down what would be an unprecedented year. It’s easy to get caught up in all of the negatives of 2020. But in taking a look back, we can’t help but be thankful that we emerged happy and healthy.
We remember posting back in January 2020 about setting a goal to write more posts here. How naive that seems today! If only we knew then what would transpire with the Covid pandemic. We also remember, as we were compiling our previous year in review video for 2019, how much we were looking forward to continuing our travels across Europe. In the end, we think we ended up canceling more travel plans than we kept. 2020 did indeed end up being an unprecedented year. But while it’s important to acknowledge the significant challenges we faced, it’s equally important to recognize our blessings.
Health & Family
First and foremost, we all still have our health. We can attribute this in part to our fortune of being in Germany and the EU which took early, decisive action to halt the initial spread of the virus. Second, we had amazing support from our families. Not only for helping us care for Orion while the world was locked down, but also for their immediate understanding when we were forced to cancel travel and meeting plans multiple times.
Speaking of our son, Orion, it was amazing to look back on how much he grew over the last year! In January he was still working on holding his head up and learning how to roll over. By December, he was tearing around the house on two legs and starting to put words together. We’ll never get tired of watching him grow up in front of our eyes.
Travel
Finally, even though we weren’t able to do as much traveling as we planned, we were still able to embark on a more local summer holiday and a series of shorter trips. We highlighted most of those in the video above. Here’s a selection of our favorites:
Enjoying the sights on Metz, France Picking fresh strawberries in the summer One of many gorgeous hiking areas in Germany The magnificent Burg Eltz The canals of Strasbourg, France Lausanne, Switzerland on Lake Geneva Rothenburg ob der Tauber at night The Porta Nigra in Trier, Germany Our 2020 family photo
Like the rest of you, we remain anxious about what 2021 will bring. But we’re hopeful that the increasing velocity of the worldwide vaccine campaigns is indeed the light at the end of this long tunnel. We can’t wait to be able to see our friends and families back in the States again.
We’re not sure if things will truly ever go back to “normal”, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s hard to argue that being more cognizant of the health and safety of others is a bad thing! So here’s to a better 2021. May it bring us all health, happiness, and a renewed ability to continue seeking opportunity. Cheers!
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash