What Travel in 2020 Taught Me
For the last few years, I’ve kept a list on my phone of all the states and countries I went to during that year, as a nice reminder of all the new places I’ve gone. I was looking at my 2020 list, and while it is far from what I’d imagined at the beginning of the year, I realized that I still learned a lot about both the places around me and travel in general. These are the travel learnings I’m taking into the new year and moving forward.
A Look Back At 2020
As you have probably heard many times, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Our lives were turned upside down by the coronavirus, spending most of this year locked in our homes and away from family and friends. Travel especially was hit hard this year, and many dream vacations and trips to see loved ones were canceled with no firm rebooking timelines. However, like many people, we made lemonade out of the many lemons 2020 threw at us. Although I didn’t get my dream European cruise vacation, I was still able to make the most of my time off, traveling locally and planning trips I would have never even thought of if it wasn’t for COVID.
Our 10-Day Iceland and Ring Road Itinerary
My first road trip as an adult was actually in Iceland, and nothing can quite compare to that adventure! In March 2018, a small group of us decided to meet up in Reykjavik to tackle Ring Road (Route 1) in a camper van. With a lot of planning (and a lot of last-minute plan changes), we were able to see a ton of the country in just 10 days.
That Time When… I Saw My First Snow Fall
It was Christmas during my junior year of high school, and I had been invited to a softball camp at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Unfortunately, three days before we were supposed to leave, the camp was canceled because of weather. With all our hotels booked, and my parents already taking off work, we decided to turn it into a vacation to the Smokey Mountains.
That Time When… Our Train to Glasgow Didn’t Exist
Imagine us on Boxing Day, arriving at Waverly train station in Edinburgh to find that the train station was actually closed. We had booked our train tickets to Glasgow via Rail Europe in September, and they had provided instructions to print our train tickets at the station, so we only had the confirmation email to go off of. Queue Tyler and I frantically trying to make calls and use the nearby mall’s WiFi to figure out what had happened.
Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Travelers
Are you still looking for the perfect gift for the traveler in your life? Or maybe you just want to treat yourself this holiday season? We have rounded up the best (and some of our most favorite) gifts for those who love to travel.
Road Trip Recap: Asheville and Blue Ridge
While 2020 may have cancelled or postponed many of our travel plans, we weren’t about to let it ruin our last chance to get away, just the two of us. We figured out over the summer how to take a road trip while pregnant, so once again, we decided to hit the road with our two dogs in tow. Our first stop? Asheville, North Carolina, by way of Atlanta, Georgia.
New York City at Christmas
I may be biased, but I think I had the best first trip to New York City, hands down. During my senior year of college, my two best friends and I took a 4-day trip to the Big Apple right after finals week and a few weeks before Christmas. Five years later, I have been back to NYC a handful of times, but nothing beats the city at Christmas time while enjoying a whole bunch of firsts with your college besties.
Winter Must-Do: Visit Ice Castles
When Liz coordinated our visit to Copper Mountain for snow tubing, she also suggested we look at Ice Castles. The award-winning ice attraction has four locations in North America, one of which is in Dillon, Colorado; the other Ice Castles can be found in Lincoln, New Hampshire; Midway, Utah, at the Homestead Resort; and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, at the Geneva National Resort & Club. A quick look at the images tagged with #IceCastles was enough to sell me on a visit.
It’s Snowing in Florida!
Attention: Florida is having snow! Real snow! Snowcat Ridge is Florida’s own recently opened winter wonderland; it's located in Dade City, about an hour outside of the Tampa city center.