I’ve seen lots of COVID-19-inspired reflection posts about 2020 – challenges we faced, things we learned, how we persevered, what we’ll carry with us moving forward, etc. This is not that kind of post.
This is a post I write every single year looking back on our adventures. It’s a simple and happy post. It’s a monthly snapshot (literally) that reminds me – no matter where things stand in my life as the new year approaches – of all the new experiences I had and all of the amazing places I discovered throughout the year. This is, after all, a travel blog!
This year we had several firsts: first time snow-shoeing, first time kayaking at night (bioilluminescence), first time soaking in a hot spring. And, yes: first time trying to safely travel during a global pandemic.
Miraculously, we had front-loaded many of our trips this year – including meeting two of my girlfriends in the Florida Keys for a girls’ weekend away and traveling internationally to meet my parents in Iceland.
Fortunately, we were able to swap out most of the other trips we had planned throughout the year for road trips to more national parks and outdoor destinations than we have ever attempted in one year.
Thankfully, we were able to do all of this as safely as possible to protect ourselves and others – mitigating risks while continuing to live life.
I’m looking forward to continuing to creatively and safely travel in 2021 – more road trips, more national parks, and more time outdoors. And, fingers crossed that sometime soon we can again safely share those adventures with our family and friends.
Wishing you a happy and healthy 2021 full of fun and safe adventures!
-Heather
January: Vancouver, British Columbia
February: Big Sur, Pinnacles National Park, and Channel Islands National Park, California & The Keys, Florida
March: Iceland
April: COVID-19 Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Lynnwood, Washington
May: Columbia River Gorge, Oregon & Washington
June: Missoula and Bozeman, Montana & Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
July: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, Craters of the Moon, Idaho, & Joseph, Oregon
August: San Juan Islands, Washington
September: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
October: Eatonville, Washington
November: Quincy, Washington
December: Spanaway, Washington
Heather's Compass 
I am curious about your travel plans for 2021. We were able to get several trips in this year and had several cancelled. I can’t decide if its worth it to make reservations for later this year or to just wing it. I think domestic road travel, especially National Parks, is going to be much busier and generally speaking we dont like to be where the crowd is. We homeschool so we have more flexibility which is nice. I suggested to my husband that maybe this year we make a list of small National forest campgrounds and try to hit lots of those this year.
Also, welcome to the South Puget Sound. We live on the Key Peninsula (about an hour from Spanaway), so see where you travel from this area and what you find to explore here will be especially interesting!
Happy New Year, Carrie! We’re loving the South Sound and access to Mt. Rainier! Our travel plans for 2021 are all over the place. We have two trips booked to National Parks in the early part of the year – taking our chances on the flights but staying/eating in at contactless AirBnBs and the rest of our time out hiking so hoping to minimize risks in that way. We both work from home so it’s easier to quarantine after returning. We don’t like crowds in the best of times either and have found doing the parks in the offseason is not only beneficial from a crowds/cost standpoint but gives us a different perspective/appreciation of the parks, esp. those we’ve seen in the snow. We have one flight booked in the fall to San Diego, which has long been on our list but it’s tentative/we’ll see how things go. We have motorcycles and are playing the rest by ear – looking into road trips where we will camp or do contactless AirBnBs and prioritize seeing things from the road and/or finding lesser known outdoor spots to explore. It’s awesome you homeschool and have the associated flexibility. I like your idea about the National Forests, and we’ve had luck with National Monuments too – amazing but often less busy/not on the radar of people who are just interested in checking ‘National Parks’ off their lists. Lots of planning underway, and I’ll share what we come up with – welcome your ideas at any time too!