Acadia National Park

Much like the rest of the country, I’ve spent an overwhelming majority of 2020 in quarantine. This May, Owie and I had planned to travel to Peru, and hike our way from Cusco to Machu Picchu…but Peru has had a year of its own, on top of Covid. In December, it was planned to go to Chile, and hike in the mountains during the total solar eclipse.

After having backpacked in Europe in 2017, 2018, and twice in 2019…I’ve come to realize that being somewhere I don’t fully understand, with people I don’t fully know, is part of living. And when the world is paused in a viral pandemic (or global democrat conspiracy, depending on how many tin foil hats you wear), hostel hopping and bussing around city-to-city in another country is just plain empty-headed.

I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. You were probably thinking the same thing. Thankfully, I was fortunate to come up with a safe-as-possible travel plan, albeit in the States. We would travel in a small quarantined group to Acadia National Park, and stay in a spread out Airbnb in Portland, ME the rest of the time. Flights modifications turned that into a road trip for part of the group, who also ended up seeing parts of Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, and Provincetown!

It felt good to remember what it was like to be somewhere new. It will feel better when we can share drinks with friends, and hang out with strangers in hostels. But, we’ll be back at it again soon enough. Until then, onward to Acadia!