It’s been about a year and a half since I’ve made my last post and honestly, I blame my periodic laziness. I became unmotivated to write consistently mostly because of work and further demotivation became compounded by the stresses of an upcoming lockdown. I also felt it would be a little insensitive to begin writing about my most recent travels when most people were aggravated in cancelling their travel plans. I suppose it was just lucky timing.
Most people had their eyes locked on #2020vision but no one saw how restrictive the pandemic was going to be. I definitely didn’t. I’ve heard anecdotally how stay-at-home measures were just reinforcing the typical introvert’s livelihood but making your average extrovert a little stir-crazy. Apart from working remotely from home, which I’ve been doing for some time before the pandemic began, like everyone else, I needed to figure out how to create new experiences confined in the walls of my home. I needed ways to deal with my day-to-day stresses, ways to escape from a disheartening reality, and ways to feel a sense of togetherness when seeing others was either limited or prohibited. As someone who likes to face change and adaptation head-on, finding ways to keep myself occupied at home wasn’t all that too hard. I finally found the time and motivation to write and share some monthly highlights of what I’ve been up to in 2020.
Here we go!
January 2020 – Asia Trip
Although a national lockdown wasn’t officially announced in Canada until around end of February/early March, I wanted to share the beginning part of my 2020 as I failed to continue the series of my Asia Trip blog posts. I’ll leave you to my Instagram to see more of the trip and maybe in the future I’ll write more about these fond memories. To put it simply, Thailand and Vietnam were absolutely wonderful.
February 2020 – Biking around Stanley Park before lockdown
March 2020 to May 2020 – Lockdown and stay-at-home order meant escaping into the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons!
And you best bet I was keeping up with Rupaul’s Drag Race Season 12 and Rupaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2.
June 2020 – Small 28th birthday gathering with some cool friends
July 2020 – Saw my lovely relatives and walked White Rock Pier!
I did walk the pier but you know, some things are more interesting from underneath. :eyes:
August 2020 – Hiked the Dog Mountain Trail
September 2020 – BC / Alberta Road Trip!
I planned a road trip in between jobs before I left to move back to Toronto. I’m glad I had the opportunity to visit Kamloops, Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Revelstoke, Jasper, and Banff – just to list all the places I could remember. It was a great first round-trip from Vancouver and hopefully not the last!
October 2020 – Officially back in lockdown Toronto with a spike in gaming hours
Pokemon Sword and Shield and League of Legends: Team Fight Tactics is where it’s really at.
November 2020 – Rocking the lockdown hair
Which by unpopular opinion, I started taking a liking to.
December 2020 – A very very virtual holiday
In hindsight, 2020 was one heck of a memorable year despite global conditions. Quickly changing my living and working environments is a huge understatement to what impact the pandemic has had on my relationships, family and friends but overall, I’m doing alright. Sharing these memories means maybe I finally found the heart to count my blessings and write about them here. I hope it sparks a little bit of reflecting for you too!
Artemio Rimando 