Today marks one year since I lasted posted in this space. It has been, by all accounts, the longest standing effort I have made. As evidenced by the last year of silence, it certainly isn’t the most active.

2020 has been the year travel all but died. International travel was essentially nixed by February, and as COVID-19 raged on, even domestic travel was beginning to look less and less possible. The pandemic took a lot from us all, and for far too many, it has taken their life.

Despite the many shortcomings of this year, there have been a few bright spots here and there. Since one of the major highlights occurred this week, it only felt fitting to come back to this space and bring it back to life.

Earlier this week a second vaccine candidate was announced with an effective rate of ~95% with a (thus far) good safety profile. Even though it may be a month or two before broad distribution to the public, this is a massive sigh of relief as winter is coming.

More to come in the days and weeks that follow, but I just wanted to take the time to give this place a jumpstart. It won’t be long and it’ll be back out. (Also, I need to write about my month in Southeast Asia in December, 2019!)