If there is one thing that is equally beautiful and annoying during this pandemic it is gratitude. When bad shit happens, we’re often told to think about what we are grateful for. The last 2 years have been truly utter shit for everyone. Ok, maybe not Jeff Bezos, but for the average person things have sucked big time.

When we sugar coat things with what we are grateful for, I think it takes away from our need to actually feel the feelings we have. Ignoring your feelings or the feelings of others is not healthy—it’s toxic.

That’s why the name of this year’s new year’s reflection is Gratitude and Shit. Because while a lot of good things happened this year, there’s still a lot of shitty shit. Both can be true. And I believe it’s better we be real about it than not.

The Vaccine

The first good thing in 2021 that I am grateful for is the COVID-19 vaccine.

After getting my first Pfizer shot in March 2021

The vaccine allowed us to come together in ways that we couldn’t in 2020. I am especially grateful for this as there were at least 2 events this year that would have been significantly more difficult had they occurred pre-vaccine.

One of those events was the recent death of one of my graduate student assistants. He died due to medical circumstances unrelated to COVID-19, but it was sudden and devastating. I’d worked with him for 1.5 years remotely through the pandemic and then in person since March of this year. It was a really difficult time (and still is). It’s the reason why I did not write a full post on November 19. I wasn’t ready to say anything about it or really think deeply about much else.

He is probably the closest person to me to die since my grandparents when I was a kid. So I was incredibly grateful that the vaccine allowed us to put together a proper Celebration of Life event in his honor at the University. Over 100 people came together in person and over 125 people tuned in on Zoom for the event. His mom and sister and cousin were even able to travel to Miami for it.

Goofing around with my grad assistant (right) and our other student workers at the beach in June 2021

This would not have been possible in 2020.

This makes me even more grateful for the vaccine and scientists than I was previously. I mean, how fucking dope are medical scientists? Seriously, they are the closest thing we have to actual sorcery or god-like beings. Sure, the scientific method and peer-review process are flawed (take it from this former researcher). But still, it is the best damn truth-finding, life-protecting power we have on Earth. It is the literal reason we could celebrate my student’s life the way we did.

If only more people would respect science, understand it, and trust it…

And that’s what’s also shitty. Is that so many people are distrustful. We really need to work on that. The misuse of science and medicine with certain groups, cultures, and countries around the world has led us to this place. No one person is at fault—we all are. People in the past and present have led to low vaccine distribution and low vaccine acceptance. The longer COVID-19 gets to stick around, the more opportunities it has to replicate and mutate and that’s how we got Delta and it’s how we’re now dealing with Omicron.

Seeing Friends And Family

Enjoying a rooftop restaurant with friends in Miami in May 2021

I was so grateful to have friends visit me in Miami after we all received the vaccine back in the Spring. That weekend with Dasha and Helen really healed me from a year of isolation. I was also so grateful to have the opportunity to visit family back in New York four total times this year—once in the Spring, once in the Summer, once for Thanksgiving, and once again this December which still has not ended!

I flew on a plane this year to see everyone. But that experience did not come without its hardships. I got stuck in airports more than once and one time for over 15 hours. Plane travel simply is not what it was pre-pandemic.

While I don’t mind wearing a mask, it definitely is not a convenience. I also now experience great discomfort when people pull their mask down on their chins to sip a coffee and then don’t pull it back up again. I know it’s slightly irrational. I should be more forgiving. but I can’t help be concerned and a little scared.

That’s what this pandemic has done to so many of us, no? Is it a good thing to have a heightened level of caution? Maybe. It’s bad enough we have to worry about terrorists on planes and shooters in terminals. But now a potentially fatal virus that we can spread to our loved ones upon arrival to our destination? Humans were not meant to constantly release cortisol (the “stress hormone”) at such a constant rate. Our health as a whole suffers from that reality alone.

Work Flexibility

I am grateful that my place of work has been reasonable about me taking days to work from home. Even a scratchy throat is not to be taken lightly in this pandemic, am I right? Asymptomatic spread of this virus is real and means I have played the “better to be safe than sorry" card a few times.

Starting in the new year, I can look forward to my workplace’s new work from home policy. It means I can request 50/50 work from home. I just have to go through some hoops with HR if I want more. That’s not so bad!

Buying My Own Home

This year I became a homeowner. I bought the condo I was renting for the last two years from my landlord when he suddenly decided to put it on the market. With the way the market was exploding, he was wise to try to sell. I really did not want to move out. After moving 6 times in 6 years, I was really done with it and I liked where I was living.

It wasn’t what I expected to buy as my first place. It wasn’t the situation I expected to be in. It wasn’t a lot of things—which is shitty in its own way. At the same time, I like my place and I am very grateful to have saved enough over the last 6 years that I was in a good position to buy it. I am especially grateful to have done so when there are so many people struggling to buy right now in this crazy housing market.

I guess I was in the right place at the right time.

Now I’m excited to do some renovations to parts of the place that always bothered me as a tenant. It’s an investment to do them as an owner.

One thing new homeowners don’t talk about, however, is how insane the closing process is. It is STEEPED in privilege. There are so many barriers and bullshit along the way that even the most financially well-off, culturally privileged individual would give up on going through with it. I stuck it out because, again, right place right time.

The big sad of this investment is that 50% of the reason I bought it is for the balcony. My hammock contributed to much of my sanity during the pandemic. But right around the time that I signed, the HOA changed management and they came down hard on people breaking HOA “rules”—my hammock included. Trust that I’m fighting it. I expect to have my hammock back up and functioning in 2022. :)

My glorious balcony and hammock… decorated for Halloween!

Living In A Warm Climate

I really, really love living in a warm climate. Not only did it free me from feeling totally isolated when in quarantine during 2020, it also allows me to do some normal pre-pandemic activities with greater safety than if it was in the middle of a New York winter. For example, I can eat outdoors at a restaurant in comfort and relative safety all year. Even indoors is somewhat safer because of the crazy air conditioning and filtration system that every place has indoors in Florida.

I even went to an outdoor concert in September.

Not to mention I could explore local parks all year like Tree Tops, Myakka River, and Mead Botanical Garden, to name a few. I could go sunbathe on beaches and go swimming all year. I also indulged in favorite hobbies like kayaking, explored new hobbies like biking and paddleboarding, and learned how to dive with enriched air.

Simple moments of “normalcy’ like this, especially immersion in nature, have totally saved me and protected my mental health.

It just sucks that I have to be in a red state with backwards laws in order to have all of this. If I could swap out New York’s politics and also move my family down, I would never leave.

Viewing Art Indoors

Checking out art indoors was something I risked once even before the vaccines came out! I am grateful that many indoor attractions have implemented heightened safety precautions to allow this with lowered risk. Precautions like requiring masks, timed ticket entry, and social distancing have made art something I can still enjoy despite circumstances.

I am also grateful for artists who continue to create—especially the epic multimedia, immersive, light show-style art that seems to have exploded with popularity in the last year. This is the stuff that I love and I actually went to three different variations of this in 2021: Artechouse, Van Gogh, and Superblue. I hope to check out more in 2022.

I don’t have much to say that is shitty about this other than the fact that all my “influencer” photos are “totally ruined” by having to wear a mask. I hope you are noting the sarcasm here…

Long Weekend Getaway Trips

Domestic Destinations in 2021: Gulf Coast, FL; Orlando, FL; Denver CO; Hunter, NY

Although long-term travel and international travel still seem to be a thing of the distant future, I am very grateful for the long weekend trips I’ve been fortunate to take.

Earlier this year, before I had my first Pfizer shot, I took a long weekend trip to the Gulf Coast. The main goal was to snorkel with the manatees at Crystal River but I ended up exploring so much more. This was such an amazing trip and, again, emphasized how beneficial it is to live in a tropical climate.

I also visited Orlando for a weekend trip with my friend Kim. She Airbnbs a room at her home there and she let me stay for free. I got to buy some long missed favorite foods from a Korean grocery store up there and kayak the lakes that scatter around this otherwise land-locked city.

I even flew to Denver just before Omicron picked up to visit Dasha and hike the Rockies for the first time.

I did also get to visit New York for Dasha’s brother’s wedding back in August. I turned this into a longer visit to see my parents but the wedding was over a weekend in the mountains. So while there, I took advantage of the New York summer weather and hiked Hunter Mountain.

What sucks is that I was really hoping to start doing some other types of travel at the end of this year. Omicron really messed all of that up. I am grateful that I made it to New York safely and before we learned just how bad things were. But I ended up having to cancel 3 separate trips over the next month.

I was going to visit friends and old favorite spots in New York City just before heading back to Florida. Ohhh, NYC! The original epicenter of the pandemic! It’s been over 2 years since I’ve spent any time there. I had 2 full days planned before I was going to fly back home. I was going to see friends and maybe even a Broadway show!

Then I was planning to take my first international trip in 2 years. I was going to go to Cozumel, Mexico to dive, snorkel, and road trip the small island. I’ve never been to Mexico. I was really looking forward to having 5 whole days there to explore.

Finally, I had a work trip planned to return to New Orleans for a third time (I went in 2016 and again in 2018). I was going to be there with 11 students, showing them all the sites, food, and fun in between attending a conference together. As one of my favorite US cities, I was really excited to return. Alas, I had to cancel that trip, too. And then the conference organized announced the conference would be virtual anyway.

Flight Reimbursements

In the end, I am grateful that we’ve all been through this before. So cancelling all of my upcoming flights has been a breeze. I cancelled my JFK departure so as to avoid such a large and busy airport when I return to Miami.

I texted with a Delta agent and they reimbursed my 13,000 points and $5.60 in taxes after I mentioned Omicron as the reason.

I called American Airlines and they also reimbursed my 20,000 miles and $98 in taxes and fees for the roundtrip to Mexico.

Cancelling the group trip to New Orleans was more complicated but ultimately, they did it and my available budget at work just went back up for the Spring semester.

All in all, the flexibility of flight refunds has lingered through this pandemic. I see many airlines have more flexible date change policies with no fees and other useful options. It’s good to see this. I hope it continues even as things become a bit safer.

Happy (Less Shitty) New Year?

2021 sucked once again. And 2022 will probably suck, too. While there’s much to be grateful for, we are still in a global pandemic. The vaccine does not protect us 100%. And “normal” does not appear to be in the near future for anyone, let alone travelers.

I don’t know how long I can keep up the every-other-week blog posting, as I have so miraculously these last few years. It got hard toward the end of this year, especially with the death of my student. But if I can keep writing about my little trips and resurrecting travels experiences from the past, I think I can keep going. Things really just need to calm down. I can’t wait for the day I can travel overseas safely again…

Here’s to hoping 2022 is less shitty for travelers and everyone across the world!

❤️ Rikka

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