What a year it’s been on so many levels. Most of us are breathing a sigh of relief that it’s ending and with vaccines now being distributed, hope of a better 2021 is palpable. 2020 was a year that saw us spend a total of four weeks in quarantine, something I hope to never repeat.
From a travel stand point, it’s been a disaster of a year (more on that later). On a personal level, things took a turn this year that I would’ve never guessed this time last year. On what felt like a whim, Leigh and I uprooted our lives and moved to Maui, and for the most part, it’s been a great decision. As COVID rates have gotten exponentially worse on the mainland – particularly our previous home of California – we feel fortunate to be in our bubble here, where numbers are generally low, the weather is great, and there’s no shortage of outdoor activities to do.
I know it’s been a couple of months since my last post, and it’s not because I haven’t been thinking about travel, but rather because life just got crazy. Between starting a new project with my day job and us buying a condo here (surprise!), we’ve been pretty strapped for time. As any local will tell you, by the time 9pm (or as we say, Maui midnight) rolls around, I’m ready for bed. This blog – which has truly been a passion project – has just fallen by the wayside since frankly, travel is mostly speculative at this point. I’m hopeful for travel in 2021, but again, more on that in a bit.
Some fun things have happened since moving here five months ago (wow!): I’ve managed to get to decent surfer status, become a full-blown a cycling addict, and joined the Maui adult baseball league.
It’s not all a fairytale; among other things, being this far from our families during such an anxious time has also been tough, though I’m thankful we went home to visit them for the first time in a year in October. With both of us having high-risk family members, there’s a constant anxiety in the back of our minds that I can’t wait to subside once they’re vaccinated. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the gratitude and amazement at all of the healthcare and frontline workers who’ve sacrificed so much throughout all of this. You all are rockstars. Period.
Finally, the pandemic and moving to Maui has done something for me that was probably much needed. It recalibrated my life to focus on the here and now. While it’s fun to constantly be looking at the next trip or event, it caused me to miss out on some of what’s happening right in front of me. Although I miss having that “thing to look forward to” feeling, living in the moment has been so utterly fulfilling. Thank you for that, 2020.
2020 travel highlights
Now since this is a travel blog after all, I wanted to do a quick review of an abbreviated travel year. Frankly, this was going to be a banner year for us in terms of travel: we cancelled trips to Paris, Japan, Kauai that were schedule between May-October. We’ll try to make some of those up next year, but for the time being, we’re counting our blessings: we’re both still employed, our families are healthy, and we’re in a much better living situation than we could be in San Francisco right now.
My travel stats this year were minuscule compared to other years. 50k butt in seat miles and about 50 hotel nights is the lowest since I started traveling regularly in 2012.
So, without further ado, here’s a look back:
Destinations
South Africa – This was without a doubt our monumental trip of 2020, for multiple reasons. First of all, we left March 3rd, right as the coronavirus was starting to spread globally. We toyed with not going, but decided this was a once in a lifetime kind of trip, so let’s do it, and are we ever glad we did. As I said in March, it was surreal being abroad (and frankly so far away from home) watching the dominos fall around the globe.
As for the trip itself, we’d always wanted to go to South Africa, specifically the Cape Town region. We skipped Johannesburg this trip and we didn’t feel like we had to do a safari this trip since we’d done one on our honeymoon in September of 2018. We ending up spending 4 days in the wine region and five nights in Cape Town itself. This is truly one of the most stunningly beautiful regions of the world with food and culture to match. The drive around the Cape of Good Hope is simply breathtaking.
Mauritius – This was the second half of our African adventure. We stayed five nights on points (with the fifth night free) at the St Regis Mauritius. The country is painfully beautiful and the property is destination worthy itself.
Charleston – We started the year meeting close friends in Charleston in January. It was a blast! We ate and drank way too damn much, plus we got to go to the Low Country Oyster Festival, something Leigh and I hadn’t done since our first year of dating. As a bonus, we drove down to Savannah to visit Leigh’s family.
Clear Lake, CA – By summer, we were all feeling cabin fever, especially those of us in big cities on lockdown. We managed to get away over the July 4th weekend to a much lesser known lake in NorCal and it didn’t disappoint. We had a stunning cabin through Airbnb, rented a boat for a day, and there’s a wine region with more than 20 wineries that holds its own against other, more well-known California regions (and tastings are $10).
Moloka’i, HI – We actually just got back yesterday and whoa. Moloka’i is like stepping back in time. There are no fancy hotels, although the Hotel Molokai is lovely, no fancy restaurants, and barely any cell service. All of this in the same county that Leigh and I call home! Moloka’i has a large reef system surrounding it, much like the Caribbean, so the diving is great. Despite what you’ve heard, everyone we encountered was friendly and happy to see us. As they say: Moloka’i Mo Bettah
Airlines
Turkish Airlines – We flew Turkish for the first time (four total) during our trip to Africa; each experience was excellent. What they lack in their hard product with a dated seat, they more than make up for with their service and food (there’s an onboard chef). We flew both their flagship 777-300ER as well as the A330, the former being a much better plane all around.
Their business class lounge in Istanbul is – or was – an incredible experience. I say was because our outbound flight was an entirely different experience than the return. Food made to order as well as all the mezze items you can imagine on a buffet was the case en route to Africa. Coming home, everything had been put in individual servings and the service significantly cutback. Our planned excursion into Istanbul for a tour was also 86’d thanks to COVID.
United Polaris – Our flight from SFO to Frankfurt was our second taste of United’s flagship product on their 777-300ER and again, it lived up to be a solid business class product. We had great flight attendants, the food was good, and the Saks bedding is always a winner. The lounge at SFO – with it’s al a carte dining and mixology drinks – is always a great experience.
American Flagship business (domestic) – Once Maui reopened to visitors, our flight options to go home and visit family increased and this was by far the best. American runs a 777-200 on Maui to DFW, which has 45 lie-flat business class seats. We managed to snag these at 45k miles/person each way, but for an 8+ hour flight (one a red eye), it was well worth the miles to have comfort and space. Out outbound flight had a laughable 22 passengers on it.
Hotels
Grand Hyatt SFO – I’ve stayed here twice, once pre-COVID and the other the night before we moved to Maui. Either way, this is a fantastic hotel, though pre-COVID much better with a generous lounge. In July, they did comp us a bottle of wine as a Globalist as well as provided free breakfast from their takeout market. Get a room facing the tarmac for the plane spotting using the binoculars and plane guide found in the room. Needless to say, there weren’t a lot of planes to spot in July.
St Regis Mauritius – Stellar in every sense: the beach, the property, the food/drink, and the staff. Although they were sparsely occupied during our stay thanks to – you guessed it – COVID, we were treated like royalty and I don’t think a full hotel would’ve changed that. As Ambassador Elite, we received daily free breakfast and an incredible room upgrade, complete with welcome champagne. The cherries on top was the bartender naming a drink after Leigh and coming back from hiking Le Morne Brabant to find our breakfast had been laid out for us in our spacious suite (because we’d missed the buffet).
AC Hotel Cape Town Waterfront – I know this isn’t Marriott’s fanciest brand, but for 80k Marriott points, we got five nights at this new hotel right in the heart of the waterfront district. We were upgraded to a huge suite with views of the water. Breakfast was included and they have a great bar program, all walking distance from the V&A Waterfront.
Looking to 2021
With vaccines coming, I’m hopeful that travel will start to return in the second half of next year. Airlines are hurting, so there will be deals to be had. The same goes with hotels. While we’re biding our time, it’s not a bad idea to book speculative award bookings since most airlines are offering generous cancellation policies, including reinstating award miles for free.
Thanks to status extensions from pretty much every brand, I’ll keep my statuses through 2021, so if/when we are able to travel, I’ll look forward to using those benefits (among other things, I have 320 United Plus Points to use by January 2022).
I don’t expect my work travel to ever be like it was before March: travel to visit a client for multiple days every week is likely a thing of the past. Companies are struggling to figure out how to get their own employees back in offices where it makes sense, while many are moving to more remote work.
I will do whatever I can within reason to keep and maintain status. For instance, I’m one year away from Lifetime Platinum with Marriott, so I’ll prioritize that next year.
Where to in 2021?
After five months in a place like Maui, Leigh and I are both craving a little hustle and bustle, so it’ll be places like Japan that we’re eyeing for early trips. I would also love to return to Africa. I suspect it’ll be Labor Day or later for these trips (at least for us anyway).
As long as we’re on Maui, there are places I want to visit while “in the neighborhood”. French Polynesia is has remained open for US citizens, so I suspect we’ll end up there as soon as Hawaiian Airlines reinstates their Honolulu – Papette flight (which can be booked for only 35k American miles each way). In addition, I’m dying to fly United’s Island Hopper, spending a few days in Guam, then heading onward to Palau and its pristine coral reefs. Rebooking our Kauai trip is also a priority in the first half of 2020.
Final thoughts
While I’m hopeful, I think the reality is that it’ll probably be 2022 when travel starts to look and feel more normal. Governments are wary to let outsiders in; just look at what’s happening with this new strain and UK citizens getting boxed out of countries all over the world (welcome to the club, guys…). I believe a good indicator for travel will be Japan, where they’re still struggling to figure out how to hold the Tokyo Olympics next summer with spectators. If they can make it work, I suspect others will follow (at least that’s my hope). I also suspect that proof of vaccination will almost certainly be required in most countries.
If we’ve learned anything through this pandemic it’s that we need more realistic expectations. Every prediction so far has been too rosy and too conservative from a timing perspective. If 2020 was the year of chaos and uncertainty, 2021 will be the year of *patience is required*.
Where are you hoping to travel next year?
