This Year… 2021
A Rose in San Sebastian…
Man. Can we all say… yowza… this year. Amirite?
2021 has brought some amazing things and also some terrible things. I will say that this year was by and large MUCH better than the year before. I mean… that should be obvious but going into this year… I think we all were waiting for another shoe to drop. Thankfully we got some good stuff to make this year bearable.
Vaccines… I can absolutely say were the MVP of the year. Without them… I do not want to even think about what would have happened. So let’s not. I think we all owe scientists the biggest thank you ever. Without their timely reaction and their due diligence to make sure that this got out in a timely manner… they have saved millions of lives. With vaccines it enabled our economy to slowly start up again. And since we all are human beings and as such… we kind of require social interaction… we can also say that they also saved millions of people’s sanity.
March 27th at Baerlic Brewing
Once vaccines started to roll out it was a domino effect. Restaurants and bars were able to open up at reduced capacities. Mainly it was the time to be outside. Here in Portland there was a widespread change to what restaurants and bars looked like. The city was really good about getting any business the permits that they needed to expand their business to include brand new patios or spaces that extended into what once were parking spots. I think we will all look back at this time and say that one of the good things to have come out of this was increased outdoor sitting. Some roads in the city were effectively closed forever and opened up as outdoor seat areas and promenades. When traveling to other countries… it has made me aware how America has always really lacked widespread outdoor seating for restaurants and bars. Especially when compared to what I’ve seen in other countries. This fact really enabled businesses to have a life line to survive. Sitting inside was off limits. In some places… it still is. Outdoor seating allowed me to really start to go to places and not just sit in my place by my lonesome. Social interaction is important.
As time went on… more vaccines were readily available and I was able to get vaccinated. This really gave me confidence to interact with people in a safe way. I have been fortunate enough to have friends that I’ve met be extremely pro-vaccine. This means that we are all on the same page. Trust is key… especially when it could mean life and death for someone. I can absolutely say that some of my favorite days this year were when I got fully vaccinated or someone I knew got fully vaccinated. That means that we can interact in a ‘normal’ way. The amount of relief and happiness can not be put fully into words. To be able to hug someone without a mask or to be able to go inside someone’s house without one… are kind of big deals when you haven’t been able to for over a year+. This also has allowed me to meet new people and make new friends. As someone who moved in the middle of the pandemic to a brand new city. This was HUGE. Then throw the pandemic on top of all the stuff people usually go through when moving to a new place… and you can probably guess that I wasn’t having the best time until vaccines started to roll out. So thank you once again vaccines for getting my social life a boost in the most puntastic way possible.
My favorite picture I’ve ever had taken of me.
This all really leads up to travel. Especially internationally. You, my dear reader, are reading a Craft Beer Travel article and so know exactly what I am going to be talking about. Traveling internationally while being fully vaccinated is just the best. I was able to get my booster shot before going on my two week trip overseas and having that… allowed me the peace of mind to fully enjoy my trip. Otherwise? I don’t even want to think about it. Stress while traveling is just the worst. So I will absolutely give vaccines MAJOR credit for enabling me to be able to travel overseas. I dare you to go to Switzerland and not be vaccinated. They won’t allow you to do anything if you aren’t. With the way Omicron is playing out… I do expect more regulations to be put into place to stop this much more contagious variant.
I didn’t expect this year ending article to be about vaccines. It makes sense now but for me… vaccines have allowed me to get back to a closer semblance of a normal life. For that I am eternally grateful.
Because I think we can all agree that COVID-19 can go to H E… double hockey sticks.
Nothing quite like NYE… let’s all end 2021 on a high note!
