Since the start of 2021, we’ve had a peaceful transition of power, and Joe Biden is now President of the United States.

If the beginnings of 2021 have shown me anything about U.S. politics, it’s that although Democratic party is not nearly as progressive as I would like, I think that recent events have made its precise value very clear.

2020 was an unforgettable year, full of altered plans and misfortune.

I used New Year’s Eve as an excuse to message quite a lot of friends of mine, ask how they were doing, and share good wishes. Wishes that they and their families remained safe and healthy, and that the pandemic gripping the globe would finally get under control.

In early December 2020, my phone buzzed with a message. Someone replied to my suggestion of “maybe going on a scocially-distanced hike” (sic) from months earlier. That weekend, the weather seemed nice, and the arbitrarily chosen meeting point was (for once) closer to me than to my friends.

This would be first day hike on the Appalachian trail, one of the most important hiking routes in the United States. My company would be the inimitable Nik and Andrew, former colleagues. Both of them are connoisseurs of fruit-essenced sparkling water, experts at making strange faces, and brilliant at pointing at things. Andrew’s special skill is consuming vittles.

I’m really behind the eight ball in getting my “Attractions of Pennsylvania” written up about, but hopefully you enjoy this one from November of last year!

A few years ago, a close friend invited me to dinner at his parents’ house, in suburbs east of Pittsburgh. We floated a few ideas for different activities near the area, including a visit to Ohiopyle, but due to time constraints and other reasons, just ended up hanging out at the Greensburg Mall.

Sans automobile, I didn’t have an easy way to go to Ohiopyle myself, and so I never went.

A few years later, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I made arrangements to meet another friend in Ohiopyle, back in November. I drove five minutes away from Fallingwater, pulled into the visitor’s center parking lot, and was immediately blown away.

And, also, I was quite miffed that it had taken me so many years to visit this amazing place.

Believe me, the mall cannot compare.

Fallingwater is one of the most famous homes in the United States. Built in the late 1930’s, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufman family of Pittsburgh department store wealth. It features cascading levels of concrete, and a waterfall built into the home’s environment.

In this post, I finally explain why I decided to write about some random, fairly spontaneous travel to Western Europe in 2018. Bear with me.

Here’s a quick recap. In 2018 I went on an impromptu work trip to Berlin, which was extended at the last minute to Aachen, Germany. This was stressful, but fun.

(If you want, you can read the previous posts in this series for more context. Otherwise, the next paragraph serves as a condensed recap.)

My boss gave me a few extra days off before I returned to the United States, so obviously I wanted to take advantage. My goal was to hit up some cool places and stuff.

I got some travel recommendations from colleagues, and picked a few of them to visit.

The first was Maastricht, Netherlands.

I haven’t written anything along the lines of a “life update” since August, I think, so it’s time to remedy that.

The truth is, I had a lot to look forward to coming into the Fall. I decided to actually go on a nice solo backpacking trip, and made a couple of plans for socially-distanced meetups with friends – some of which actually came to fruition. But after that, at times I felt like I had little left to do but to wait out the rest of the year, and ride out the increased cold, darkness, loneliness, boredom and isolation that winter would bring. (I don’t think I minced words with those adjectives.)

The truth is that the last few months have been much better than I was expecting. And no, not just because of birds.