2020 – Year in Review
We hope this post finds you all well…
Looking back at 2020… on one hand the entire year seems to have flown by, but on the other hand this past year seems like it would never end and was one of the longest years in recent memory.
See below our 2020 overview and a short video “Year in Review”.
Columbia (Santa Marta, Cartagena, Medellin)
In mid January 2020 and prior to the pandemic, we left the US and headed to Columbia. We visited Santa Marta (1 week), Cartagena (1 month) and Medellin (2 weeks, originally planned to be 1 month).
Our visit to Santa Marta was short at only 1 week, but it was plenty of time to see the small beach town and acclimatize to the hot, humid weather. During our month in Cartagena, we got to know the city and surrounding beach areas well through our daily walks. At the end of February, our last week in Cartagena, we started to read of some of the effects of the pandemic taking place around the world…But, nothing had changed in Columbia yet. So, as planned, we travelled to Medellin in early March where we had an apartment rented for a month. Medellin has beautiful scenery and was cooler than Cartagena as it is located at a higher elevation. During the first two weeks of March in Medellin, we continued our frequent walks around the city and familiarized ourselves with the “El Poblano” area as there were still NO restrictions or lockdowns in place in Columbia.
Effects of the Pandemic started taking place around us…
While in Medellin, we followed the quickly evolving events of the pandemic very closely – as we only had a few weeks left on our visa and we did NOT want to get stuck in Columbia. In mid March, we started to read of several countries around us closing their borders to travel. We quickly explored our options and made a decision to leave Columbia 2 weeks early on March 17th and fly to Mexico. Our original itinerary had us going to Mexico and staying for 6 months, and we figured it was best to get to Mexico early before either Columbia or Mexico closed their borders. As it turned out, Columbia did close it’s borders and shut down all travel only a few days after we left…We were so happy to have arrived into Mexico safely where we could stay put for several months.
Puerto Morelos, Mexico
We arrived in mid March in Puerto Morelos, a small beach town located in between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Puerto Morelos has a portion of town located right on the ocean with a mile long stretch of very nice beachfront. It was beautiful with everything appearing normal as there were no lockdowns and no talk of any such restrictions taking place. However, within a week and a half of our arrival, the Mexican government instituted a country-wide lockdown and within days the entire community was shut down and empty of nearly all people.
We had an apartment rented (originally) for 3 weeks with plans to move to Cozumel on April 11. But, with the lockdown restrictions, no one was allowed to leave their homes except to go to the grocery store. When April 11 rolled around, we were not comfortable making the move. So, we elected to extend our stay in Puerto Morelos thru May 20, at which time we finally travelled to Cozumel (a 25 minute taxi ride and a 45 minute ferry ride).
Our first “unrestricted” week in Puerto Morelos gave us enough of a glimpse into the town to realize we liked it and would definitely return some day.
Cozumel, Mexico
We traveled to Cozumel, an island located directly across from Playa del Carmen, on May 20. We followed all government implemented safety protocols for traveling by taxi and by ferry to the island. We made it safely and settled into our apartment.
While Cozumel was still under complete lockdown when we arrived on May 20, the government did allow people to be outdoors and exercise. This was a huge bonus for us because while we were in Puerto Morelos, we were not allowed outdoors and had resorted to walking our apartment stairs for exercise. In Cozumel however, we could walk outside and ride our bicycles. Something so simple, felt like such a luxury…
On June 8, Cozumel opened to 30% capacity at restaurants, beach clubs, excursions, etc. The island has done a wonderful job of balancing personal safety while opening their economy slowly. Today, the island is open to 60% capacity and over the last several months has had a steady increase in tourists visiting.
Since arriving in Cozumel, we have been trying to stay active by walking or bicycling. We are also doing what we can to help the local community through donations, eating at many of the local restaurants, booking some boat cruises, and supporting local vendors when possible. Island life has been mostly calm and quiet with the exception of a Tropical Storm and two Hurricanes which passed directly over the island in the fall. We were fortunate to only experience some localized flooding and a few days of power outages. In a normal year, having one tropical storm or one hurricane is considered unusual, but to have all three hit within weeks of each other is unheard of. Mother nature must have needed to let off some steam. The locals here are very resilient and immediately bounced back from the effects of the storms. We feel very fortunate to be in such a beautiful place while waiting for the world to re-open. The locals are very friendly and are extremely thankful for all the people here helping them get through this tough time.
2020
Here’s a 12 minute video highlighting our life this past year in Columbia and Mexico.
In Closing
The past year has been very different for everyone regardless of where you live…and, certainly has presented a way of life no one could have imagined as reality…
Putting the past year behind us…
Here we are, on the verge of an entire year since the pandemic all began. Here’s to putting the “crabby” days of 2020 days behind us all!
Wishing you all the best for 2021 !!
We wish all of you the best for a healthy, safe, and prosperous New Year !!!
