Despite it being a leap year, 2020 hasn't been a year where I've felt like leaping much, what with one thing and another. As such, my annual travel round-up post, where I highlight some of my favourite places for leaping that I've visited that year, has had a bit of a revamp. In January, I had seven international trips booked, but only completes one, to New York and Seattle, before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the others. This year has been the longest I've been in the UK without leaving the country in two or three decades, and it's been hard not to miss the excitement of discovering new cities and countries, meeting new people and experiencing new cultures. But I have managed several smaller-scale adventures closer to home this year, and I thought this was a good opportunity to share a few stories.
1. Arriving in NYC in the 'before times'
I spent a few days working in Manhattan before a conference in Seattle in early February, and in typical fashion, took the earliest possible flight on the Saturday morning to maximise my weekend in my favourite city. I didn't know it at the time, but this would be my last international trip for the foreseeable. There had already been cases of the new coronavirus reported when I arrived, but New York was just the same as it always is in February — cold, slightly less busy than usual and particularly quiet in some areas, but with the same frenetic energy that I love so much. Walking through Chinatown amid the Lunar New Year festivities, I couldn't work out if I was pleased to see business as usual, or concerned. Like everyone else, I knew so little then. As I pulled up my scarf over my face against the chill, a charity fundraiser called, "hey, nice mask" — sarcastically, I think. I saw the Snow Moon, ate out a lot, walked the High Line, went to a modern art exhibition featuring fruit and veg, and went to see Parasite at a cosy Brooklyn cinema. I'm glad I got to do lots of my favourite New York things, because I don't know when I will do so again.
