As you surely know, Facebook has this pernicious little gimmick where it’ll pop up old posts and pictures into your feed under the heading “Your Memories from xx Years Ago” – or, as it should be renamed during the Sharknado that is 2020 – “Hey, remember back when you were happier?”
Case in point: Two years ago, Lea and I were in the first month of our South American odyssey. On this day in 2018, we arrived at the lovely eco-resort village of Mindo, Ecuador, and checked into the Hostal Melyang.
For my money, the Hostal Melyang was one of the most pleasantly relaxing places we stayed on the whole trip. The third floor is open to the breeze, with hammocks and rope swings and bird feeders galore for the countless avian species that swoop by to visit. After our short time in Mindo, we would head to the Pacific Coast, where I’d get to see whales and experience my first earthquake on the very same same day.
Facebook feels the need to remind me of this, and will no doubt do so daily for the next eight months.
Stop it!
Dear Readers, I know I’ve been neglecting you. My last article on this site was posted four months ago, and even that was hard for me to crank out. My motto on this blog is “The Escape Hatch will always be open,” but that hasn’t been the case this year, and I don’t think I need to belabor the reasons. Aside from some kayaking and a camping trip to Chattahoochee Bend State Park, Lea and I haven’t been able to go anywhere. This weekend we drove all the way to Taco Bell and parked under a tree to eat burritos, and in these times that felt like a far and distant land.
My point being: I haven’t felt motivated to write about travel. On the one hand, we haven’t gone anywhere to write about. On the other hand, I feel like I’ve already mined all the trips we took in the few years leading up to our South American sojourn, and would have to dig even further back in the murky depths of memory for new content.
On the third hand, the further back in time I go to churn up travel stories, the less accurate and relevant any information I relate will be to modern readers. On the fourth hand, and maybe this is only me, it’s felt like travel writing in these last few months would have been in bad taste.
But enough of my excuses. Even if we can’t (or shouldn’t) trot the globe, the blog must go on! I missed an opportunity with that camping trip we took, so when we go again (we’ve already booked the dates) expect an article on camping in general, as that’s the one way of getting out of the house and into the world that I can recommend during the current crisis.
Also coming soon: an article on how I learned to travel in the first place.
For many in my generation, our first travel experience was riding cross-country in the back of the family station wagon (or pickup truck; I don’t judge). Not for me: I spent from the latter part of the 1970s to the early 1990s seeing the country – and then the world – in the context of Choir Tours. Anyone who traveled with me, be warned: I have photos.
After that, there are plenty of natural wonders and sights that Lea and I have enjoyed in the U.S., so I’ll cover some of those. Until then, everyone stay as safe and healthy as you can. The Escape Hatch is back in business!