2020 REFLECTION

2020 REFLECTION

In all fairness I didn’t do too badly, managed to get away twice before the world shut down and just missed out on my trip to Turkey…by a matter of days.

WELL, THIS WONT TAKE LONG!

At the time I was gutted about missing out on it but it turned out that I dodged a bullet. Over the months of April and May millions of people would be competing for those few remaining seats back home. Had I been stuck in a country more isolated like those in the South Pacific then I could have well joined the likes of my friend who was stranded for almost 5 months. Sounds idyllic…..not when it’s the height of the hurricane season!

THE DISPUTED SERIES

Neither of my trips went to plan but first off it was off to visit a few of those more obscure countries around Eurasia. So, with a list of 4 new and 5 existing countries I arrived in Georgia with mixed feelings!

2020 REFLECTION

YING & YANG

After being handed a bottle of wine from the immigration I set off to the hostel for my trip. Having already scheduled my trip to Abkhazia through an agent I waited patiently (most unlike me) to be collected from my hostel in Tbilisi. Hours passed with no sign of a car or a response to my email. However, after a bit of detective work through Facebook I managed to track the agent down who surprisingly responded immediately.

“I thought your trip was for next year?” he said.

CHANGE COURSE

Needless to say, with visas and the like to arrange it was no longer going to be an option. Devastating being so close but yet so far!

I got over it (what choice did I have 🤣) and enjoyed the rest of the trip but writing this exactly a year on to the day I find it amusing that the agent could well open his diary today and see my name and Abkhazia written next to it….

To read about The Disputed Series click here.

THE OIL SERIES

The next trip was soon after and too me back East as part of The Oil Series to visit the Persian Gulf along with Sudan.

The highlight of this trip was meant to be Iran but in 2020 tradition that wasn’t going to happen. Arriving in Khartoum airport I was immediately approached and asked if I was David Simpson, clearly the name and white face stuck out. They told me of the issue but it appeared that no one knew of the true impact as they diverted my flight to Tehran, the capital of Iran located 10 hours north of my expected destination, Shiraz.

2020 REFLECTION

WATER FIGHTS IN KUWAIT

Arriving at Sharjah airport (one of the worst) in Dubai for a few hours layover I noticed straight away what was going on. Flights were being cancelled all over the world and then the news from Iran came to light. COVID numbers appeared to have spiraled out of control and there was no way my flight would be leaving…another bullet dodged.

Instead, I headed to Kuwait where I had 2 days water fights with locals, before checking out Doha not something I had expected.

2020 REFLECTION

TREND SETTER

After arriving into Manchester, mask on, I remembered people clearly wondering what was wrong with me. Little did they believe that in just a few weeks times they would all be sporting the same thing.

To read about The Oil Series click here.

2020 REFLECTION

PORTUGAL

From April onwards and after a 3-month hard lockdown, holidays were nonexistent for everyone and being stuck in a flat doing my blog for those 90 days was nothing short of painful. However, I was one of the lucky ones as I was able to fit in a trip to Portugal in July and then in September – two of the most appreciated and chilled out trips I’ve had.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m aware there are many people who don’t get the chance to go on holiday at the best of times let alone during 2020 so I’m always thankful and this year especially. As for 2021….check the next post

NEXT UP

2021!

SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
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To watch the videos of my trip, head to my highlights on my Instagram.