Lockdown (x2), quarantine (x2), no life (x366). Can it really get worse? My 2020 year review won’t be a happy post -especially if you compare it to the tone of 2018 and 2019. I didn’t even think of calling it “a travel summary” as I did in the previous years because there was (almost) no traveling. Honestly, I hope 2020 goes to hell and never comes back.
So, you might rightly wonder: why did you bother writing a 2020 year review? At first, I thought of doing it like YouTube. Earlier this year, YouTube announced on Twitter that they wouldn’t do their usual Rewind because 2020 was horrible. Here’s what they said.
How I went through 2020
From my side, I already wrote in September an obituary for 2020. It was a somewhat melancholic post, where I broke down 2020 into pieces and wrote a short entry about each letter of the alphabet. It was already rather obvious that there was nothing more to expect from this horrible year. Therefore, the remaining months would only bring back the misery of the first half of the year. No friends, no journeys, no ways of decompressing the pressure, no life, nothing.
And yet, even though it was tempting to skip the 2020 year review, I decided to write one in early December. I thought I owed it to the readers of this blog. I wanted each one of you to know how it felt for me. And the truth is that it felt horrible. I was stranded in Berlin for months, and I’ll probably be stranded in Athens for several months too. All I did to keep myself sane was take long bike rides around Berlin or Athens. At night, I’d write until late.
And, more or less, that’s pretty much what I did. There’s nothing else to say about 2020. Cycling and writing -and only occasionally meeting some friends. A lonely, horrible, never-ending year.
All that said, in my 2020 year review, you will find links to this year’s blog posts. Writing kept my mind occupied, and I’m glad that the readers of this blog kept reading my articles and writing comments. Communicating with each one of you was sometimes the antidote to misery. So, if you missed some posts or if you’re here for the first time, I’m sure that you’ll find some good reads.
The 2020 year review: The places I wrote about
Traveling was not a thing in 2020. I only managed to travel to Romania at the beginning of the year, shortly before the pandemic destroyed everything. Apart from that journey, I spent the whole year between Berlin and Athens, and I only went on a short summer vacation. At least there were a couple of travel articles that I didn’t share in 2019 -and that’s how I managed to have some travel-related material.
My travelogues
I thought I’d write more travelogues this year. The reality, though, was different. In fact, I only wrote two “fresh” travelogues (Donoussa and Bucharest). The other ones are from past journeys.
Florence waiting for the barbarians
The end of childhood in Bologna
Bucharest and the old town blues
The memory of sand in Donoussa
And that’s pretty much it.
Travel journal entries
As you probably know, there’s a huge section with travel-related material on the blog. Whatever doesn’t make it to the travelogues (hint: lots of things), it always finds a place in the travel journal. There you can find useful texts about very specific locations. So, in 2020 here’s what I wrote in the journal.
One week in Greece: suggested itineraries and travel guide (incl. 3-days in Athens)
Ukraine International Airlines Business Class review
Best places to travel alone in Europe
The palace of the Parliament in Bucharest
Kalamiotissa Monastery in Anafi
The best gifts for the travelers in your life
A day trip to Mycenae from Athens
Travel guides
My city guides are extensive articles without many photos. I try to focus on the validity and usefulness of information instead of adding loads of photos because I want them to be helpful. As it’s always the case, you can see more photos in my photo-reports and travelogues.
The 2020 year review: What I photographed
Photography occupies a big part of my daily life, and it was actually one of the things that kept me sane during the lockdowns. Despite being hard to shoot decent photos under quarantine, I often had my camera with me, and I tried to shoot some photo-reports. The photography category is split into two sections: general photography and polaroids.
General photography
My photo-reports and the short street photography entries are among the most beloved posts of this blog. While I couldn’t be that much on the streets (and not that close to people because, um, it’s 2020), I managed to post a few things.
The Konstablerwache in Frankfurt
The Polaroid Diaries of Linda McCartney
My first flight after the lockdown
Polaroids
I love shooting polaroids. If you made it this far to the 2020 year review, I have something to tell you: there will be significantly more polaroid diaries in 2021. I ordered a new camera, and you will see an even more varied polaroid content. Now, back to my 2020 polaroids, here’s what I got.
The polaroid Diaries: Still Life (Berlin banality edition)
Other articles and short stories
Already in 2019, I wrote that I wanted to expand the blog’s horizons. That said, I didn’t want just to write strictly travel-related material. From the feedback I received, the readers of Letters to Barbara seemed curious to read my thoughts on different topics. Moreover, some of them asked for short travel stories (fictional or not). So, in 2020, the non-travel-related material increased.
Articles
I wrote a couple of articles that didn’t deal directly with traveling. Some of them dealt with art, while others were just rants or observations.
Why visiting the Tempelhofer Feld is a political act
DJI Osmo Pocket: Is this the future?
Admiralbrücke and the zeitgeist
We need to talk about meaningful travel
My travel videos with the Osmo Pocket
Farewell to Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL)
Reader’s questions – my replies
Blogging
Lots of people would love to start a blog -but they don’t know how to do it. After blogging for more than two years, I thought of offering something back to the blogging community. This year, I started sharing blogging tips and short tutorials for the people willing to start their own blogs.
Travel blogging gear for minimalists
Bluehost review: is this the best web-hosting provider for beginners?
How to find an awesome blog name
Two years of travel blogging: things I learned the hard way
Instagram captions and how to make the most out of them
The best SEO tool for bloggers: KeySearch review and tutorial
A sudden drop in Pinterest traffic?
Short stories
After seeing that people enjoyed my early short stories a lot, I decided to write a few more of them. They fall under the Postscripts sub-category of the blog, a small section that usually remains off-topic (exactly like the PS after a long letter).
Miele dishwasher repairs, hello?
The 2020 year review: Final thoughts and wishes
Well, what can I really say about 2020? It was a horrible year that changed our lives. I’m afraid that the consequences of the virus and the tough regulations will remain in place for a long, long time. I don’t think that we’ll be able to travel freely in 2021, so I really don’t know what to expect from the coming year. No matter what, I hope that the virus will stop spreading, and the vaccine will offer some comfort.
I’d like to wish each one of you a happy new year with lots of happiness. From my side, I promise to write as much as I can and deliver articles that you’ll enjoy reading. Thank you for being part of the Letters to Barbara. Stay strong and stay healthy.
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Last Updated on December 25, 2021 by George Pavlopoulos