Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! From Lake Tahoe, I wish you and yours a day of love, near or far, together or apart, present or in memory.

It’s been months since my last post, which was the culmination of blogging every day for one year through the ups and downs of the pandemic. I stepped away after that last post on April 6th and expected I would write again in a month or two. Eight months have since passed. I’ve been surprised to realize that, during a time when togetherness remains an elusive goal, disconnecting in other ways may be just as important to mental health.

On this day of celebration, many of us feel more grateful than ever within the context of the past two years, with all that has transpired and with the moments we have seized to live and travel “normally” among the constant ebbs and flows. I look forward to sharing new posts from Mexico and Italy, two places we were able to explore more of in 2021. The Dolomites were EPIC and I can’t wait to take you along on the trail.

As we look ahead to 2022, our love of traveling and exploring the world feels even deeper amid the longing for opportunity. Let’s remain hopeful, support equity in world health, keep dreaming of distant lands, and be packed and ready when the time comes around.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in Germany

Christmas in Germany

34 comments

  • God Jul and greetings from Sweden 🙂

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  • Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!! Good to see a post from you. 🙂

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  • Wonderful to see you here again, even if briefly. We are experiencing a painful Christmas, stuck across the country with a Covid patient (J) in isolation and Tashi and I chomping at the bit to get out of Dodge but unable to contemplate our exit at this point! Aarrgghh. Sending best wishes that you are healthy(-er) and happy as the year comes to a close and we head into what I hope will be a more normal year!

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    • Lexie! I’m so sorry to hear this! How is J doing??? I hope you made it through Christmas/NYE and you’re back home? The whole world feels upside down again with everyone infected and affected. I’ve hardly ventured out of the house and we’re hoping J stays healthy at work. Agreed — really hoping we’re in the final surge of this and 2022 brings a return to normal life and travel. xo

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      • He has recovered, but after a few days at home and the planning of an eagerly awaited trip to CO, my mom abruptly went into the hospital, and I am now trapped in Pennsylvania in the snow trying to navigate senior care and all sorts of related stuff! Wahhhhh. Hope YOUR big snow was not too disruptive and that you two are starting your year well!

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  • Merry Christmas and happy new year, Kelly!

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  • I read your message as a real and unexpected Christmas gift, as the hope to find again your insightful and caring vision on this vast world that we like to know better.
    Thank you Kelly, I wish you a very happy and safe holiday break

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    • Lookoom! What a lovely message from you. Thank you for your kindness. I hope you’re enjoying a healthy and productive start to the New Year, and I look forward to catching up with your posts. (I saw some fun photos from Paris in my reader!) Cheers to both of us seeing more of the vast world in 2022!

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  • Merry Xmas Kelly. Your post today is a special treat. It’s so lovely to see you back. Happy holidays and a very Happy New Year. ❤️🎄

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    • Andrew! Happy New Year to you! I hope you enjoyed a great holiday with your family and you’re off to a good start to 2022. It’s so nice to be back here on the blog and reminded, by you and others, of what a beautiful and supportive community this is. Cheers to 2022!

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  • Merry Christmas, Kelly! It’s always nice to see a new post from you appearing in my reader. Amen to all those wishes you wrote at the end of the post, and it would be great to read your stories from Mexico and Italy. But in the meantime, stay healthy and safe, as always!

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    • Thank you! And Happy New Year to you, Bama! I hope you’ve had a good start to 2022. I can’t wait to visit your blog and see what you’ve been up to. I’m so hoping we all get to travel a bit more this year. A return to Southeast Asia would be dreamy! You stay safe and healthy, too! We have lots more exploring to do and a meet-up somewhere in the world someday, too.

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  • So glad to see your post. Merry Christmas to you and your family. We thought of you when the fires were so bad. Our nephew lives there and had to evacuate.

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    • Thank you, Joan! Happy New Year to you! I’m sorry to hear about your nephew and hope he was able to return home without too much impact. We were four miles from the evac zone and the air quality was 500+ (thick ash and zero visibility) so we drove to Palm Springs for a week, which was a fun (but sad) getaway. It’s so good to have a lot of snow already this winter to give us hope that this summer might be better!

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  • I can imagine that the Dolomites were epic. I’ll come along with you. Hope Christmas was beautiful. The new year is always full of promise.

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    • Happy New Year, Jo! It’s always great to hear from you! I hope you’ve had a joyful start to the year and that 2022 holds a few more (healthy) adventures for all of us than last year. I look forward to catching up with your blog and seeing what fun you’ve been having in Portugal.

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  • Blogging breaks are good for the soul, but it can be hard to get back in the writing habit. Glad to see you back. Happy travels and all the best for 2022!

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    • Thank you! So true — the writing habit and voice can both be elusive! Looking forward to reading your posts and others for inspiration to get back to it. I hope you’ve had a great start to 2022, with more Euro adventures ahead. I just read about Bianca! 14 months?! That’s a long road trip. Surely she has some good stories to tell. 🙂

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  • Happy Holidays Kelly! Wishing you many more travel opportunities in the year ahead.

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  • Merry Christmas, Kelly, it’s so good to see you again. You have been sorely missed, but after posting for 365 days straight you deserved a good, long break. I can’t wait to hear about your adventures whenever you’re ready to come back. I too have been absent due to a family illness, so I’ve got some catching up to do. Wishing you and J the happiest of New Years! 🙂 ~Terri

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  • Love to you two. We went nowhere in 2021 so I look forward to your posts. Well we did go to Montreal for 2 weeks for Christmas with family. It was cold outside, and warm inside and in our hearts, but still affected by the evil Omicron as visits to cafes stores restaurants or anywhere indoors was curtailed due to a family member being immuno-compromised. Better to stay safe!
    A belated Merry Christmas. It sounds as if you’re doing well. I’ve missed your posts.
    Wishing you both all the best for 2022. May it be better!
    Love from us
    Alison 💕

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  • Happy New Year. I hope you escaped the fires that hit the Tahoe area. We were pretty humble this year, just one trip for family and another for diving. (But the dive trip was Barkley Sound, worth seeing even without the diving.) I look forward to your posts, and hope 2022 will be a better year all around.

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  • Hope your holidays went well and wishing you a wonderful new year! Throughout the pandemic I’ve felt so lucky to be able to explore local places more deeply, and I’m sure that Tahoe’s beautiful nature has been a continuous inspiration for you in the past year!

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  • I’m still trying to catch up with all the lovely posts (like yours) in my “in” box. Glad you’re back to blogging. And hope your new year is filled with great travel, sightseeing, interacting with others, and just being you. Can’t wait to see what you share with us.

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