2020: Unique on All Counts

In early January, my wife and I were stepping back into JFK airport - after spending nearly 10 days in the Swiss Alps. We had a chance to explore incredible little towns, sleep in some unique accommodations and had a blast with friends and family.

Switzerland, 2019

Little did we know that it would be our last international trip for a very long time.

When March arrived and the news of the pandemic accelerated, New York and New Jersey were one of the first few states to implement strict measures - including curfews and a ban on non-essential businesses. Being naive, I thought that the pandemic would be over by the summer and that we’d be able to travel and explore the world.

As of this writing - that seems like a lifetime away.

But, it’s inevitable. We’ll return to the basics - the ability to go to a bar to grab a drink, the ability to gather with friends and family, the safety of celebrating milestones - big and and small. And most importantly - the ability to live in a world that has been rocked by this pandemic.

We take a lot of things for granted - shaking hands, hugging friends, meeting new people, etc. None of that has happened in the last few months - but through pure force and drive - we’ve been able to maintain relationships. We’ve been able to see people grow, friendships evolve, and businesses give it their all to make an impact.

The things we used to take for granted - commuting to work, conference calls, package deliveries, medical personnel and even food delivery - will always and forever change because of this. It’s a shift unlike any other.

But, change is good.

New York City, 2020

I was able to earn three FAA licenses, focus on building a kick-ass team and most importantly - bring a baby boy into this world.

Yes, it has been challenging. Yes, the world has suffered. Yes, the mental pressure is absolutely insane. But, we’ll get through this. Because years like this - hopefully - only happen once in a lifetime.

New Jersey, 2020

Quarantined Summer

I love summer. The random weekend getaways and the extra hours of daylight make it one of my favorite seasons of the year.

Unfortunately, 2020 has been incredibly different. In New Jersey, we started our summer as the lockdown was ending. We made as many socially-distant outdoor plans as possible - from boat rides to beach trips.

It has been a unique summer and I’m certainly glad we got to explore our own backyard. Here’s a quick glance of our quarantine summer:

NYC Subway

New York, NY

Leica CL: Initial Impressions

As a lifelong camera collector, I’ve always been intrigued by Leica. They are excessively overpriced, but they seem to have fans across the world and have been used to produce some of the most iconic images.

I had a chance to try out the Leica CL this weekend and I do like the compact size and the image quality is incredible. I’ll definitely be playing around with this quite a bit more often.

Turks & Caicos

A few years ago, my brother and I visited Turks & Caicos on a whim. It was a fairly inexpensive destination, it was close to New York and the landscape looked amazing!

When we got there, it was empty and we had an absolute blast!

Fast-forward 7 years later to this past weekend – my wife took me to Turks & Caicos for an early birthday celebration and it wasn’t anything like our first visit there:

• Flights have gotten significantly more expensive

• Full-service hotels aren’t even close to being affordable - even the base hotel room costs more than an overwater villa in some of the nicer Maldivian resorts

• While still relatively empty, the amount of people on the islands have increased dramatically

I think it is only a matter of time where all these untouched and natural landscapes get overrun by tourists. But for now - there’s still time to explore the best of nature.