Fighting the funk of whatever THIS is; and the trolls are empowered again.
It's become really difficult to focus on life and tasks with this huge distraction right now. I feel like hope is absolutely not a joke in this moment, but that's slipping.
Before we fall down the rabbit hole of my mind this week, how are YOU? I hope you’ve been finding some peace, comfort, productivity, or whatever you need to keep on truckin’ right now. It’s tough to focus on daily life and the future of our families and loved ones when there’s so much hanging in the balance. I’ve been pouring myself into writing and running, doing dad-things, and compulsively checking the news. And as Thanksgiving approaches, I’d be curious to hear how everyone is choosing to approach awkward family functions. I know how my brain works and what I would be prepared with, but we’ll just have a mellow TG here with rational family and friends, so I won’t end up biting my own tongue all day.
What a funky place to be in right now. I’m in a constant state of wondering what’s happening in the background while we sit here, day after day, seeing bizarre news stories that shouldn’t exist. It’s really something. “What a time to be alive.” But we ARE alive and that’s kind of incredible if you consider the grand expanse of the universe. So today I’m sharing both my thoughts on the current state of the USA and some great travel articles I’ve been working on. So first, the new stuff!
St Augustine things:
10 Things to Know Before Moving to St Augustine - I was a bit fired up about bigotry and racism when I wrote this
Alaska things:
Hawaii things (working on the Big Island currently):
This week I hope to publish some really specific articles about historic sites and unique beaches in Hawaii, so with any luck and a lot of focus I’ll have those to share next week. Now, here’s what’s keeping my mind twirling…
GROUP TRIP INQUIRY
Last week I mentioned that I was approached about leading a group sailing trip in the Galapagos. I got a few positive responses about it but wanted to put it out there again in case anyone missed it.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN AN 8 DAY GALAPAGOS SAILING TRIP? Survey here!
I also mentioned that things are finally coming together for an Amazon rainforest trip this spring. If you’re interested in that (much lower cost), please let me know! Survey for Amazon trip here.
The Rabbit Hole of Hope
Those who know me best know that I am actually not a beacon of hope and positivity. Life has bee exhausting for me since I was a little kid and I’ve seen what humans are actually like. I don’t think people are innately good and I’ve been the recipient of so much evil human behavior that I’ve accepted that people will rarely be their best selves for others. Please don’t try to change my mind, as I have a lifetime of case studies to bring to the table. Having said that, I’m stuck in this big moment of hope for the USA.
The election was jarring for everyone (even conservative people I know were stunned) but it didn’t seem quite right. We’ve seen recounts begin and we’ve seen loads of both anecdotal and data driven discrepancies and issues. I think there really is something going on in the background and it’ll be brought to light just what happened with the US election and then we’ll never have to hear the “T” word again. In the meantime though, I’ve seen peoples’ worst selves reactivated, or I guess reinvigorated since the AP called the presidential race. Today I was reminded why people like/identify with T45: he gives them license to be their worst selves.
This summer I got to be a part of several articles for Yahoo! Travel, HuffPost and Business Insider, and I’m happy to contribute or be interviewed. Well, one of the Business Insider articles republished yesterday and hit their social media (about road trips as a family). Cue the internet trolls that have rediscovered their strength and hate. Now, I don’t need anyone to go through the 550+ comments on this post, but just take a look and see how empowered people are to be hateful and aggressive with their hate.
Here’s a few of them that aren’t the most horrifying, but definitely not something I’ve seen in a very long time. I think the moderator hid some of what was initially posted:
“Trump will put an end to this.”
“All this nonsense will stop January 21st”
“Yeah when the kid's Friends ask where's your mom the kids are going to say I don't have one I have two dads. Let The bullying begin.”
“I know it’s a perversion and that it’s wrong but I don’t hate them as people or wish any ill on them. Just feel bad for those boys that they’re subjected to that and really don’t have a compass of relational normalcy. They’ll prolly end up like them.”
“Poor children. Smh”
“Child abuse.”
Don't normalize this degeneracy in the guise of trying to give us packing tips for road trips. STOP DESTROYING SOCIETY WITH THE GAY agenda.”
“Why do they always have boys”
The two comments that did make me laugh though: “I thought that was Dwayne Johnson at first glance. Anyway the grey dad is seriously hot” and “The rock and his boyfriend took some kids on a road trip.”
I like to think that internet trolling went out the door years ago, but I think we’re getting ready to see the renaissance of it, and I fully expect the in-person version to kick back into full gear too. This is where my hope starts to slip. If an unfinished election cycle has empowered hate on the most non-damaging level again, I can’t imagine what people are going to feel empowered/safe to do when protections start to be stripped away and when the nation’s leaders speak the same way as some of the saddest people on the internet.
Anyways, so that’s what’s on my mind with all of this today. It’s a lot and hopefully we’ll see things sorted out and a hopeful future restored. For all of us.
Upcoming Travel Plans to be Excited About
Things are pretty quiet for us for a bit. We have lots of visitors incoming, so once the holidays are done we’ll be out and about in the world again. One big trip we’ve got coming up is Winter Park, Colorado. We get to do a project with the destination and take the kids skiing. They really love snow and are pretty excited. I love the TEMPORARY change of scenery and it’ll be fun to watch them.
Also, I’ve gotten some great responses from people about joining a group trip to either the Peruvian Amazon or the Galapagos, so I’ll be working on that a bit this week and hopefully we can officially put both on the schedule.
In the meantime, we’re working on our plans for visiting Hawaii again, our summer trip to Alaska and then we’ll see what other fun and work trips happen. I’m being very hesitant about planning anything because I just don’t know what’s going to happen here in the USA in the coming months and if things will start to become bad/scary, emergency/difficult/sad/restrictive or if things will get better. We shall see…
I hope everyone has a great week. Stay strong, stay healthy. Sorry if I’ve been a bummer in my newsletters lately, but it’s where I get to share my thoughts on life. My goal for next week is to only have great thoughts to share! Until then…
We can’t give up hope or they really win. I’m choosing now to fight with my $$. Have you heard of the app Goods Unite Us? Fantastic way to know how a business contributes to political parties.
Those folks commenting on your BI article… how sad of a life they must have. Homophobia is REAL and oh so dangerous. 💕