Dear 2020,

It’s over. 

We’re sick and tired of this craziness. We’ve got a hot date with next year, and we’re already late to the party.

Thanks for the toxic relationship of epic proportions. Sure, you gave us illustrious gifts like Tiger King and UFO sightings, but you ripped our trust to pieces.

You can take your layoffs and your hospital bills, and kindly go take a ride.

Honestly, you might need therapy. We all do now because of you.

2020 trauma is very very real. 

Your controlling behavior is uncomfortable. To be honest, you’re an absolute disaster. You barrel through life like Hurricane Laura, blaze through the kids’ homeschool classes like wildfire, and leave our attempts at anything rational hanging there like the last piece of TP.

We miss our grandparents… and our friends. We’re tired of Zoom!

And guess what? We’re changing our Netflix, HBO Max, and Disney+ passwords.

Absolutely everyone in Tourism and Hospitality knows what you did. (Remember the time you passed wind in that elevator? People make that SAME FACE now whenever they think about you. It’s true.)

And don’t feel sorry for yourself. It’s your own fault. You made a LOT OF people depressed. True talent you have there, actually. Hats off.

But you know what? We’re stronger now, because of you. 

We’ve grown. 

We say “goodbye and good riddance” to your heartbreak with a much better idea of who we are, of what truly matters to us, and with a network of support 10,000% bigger than when we first met.

At the brink of your nonsense, Von Mack mailed out thousands of “Love Tourism” pins to travel professionals. THOUSANDS! And “Thank You” notes from across the world were mailed in return.

The industry came together in social media groups, in Zoom discussions, and in places like The #TourismStrong Project to collaborate, educate and inspire.

In spite of you, because of you, we grew.

Arival moved its conference online, to brilliant reception and success. Tourpreneur’s podcast crossed 100,000 downloads. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND.

Von Mack alone got the chance to meet the geniuses from TripSchool, collaborate with HTTA.us, and share our birthday working with folks behind places like Culture Aid Nola. It’s been surreal.

And beyond Tourism and Hospitality, there were other bright sides, too.

On a large scale, movements like Black Lives Matter, efforts for gender equality, and equality for ALL HUMANS had people taking on hard discussions. These are talks that long needed the spotlight. 

But why did they have to stem from tragedy, 2020? Seek help for this abusive behavior. You need some healing.

At least when things were low we could depend on LEGEND Dolly Parton to help give rise to a vaccine!

And shout out to those murder hornets for oddly keeping at bay. …we think?

So ok yes, it hasn’t been all bad, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re old news. 

Just consider this formal notice that we’ll be needing some space. Indefinitely.

Call it “social distancing” for your very own “unprecedented time.” 

Sincerely,

Absolutely Everyone