The Best of Vibes, The Worst of Vibes: Travel in the Time of COVID

Waiting for Perfect Vision in 2020

We thought 2020 would bring clarity—a year of perfect vision. Instead, it brought masks, hand sanitizer, and social distancing. No one could have predicted that we'd be spending the year navigating a global pandemic instead of airport terminals.

Normally, we’d be sailing through the Norwegian Fjords, exploring the Baltics, or cruising Alaska’s wildlife superhighway, Glacier Bay. 'Tis the season—but this year, the fleets came to a grinding halt.

Don't Give Up the Ship

DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP. Or the dream of taking a vacation. You can’t deny gravity—or the gravity of the situation—and travel as we knew it would never be the same. So I got resourceful, stayed resilient, and hit the road.

I rented a land yacht—a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander—my protective bubble from the Covidiots who refused to take the virus seriously. From Palm Beach to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, I drove. Planning a road trip during a pandemic felt like trying to build an airplane mid-flight—data changed constantly.

I avoided airports and public transportation, took my chances on the interstate, and three (daze-filled) days later, rolled up to the Grand Tetons.

I’ve sailed the seven seas and visited every imaginable port of call, but being double-landlocked was a first.

Fair Isle, Shetland, UK

Britain’s most remote inhabited island—and we flew in this morning. It feels like walking into a painting. Imagine Norway meets Hawaii, with Father Time and Mother Nature having a field day.

No man is an island, as John Donne once wrote—but north of the border, you can live on one. Scotland’s Shetland Islands are good like that, with 15 inhabited islands to choose from. We’re on Fair Isle—Britain’s most remote—and it truly feels like we’re moving through a living canvas. The weather shifts by the minute, casting the landscape in ever-changing, stunning light.

Thanks to the popularity of the TV series Shetland, this magical spot had been on our radar—and now we’re finally here.

Of the 115 islands in the archipelago, only 15 are inhabited. And now we’re on the most remote of them all: Fair Isle.