By Tashayne Lum
As strange as it may be to say this: 2020 was one of the best years of our lives due to COVID while living in Montana. Living in Montana has been more than a blessing.
Before we were all quarantined back in March, I worked non-stop heavy hours and spent very little time with my two sons, Zeke and Roman. After quarantine struck, we traveled. A lot. I spent every moment I could showing them as much as I could as my job was not considered “essential”. Anywhere they wanted to go, we would go. And if they wanted to bring a friend on our adventures, they could. I’ve always had two rules when we go anywhere: One, If I can’t see you, you can’t see me and that’s too far. And Two, trash goes in your pocket or in mommy’s car. They’ve been raised to treat the world and everyone around them with kindness and be respect. My oldest son, Zeke, found a photo of colorful rocks and we discovered that it was located in Montana. He asked if we could go and we left that following week for Lake McDonald. Over the course of the rest of the year we visited Sluice Boxes, Montana Vortex and House of Mystery, Beaver Creek, Crystal Park, Gibson Reservoir, Wadsworth, Neihart, Wolf Creek, Monarch and many more places that I’m inevitably forgetting.
January 6th, I received an overview from Google Maps Timeline that calculated 250+ places we visited in 2020, traveled over 7,600 miles and that came out to nearly 500 hours worth of travel. All of last year’s travel inspired my children to want to go even further. They want to travel to as many states as they can in 2021. They want to see the ocean, to see famous monuments, and go to the four corners of our nation. Their curious, ever-growing minds with all their questions and the wonders of life both inspire and motivate me to continue teaching and showing them more of the world around us. They work so hard on their homeschooling and before 2020 they had an incredibly rough couple of years. Divorce, moving, missing friends, our pup passing away (13), and stressful households have all plagued their lives until we all reached a place of peace and stability. So, I’m thankful for 2020. I’m thankful for Montana and all of its beauty. I’m thankful that even though it was tough and stressful, last year inspired my children and brought their innocent spirits back to life, and I want to continue to nurture those spirits of wonder and exploration in the years to come.