Photographic Travel Review of 2021

The year 2021 has been another interesting year. Covid still dominated life around the world but travel was relaxed a bit in some corners of the world. Vaccines were introduced to the masses and gave us some relieve in our lives. It helped non-essential travel for those itching to visit foreign countries. Some countries allowed foreign travelers to enter with requirements such as Covid tests and proof of vaccine towards the last half of the year. I wasn’t ready to take that chance yet. If I did contract Covid in another country, I would have to quarantine there for two weeks before entrance back to the United States. I was content with touring this wonderful and beautiful country. This country, and specifically the west coast, is blessed with beautiful and amazing national parks so I made several road trips to take advantage of this.

Death Valley National Park

In February, I took advantage of the cooler weather in the California desert and visited Death Valley. This was my second visit to the park so It was a quick overnight visit to this underrated park. Most people assume that it’s a bland furnace on the hottest place on earth. It’s actually a picturesque park with multiple types of terrain. And, if you visit during December through the end of March, you can avoid the searing heat.

Pinnacles National Park

Spring would bring another road trip to my second national park, Pinnacles. It’s one of the newest national parks and less well known but it’s definitely worth a visit for avid hikers and a great place to view the endangered California Condors.

My American Road Odyssey

During the last two weeks of May, I embarked on a long, 12 day, road trip from my home in Southern California to the first national park in the world, Yellowstone. It’s, by far, the best of all the parks in the U.S. And, you can’t visit Yellowstone without visiting the neighboring Grand Tetons National Park. I made stops in Utah and the neon city of Las Vegas as well. I took so many beautiful photos along the way but I had to narrow it down to these amazing shots.

Yellowstone National Park

Grand Tetons National Park

Southern Idaho

Hawaii

Restrictions relaxed during the Fall season as more and more people received the vaccine and Hawaii no longer required a Covid test. Proof of vaccine was enough to visit so it was the perfect time for me to pack the sunscreen and hop on a flight to the islands. The number of visitors had dropped from the inflated number of the summer due to the anxious population that were on lock down for almost 18 months. People took advantage of the eased requirements. It had been years since my last visit and the islands were as beautiful as I remembered. The lack of tourists made it that much more enjoyable.

Oahu

Hawaii – The Big Island

The vaccine has eased some of our anxiety in regards to Covid but we are still far from the normalcy we enjoyed prior to the pandemic. Variances to Covid are being discovered and people are still dying from it so this new reality will still carry on and leisure travel will continue to suffer. I would definitely love to travel internationally but I will continue to weigh the risk involved. I’m lucky that I live in such a large and diverse country filled with so many different landscapes to visit. For now, I’m content on traveling domestically and I already have some locations in mind.

Safe Travels!