News - The 2020 Effect
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Well, it's certainly been one of those years, hasn't it? A year which lends itself perfectly to bounding, Tolkienesque quotes. Best laid plans have been swept aside with disdain, dreams have been recast as follies and for much of the year, the present has taken the form of a surreal groundhog day, with infinite horizons being replaced by the four close walls of lockdown.
Certainly, there have been better years in which to pursue the life of an automotive adventurer. There have also been years in which running an automotive travel business made for a smoother path. And both of these factors have come to a head over the past few days, as the rising headwinds of quarantine and viral storm-clouds of uncertainty have forced the cancellation of Pub2Pub Adventures' only remaining trip of 2020 - the Beer Italia, which was scheduled to run in late September.
Gutted.
So, that's the current state of play; all of Pub2Pub Adventures' dreams for 2020 have now been swept aside by the all-powerful 'Rona. But does this make the present hour a time for mourning? A time to collapse on the sofa, stick on a Lord of the Rings DVD and look back wistfully upon what might have been? Not a chance.
Looking back changes nothing. We're already looking forward to the smooth, virus-free tarmac of the future, and we invite you to do the same.
So, what are we planning for our return to the road in 2021? Well predictably the long months of lockdown have given us plenty of time in which to refine our routes and even conjure up a few new ideas, and initially we're applying these tweaks to a few of our old favourites - the Eagle Rally and the Camembert Run. Along with the re-scheduled Beer Italia, these trips are the first ones which we'll be opening for entries - from today, in fact. The dates of these trips are given below, and for more information on the individual tours, head over to the drives section of the website.
2021 Beer Italia - 19th to 27th June
2021 Camembert Run - 14th to 30th August
2021 Eagle Rally - 18th to 26th September
So, those are our first three trips for next year - if you'd like to give yourself something to look forwards to over the winter, feel free to get in touch and reserve a place on one of the trips. Or, if you're particularly missing the open road, don't be shy; hit us up for all three. You know it makes sense, because as Tolkien once said:
'At the rising of the sun in the twenty-first year of the new millennium, the V8s and the supercharged beasts of Mordor shall awake from hibernation and their roars will frighten the very bedrock, as a thirst for adventures and beers in far-off lands is met with thunder.'
Or something like that. Oh, and by the way, don't believe everything you read on the Internet.
Right, enough of the tenuous Lord of the Rings references. That's where we are now; in summary, it's a case of 'so long 2020, roll on 2021.' Hopefully we'll be seeing you on the road then, and in the meantime, if you have any queries about our upcoming trips, or if you'd like to book yourself a life-affirming drive for next year, feel free to give us a shout.
Ben