Twenty-Twenty Rewind – There Are Highlights!

Twenty-twenty truly was an extraordinary year.

Rewind

Every year, ExpediTom looks back on past events with a brief rewind. Not only allows this to gain insights into what happened, but also makes sure that we are still on course. So, here’s a brief rewind of twenty-twenty with its highlights, downsides, and the outlook.

Twenty-Twenty

Overshadowed by the global Coronavirus pandemic, this year still offered many wonderful highlights. Therefore, I’d like to focus on the positive first.

Highlights of Twenty-Twenty

Having purchased a dedicated winter sleeping bag, I was finally able to stay outside even well into minus degrees Celsius. Friends and my girlfriend joined me on several expeditions
chasing wildlife, looking for stunning landscapes and just having a good laugh.

By travelling through Switzerland with a VW bus, a childhood dream came true. Those moments I cherish, for twenty-twenty has shown that we can’t take anything for granted.

“Those moments I cherish, for twenty-twenty has shown that we can’t take anything for granted.”

Guiding 2020

This year marked the first time that Andre Abt and ExpediTom offered guided weekends in the Engadin. In collaboration with the Villa Marguerita. Both weekends were fully booked, and the weather played balls. We enjoyed magnificent dry fly fishing and managed to catch fish even during run-off. Therefore, these trips were a huge success and we will continue to offer them in 2021. Stay tuned!

Apart from the guided Engadin weekends, I was also able to take clients fishing by myself. However, there weren’t as many opportunities due to obvious reasons. Hence, I focussed on tying flies and published several easy, successful patterns.

Reducing social contacts, I exclusively fished with my die-hard fishing buddies and kept physical distance. Once André invited me to enjoy a streamer session with Germano Vailati, who’s a great angler and teacher. Having splendid fishing opportunities right at my doorstep, I was glad to be able to escape the COVID-blues at a moment’s notice.

Wildlife photography was and still is a personal goal of mine. I followed kingfishers, chamois, foxes, as well as large trout with my camera. Still the elusive lynx and wolf remain ghosts. Time and time again, I ventured into the Swiss backcountry and the Surselva looking for these magnificent predators, but so far to no avail.

Downsides of Twenty-Twenty

It took some time until I caught my first fish this year. Moreover, I broke my creek rod on the very fist trip. What some might have taken for a bad omen, I looked at it as a low point from where it can only get better.

Despite planning to post on a weekly basis, I was lagging behind at times. Mostly, it was due to other obligations regarding work, rather than not having any adventures to report on. In fact, several posts, such as the Swiss national park, are quite advanced but not ready yet.

Usually, I travel a lot. I’ve been to Canada, Chile/Argentina, Sweden and several Asian countries and visited New Zealand on two occasions. Luckily, I hadn’t booked any vacations abroad, which was a coincidence.

Outlook Twenty-Twenty-One

Among last year’s goals were the following: create more video content, participate in 3 photo competitions, and do more wildlife photography in Switzerland (interestingly I even planned to focus on my home country before Covid-19 reached us).

To be honest, I didn’t feel like I have achieved half of it. Neither did I publish more videos, nor did I participate in 3 competitions. At least, I entered one photo competition, which was revealing of how my photography is judged by an international jury.

Therefore, I aim to participate in at least one photo competition to learn more next year. Secondly, I want to focus on specific photo and video projects to give it some more direction. Regarding fly fishing, I want to continue to fish in all 26 provinces in Switzerland. This was a goal stated in 2017, but I have not finished this yet.

Thank You!

This rewind twenty-twenty owes a big thanks to you my dear reader. I have only begun this journey recently, but it has taken me far and wide. Moreover, I was privileged to meet many great people. Your comments, mentions, and help are extremely appreciated, and I hope to go fishing, hiking, or photographing with all of you guys at some point, somewhere.

Tight Lines and stay healthy,

Tom

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