Honduras

Patrick wanted to get scuba certified and Rachel and I would have joined him anywhere.  Birthday trip April 2022? Sí, let’s complete this Pandemic (Legacy).

Now, this looks like an actual vacation!

One of the first things I learned when we landed on Roatan island in Honduras is that I’d been pronouncing it wrong. It’s Rotan not Roatan like it’s spelled, humbling (and confusing).

Anyway, the last time I had seen the Caribbean sea was in 2018 and she has not lost her good looks.

Our public transportation ferry rides (which always left surprisingly on time)…once had dolphins as companions. And another time? Flying fish!

A VERY typical Honduran smattering. We had that white, salty cheese at every meal.

It felt fantastic to be in a new place. So much happens every.single.day when I travel. Have I said that before? I can’t remember 😜 And especially, especially, when you’re trying to save the world. 

Huh?
What does that mean?
What do you mean?

This ol’ thing?

Pandemic Legacy, Season 0. Communist addiction. I mean, edition.

I’ll admit it, we were addicts.  We started a campaign to rid the Soviets of their deadly bioweapon, Project MEDUSA.  But if you’ve never heard of Pandemic Legacy before now, I forgive you.

Nothing was going to stop us.

We spent 10+ hours a day playing. You’re right, I’m understating it. When we weren’t playing, we were scheming.  It’s *almost* all we talked about and it was nutrient-dense, like our connection to this game (and each other AND THE WORLD) was refueling my personality. We were spies. We made decisions. We used our 4 actions wisely.  We came closer to the truth!
“What are you going to do on your turn?”…was a question that plagued us all.

This game required a lot of set up and had many moving parts, so we had to be stationary for large chunks of the time we were in Honduras. For example, at a cafe. Or, wherever we might be sleeping for the night. Rearranging our room or a restaurant as soon as we arrived – in order to get it to the perfect configuration – became compulsory.

People thought we looked cool (I’m assuming). They were right, we are cool.
“We’d all like to write our own reviews.” – Ricky Gervais

Nerd alert.

We still traveled around, of course.  Visited multiple islands: Utila and Roatan, as well as mainland Honduras. We saw lots of wildlife; toucans, a green snake, plenty of butterflies, a praying mantis, and tiny frogs. We hiked to multiple waterfalls.  And watched fish getting fed scraps. Sure, we over ordered food.  Ate baladas. Got bit by sandflies (ouch). Sat on the beach for sunsets. Went swimming. Plus, Patrick and Jamie got scuba certified while Rachel and I visited a land-based local chocolatier. But mostly, we played Pandemic.

What it looked like when we were ‘forced’ to take a break.

Cascada

We mandated ourselves to go on walks so we could approach that month with a fresh perspective to enjoy nature.

At a park entrance we were lent this “map” to take a picture of – not ours to keep. It was auspicious that we were already well-practiced in looking for clues.

This particular waterfall and I got on really well.

Sustenance for heroes.

Our host told us that if we sit in the back of his truck we were “going to get dusty.”
And so it was.

I will never not laugh about the fact that there was an unused bed in this room and Patrick had to choose not to sleep in it 😂

Everyday we deliberated about our game. Relentlessly. I think the best night’s sleep we got was when we played a crucial “One Quiet Night” and we ourselves were able to have one quiet night.

On our last evening in Honduras we set up the game by the water and predictably, this happened. I love that video.  Can you hear our jubilation?!  Will it be a satellite? And what can we learn after watching Patrick fearlessly dive into the dark sea?  Rome probably wouldn’t dry in a day — but Leningrad would!

We played our game deep into the night, having to peel it off of the sticky, salty, outside table and bring it inside. But, we finished our campaign. It was oh-so-satisfying.

Fresh perspectives

To show us we had done everything right — and in profound serendipity — when we’d flown out of The States we’d been required to wear masks on the airplane but as we re-entered Stateside 10 days later…The mask mandate had been lifted and we were allowed to be mask free on the plane!  And that, my friends, is what I call winning Pandemic (Legacy Season 0), Exemplary Status. 

Game recognizes game,
‘mi