A lesson in humility and 2021 resolution

2020 has been an incredible year.

It has been, it has been a root of many personal and professional changes, and when all is said and done, it thought me a lot about what type of person I am and want to be. Some many things and resolutions are in many ways personal, but there is one that relates to this blog which I wanted to share here as well.

Over the last few years, I’ve shared my stories and wrote reviews and opinions regarding things such as coffee, restaurants, and various random places both here and on Google Maps. And often, my reviews tended to be less than favourable - there are many more coffee places that don’t meet my standards of “good coffee” or restaurants that serve “good food” or places that are “too expensive”. But I’ve realised these are my standards and my ideology of what “good coffee” and “good food” and “reasonable price” are. Your opinion might be different. And by leaving bad reviews (or even something that might be called realistic, which is what I was always aiming for), I could easily hurt a small business or discourage a couple on their holiday of trying a charming little restaurant. It’s arrogant, of course, to think that my opinions matter that much. But my blogpost about Tulum this year had over 300 views. My google reviews across my accounts have over 1200 likes and 1M views in total. And at the end of the day, that is only my opinion. Small restaurants and businesses need their business more than ever before, so even a single negative review can hurt them a bit. And there is no reason for that. There is no reason why my opinion would be better than anyone else's.

So starting the new year, I decided to remove the negativity from both my blog and my google reviews. If the place is so good that it is worth talking about, I will talk about it. Otherwise, I will leave it to someone else to tell you how great they found the place. A little more positivity is desperately needed after this treacherous year, and I hope that my actions here are a small contribution.

Love,

B.