Discover Your Nevada and Yourself

By Kat Galli

The pandemic has affected me on many levels. I work in the tourism industry, and I would have never thought that anything would ever shut us down. Especially not shut us down completely. Have you seen pictures of the empty Strip in Las Vegas? Yeah, that is my industry. My small community of Tonopah was on the rise, we were doing well, we were working together to put us “on the map.” Lots of great businesses and amazing people were willing to volunteer their time to improve the town they live in. Then COVID-19 got to Nevada, and we were shut down.

Hotels, restaurants, and stores closed. I was working from home. That was the good news. I still had a job. I dug my heels in and worked. Not knowing how long the lockdown would be, I continued planning events, writing grant applications, preparing advertisements. Over the course of months, I would find myself redoing everything and changing the same work over and over again. Nothing was certain anymore. Events got rescheduled, then rescheduled again, then cancelled. Guidelines seemed to change every day. While the measures were effective in keeping people healthy and alive, they destroyed my industry. Our State Tourism Office, Travel Nevada, set up weekly Zoom meetings with everyone in the tourism industry. Every week, someone was not on the call anymore. They had lost their job. It was devastating to watch the impact of the virus play out in front of me. It was like watching an accident happen and not being able to do anything to stop it.

For those who contracted COVID-19, got seriously ill, or know someone who died, they will probably think that I was at least healthy and alive. Yes, I am grateful every day that so far, none of my family members have contracted the disease. But that does not lessen the devastation the pandemic caused for my industry. With convention centers shutting down, events being cancelled, travel being banned, there was nothing we could do to bring our industry back. We were all forced to sit back and watch. I was overwhelmed by thoughts and feelings. Fear for my friends and family to contract the disease, but also fear for our local businesses, our local museums, and my partners in the industry. Our rural communities have survived until this point, but will they come out of COVID-19?

The pandemic hit Europe before it got to the United States so I already had an idea of how bad it could get before we even had the first US case. I grew up in Germany and my family still lives there. I knew we would run out of toilet paper and other essential items. It was no different in our community. Living in the 21st century with smartphones controlling our everyday lives, one cannot fathom that a disease would shut down the whole world. How did we miss the warning signs?

America’s reaction to the virus seemed slow to me. While Americans were still flying between Europe and the United States, I was already “grounded” as a European citizen. This may not seem like a big deal to anyone reading this as everyone was put under travel restrictions shortly thereafter. I saw friends posting about how much they wanted to go on this or that vacation or how much they wanted to go to Disneyland. I want to travel, too. But for me, this travel ban meant that I could not go home. Could not see my parents, my brother, my niece, my nephew. No big deal, right? You just visit them later. But when is later? Lockdown was difficult enough for me as a people person. No laughs at the office, no hugs from friends, no dinners with my American family. But not knowing when I would see my German family again was heartbreaking and worrisome.

Then my mother’s cancer came back after five years. You already feel helpless watching your parents go through such a serious illness but being on the other side of the world, not even being able to just visit for an hour, is numbing and devastating. The good news is that they caught it earlier this time, and she did not have to go through chemotherapy and radiation again. She recovered well from her surgery, as much as you can say someone is well after having had stage 4 cancer. My family got about two months of relief before my father’s cancer came back after less than two years. The news hit me like a brick wall. If you have ever gotten awful news like that, you can imagine how I felt. Being thousands of miles away with no way to get there was almost intolerable. I couldn’t even help my parents with their grocery shopping. And there is no end in sight for this virus. The thought of flying to Germany with layovers at different airports, having close contact with hundreds of people, and possibly bringing this deadly virus into my parents’ house, is unbearable. Which only leaves one solution. I cannot visit until this is all over. But when will this all be over?

I am a planner. I do not do well sitting back and waiting for the outcome, I want to influence the outcome. I will have 10 different scenarios in my head, and I will have prepared for every single one of them. This is a sure way to drive yourself crazy under normal circumstances but especially difficult when you are in the midst of a pandemic. I had to learn to change. With all the negatives that 2020 has brought us, I have chosen to focus on the positives. Not an attitude I had before. My glass was always less than half full.

Puzzles are my new personal positive. I used to never do puzzles. I was just looking for something to do other than watching TV. I love being creative and making things. But there is always a seam off when quilting or a brush stroke not quite right in your painting. Puzzles are perfect because you cannot mess them up. There is only one right way to finish them. Oh, how the perfectionist in me loves this! After you finish, you snap a picture, you put it back in the box. No dust catcher to add to a wall or shelf. Puzzles have helped me change. I am calmer than before. I deal with stress way better. I have a higher tolerance level for others. Imagine me on endless work calls at home while doing a puzzle. I joke that I should be able to do puzzles at work. They should be considered “reasonable accommodations,” I think.

Those Zoom meetings I mentioned earlier? Definitely a positive. We have never been closer and more connected in the tourism industry. The weekly exchanges are so important, and I am lucky to have such great partners in other communities across the state. We vent, we laugh, we help each other. This industry is certainly a blessing.

Living in rural Nevada. Such a huge positive. While people in cities had to stand in line to even get into the grocery store, we really did not feel much impact in our everyday lives once the shutdown was lifted. Yes, you have to wear a mask everywhere. Yes, you have to stand six feet apart. But hey, nobody has rammed their shopping cart into my back in 2020. That is a positive! While people elsewhere were looking for things to do, we Nevadans had the wide-open spaces that make our state as beautiful and fascinating as it is, in our front yard. My husband and I made sure to “go out in the hills” every weekend. We just took whatever road looked good. Exploring nature, checking out rock formations, wildflowers, dry riverbeds, wild horses, and antelope. Hiking to viewpoints, taking pictures, enjoying nature’s beauty. We had snow, we had rain, we had sunshine. Have you ever smelled the desert after rain? Yeah, that is what we had. We loved every minute of it. If there is such a thing as nature therapy, Nevada is made for it. The sights, the smells, the sounds. There is no cell service when you are in Nevada’s backcountry so all you can do is enjoy nature.

Turns out my husband and I were doing what Travel Nevada is now encouraging every Nevadan to do. Their new campaign is called “Discover Your Nevada.” We were doing just that. For months. And we have not even covered a fraction of our state. There are so many places left to see, so many communities ready to welcome back visitors, ready to save their small businesses, eager to show you their history. Why take our hard-earned Nevada dollars elsewhere? There is so much to see and explore in our own state. I knew I loved Nevada before COVID-19, but I love it so much more now.

It seems impossible to think that in a year that everyone would label as the worst year of their lives, I have found a way to look at the positives in my work and personal life. It might seem small, but your attitude changes your whole viewpoint. I continue to work on myself and my attitude. I practice yoga, and I continue to do puzzles. I know I have changed. I think I am a better version of myself. Maybe the people in my life will read this and laugh. They might say that I am still the same. But I know I am not. I feel the transformation. I know I think differently, feel differently, and react differently. I know I am more positive. It did not happen overnight and it sure is not second nature to me… yet… but reflecting on 2020, I see more positives in my work and personal life. It takes effort. I still get mad over the same stuff. But then I cool down faster and I know in the grand scheme of things, that little detail is not that big of a deal.

So if you are at home reading this, feeling sad about the world around you, I encourage you to go out there and take a road trip. Throw a dart at a Nevada map and start driving. See where you end up. Find a ghost town, an open valley, a lake, a small town, a cute store. Take up photography, hiking, kayaking, off-roading. The opportunities are endless. It is your home, your state, your Nevada. Go and discover it and discover yourself!

Kat Galli was born in Muenster, Germany and grew up in a small town. She discovered her love for Nevada as a foreign exchange student in Tonopah, Nevada. After graduating from Tonopah High School, she returned to Germany to obtain her German high school diploma. Kat studied German, English, math, art, psychology, and education at the University of Muenster and graduated with a master’s degree in elementary education. After teaching grades one through four in Germany for eight years, Kat moved back to Tonopah in 2014 and has been working for the Town of Tonopah as the Tourism & Events Coordinator. Kat enjoys traveling and has visited 16 countries. She likes painting, quilting, doing crafts, and spending time with her family and friends.

Thank you for visiting Humanities Heart to Heart, a program of Nevada Humanities. Any views or opinions represented in posts or content on the Humanities Heart to Heart webpage are personal and belong solely to the author or contributor and do not represent those of Nevada Humanities, its staff, or any donor, partner, or affiliated organization, unless explicitly stated. At no time are these posts understood to promote particular political, religious, or ideological points of view; advocate for a particular program or social or political action; or support specific public policies or legislation on behalf of Nevada Humanities, its staff, any donor, partner, or affiliated organization. Omissions, errors, or mistakes are entirely unintentional. Nevada Humanities makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on these posts or found by following any link embedded in these posts. Nevada Humanities reserves the right to alter, update, or remove content on the Humanities Heart to Heart webpage at any time.

Kathleen KuoNovember 9, 2020D9 Comments