I canceled my decade long tradition of traveling to see family for the holidays. Please join me

COVID-19 is not under control in Colorado. We need to stay at home this holiday season to do our part to stop viral spread and save lives.

California beach (Photo by Danny Katz)

Anyone who knows me knows I love routine. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch every day for 20 years. I read every night before bed no matter how tired I am and I would order from the same five restaurants the rest of my life if my wife would let me. 

My love of routine extends to traditions and there is no time of the year when I have more time-honored traditions than the holiday season. 

But this year, to save lives and to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control sooner, canceling my family’s decade-long tradition of leaving Colorado during the holidays was the right thing to do. When we called our loved ones to tell them we weren’t coming to visit, it was heartbreaking. 

Authors

Danny Katz

Executive Director, CoPIRG

Danny has been the director of CoPIRG for over a decade. Danny co-authored a groundbreaking report on the state’s transit, walking and biking needs and is a co-author of the annual “State of Recycling” report. He also helped write a 2016 Denver initiative to create a public matching campaign finance program and led the early effort to eliminate predatory payday loans in Colorado. Danny serves on the Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT) Efficiency and Accountability Committee, CDOT's Transit and Rail Advisory Committee, RTD's Reimagine Advisory Committee, the Denver Moves Everyone Think Tank, and the I-70 Collaborative Effort. Danny lobbies federal, state and local elected officials on transportation electrification, multimodal transportation, zero waste, consumer protection and public health issues. He appears frequently in local media outlets and is active in a number of coalitions. He resides in Denver with his family, where he enjoys biking and skiing, the neighborhood food scene and raising chickens.