Captain's log - stardate 74480.8

I thought I should post a general update on the voyage. As captain, I spend quite a bit of time writing reports for Starfleet, as well as finding sources of food and other necessities, and Commander Chris is away from the ship most days, carrying out various trading, exploratory and diplomatic missions, and finding power sources. We decided that we both need leisure activities for off-duty times, so acquired a selection of craft materials and board games, which are also enjoyed by Ensign Zeph. For a while we were near enough to settled planets for the ensign to attend school in person, but for the next while he will be studying virtually again. He misses spending time with other students, but stays in contact with his friends via the comms system. We are travelling with another small vessel, so spend some of our off-duty time with the captain and ensign from that ship.

The plague which has spread across the quadrant is still spreading, and new variants have developed. This means that we have to take even more stringent precautions to reduce the risk of either becoming infected ourselves or transmitting the disease to others.   

This voyage has been difficult for the whole crew, and the hardest part has been the distance from family and friends. Sometimes it feels like we'll never again be near enough, but virtual communication makes us feel better. None of us realised how much we rely on spending time with others, relaxing together and getting hugs until we couldn't do that any more. Now we have only each other to lean on, but as long as we remember that we are a team we'll get by.

Captain's log - stardate 74475.7

 Celebrating Earth festivals while on a long voyage far from home is very different from usual. For all the crew there have been traditions which we have had to miss this year, but we did our best to replicate as many of our favourites as possible. We changed things around in the common room/workroom/lab to make space for a Christmas tree and other decorations, and, fortunately, we have found plenty of trading posts (both in space and on-planet) so we all did some shopping for gifts, and managed to find ingredients that were similar enough to those we're used to, so we could make lots of our favourite treats. We even used the sprouts that we grew in the hydroponics bay for Christmas dinner! We also decided to trade for a communications booster system, because for all of us, one of the most important events were the virtual meetups with family - even though we're physically far away we could still be close. We hope that by next Christmas we may be near enough to Earth to visit in person, but I think we made the best of it.