The world was devastated from the pandemic but most countries eventually moved on and learned to live with the virus.  Mainland China stuck with the zero covid policy the longest, even well into 2022.

This journal is a work in progress that aims to document such realities and hardships of living under this policy.  As an expat I am fortunate enough to at least have some options, including the option to leave.  Not all locals do, many can't.  Part of this journey is to find a way out of this mess and back to doing international cycle tours.  

This journey is by no means linear or straightforward, it is a convoluted maze.  It is punctuated by short burts of forward progress and often crippled by setbacks, restrictions, closures, lockdowns, and general government incompetence.

We might make a little progress only for the government to take away hope again and again while the future is lost.  Life is short and we don't have the luxury of time to live with these sorts of governments who take away life.

To that end I've written, rewritten, and edited this journal multiple times.  The finished product hopes to convey a sense of a somewhat linear journey from the confines of a small compound to the freedom of the wide expanse of the world. We will get through this.