I have to keep reminding myself: the plane tickets to Korea have been purchased. We wouldn't have pulled the trigger on them if we didn't think we could hit our target this time. Until now, the stumbling block has been, as many have experienced in their biking adventures recently, a problem of pandemic proportions (hardy har har). We bought tickets to do this exact same tour, plus a chunk of Japan, two years prior. Our friend from Shenzhen was even going to join us for part of it. Then, like a slow-motion train wreck, we watched helplessly as each piece of our well-laid plan flew off the rails and into the culvert of broken dreams. OK, it wasn't so dramatic as to deserve such ridiculous similes and metaphors. We were actually able to cancel the flight for a full refund. And I can't complain too much about the deferral of our plans, since we've kept ourselves busy in the meantime. But it has been 6 years since we've seen my dear in-laws. And our poor deprived bikes have never touched Korean soil.

Last week we finally received news that the government is lifting its mandatory quarantine for foreign visitors who are vaccinated, starting April 1. We've been waiting for this moment. We're going to make this happen.

We have roughly a month. That should get us from Incheon to Busan, then up the East Sea coast to the Unification Observatory near the North Korean border. From there, we'll bus it to Chuncheon, then ride leisurely back to Seoul, Incheon, and the airport. I'll plot out a map and add it to the next entry.

Warning: I may tire of typing out the Romanized spellings of place names. I don't expect everyone to learn how to read the Hangeul alphabet, but you can copy/paste the names into your favorite map app if you want to know exactly where a place is.

I'll update the journal sporadically as the big day approaches, after which I plan to make daily updates. It's going to be a super fun adventure, and with my wife as our guide, we hope to give readers little insights here and there that go beyond the usual tourist discoveries. And there will be food! Lots and lots of food! We're already salivating.