We know what happened worldwide in 2020 so there is no need to expand on it.  

For reasons I now regret, I made a choice to run back to China in the early months of 2020 before they closed the border. What followed were months of earning an income from both full and part time work, stockpiling cash, partying, and making gains in fitness.  All this could happen due to a level of protection away from the worst of the pandemic.  You could say I benefited big time from China's initial zero-covid campaign and you would be right.  As the WHO even said back then, this pandemic was the only one in history that could be contained. 

So why the regret?  Well for starters I fell for the zero covid propaganda hook, line, vaccine, and lockdown.

But at the time you just don't know.  In the middle of 2020 when your global gym studio is the only one in the world doing the daily workouts, there is no hint of social distancing, you're still partying hard and hitting the bars nearly every weekend, and you're making a fortune the whole time, this pride kind of gets to your head.   Even so, despite all the boasting about what I could do in mid-2020 when the pandemic was running rampant all over the world,  there was something that made me feel this was all wrong.  Was I really the luckiest and smartest guy in the world to have made this last minute border run?  Were all these amazing fruits of zero covid policy some sort of geniue move, or was this all about to backfire very very badly?

Towards the end of 2020, our group of expat teachers got selected for the first chance of the covid vaccine before the end of the year.  I was one of the first in the world to be "covid free" and life would just get better and better as we could use the vaccine to travel.  Also the relationship with my fiancee was the best yet.  We saved our relationship during the pandemic since we weren't separated like so many others were.

Yet all that came with a massive cost.  All throughout 2020 and 2021, the hope of any international tours were completely dashed and never looking to return.  Living in China throughout 2020 was the reverse of the hotel California.  You can leave any time you want but you won't be coming back.

Going overseas would require a 14-day quarantine on arrival, even back to my home country. And then once there facing no good economic prospects, trying to return to China would be impossible. I had already done a 14 day self-quarantine in March.  It wasn't even remotely strict but I have no desire to repeat it.

While China effectively contained covid in 2020-21, it was never free travel.  Even for domestic trips, you don't just hop a plane or train anywhere.  There are all these city and provincial-level green codes required, as well as as hotels and facilities requiring negative covid tests. There is always the possibility of a sudden sporadic outbreak somewhere.