I absolutely loved Thailand. The food, the prices, the people—everything except the air quality. My three weeks went quickly as I worked and spent my weekends doing trails with new friends.

Exactly one year earlier (plus or minus 14 hours), I had made a wish to celebrate NYE outside the States—and there I was, at a huge outdoor party in Thailand, making friends with other foreigners. And getting a haircut for only 200 THB ($6 USD), because why not go into 2020 looking fresh?

Soon after, I left for Indonesia to meet up with two coworkers for a client project. We were there for three weeks and I got sick as many times.

I spent a couple weeks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before heading back to the States for a few weeks.

On February 4, 2020, my connecting flight through Xiamen, China was canceled:

we are sorry to inform you that your flight MF829 on FEB06,2020,from XIAMEN to LOS ANGELES has been cancelled due to public security.

I rebooked through Hong Kong and made it back to the States just fine.

In early March, when I left the States for New Zealand, there were 45 cases in California and 0 in Long Beach.

I felt like I was getting out of the country just in time to avoid COVID completely.

A man wearing a mask takes a selfie on a city street at night, with one hand partially blocking the camera. The dimly lit background shows tall buildings with lights, street traffic, and a lamp post above.A wooden table with two clay stoves heating a metal and a clay pot, surrounded by raw ingredients on plates including marinated meat, green noodles, garlic, baby corn, and okra, with a bottle of Chang Classic beer on the side.Runners follow a dirt trail through a grassy field and wooded hillside at sunset, with orange light casting a warm glow on the sky and the silhouettes of trees in the distance.A man smiles while getting a haircut under ultraviolet lighting, with a barber in a glowing wristband holding clippers. A neon sign above them reads “The UltraViolent Barber” with vivid colors and blacklight accents.Two men stand inside a high-rise lounge area looking out a large window with a view of a cloudy city skyline. A potted plant is centered between them, and armchairs are positioned along the wall.A peaceful backyard with a tiled pool, lounge chairs, a thatched gazebo, and lush greenery. The traditional-style house surrounds the pool, and the water reflects the sky and nearby trees.A man smiles at the camera with a flower tucked behind his ear, standing at a rocky beach with waves and a partly cloudy sky. In the distance, cliffs and scattered trees line the shoreline.A smiling man stands in front of a wide grassy field bordered by a red-roofed, half-timbered building. Behind it rises a modern white high-rise against a blue sky with scattered clouds.An airplane entertainment screen shows the flight path from Hong Kong to Los Angeles across the Pacific Ocean. A digital globe highlights continents and the plane’s position along the curved white route.