Why I Wrote This

In 2021, I was locked in a hotel room near Heathrow Airport.

The door stayed shut. The corridor guarded. And three times a day, a knock announced that a paper bag of food had been left on the carpet outside.

I was very alone.

I started writing at the end of that first day. Not for anyone else. Not with a plan. Just to hold on to what was happening while I was still inside it.

It became the most important thing I did each day.

Four years later, I found the diary again. I read it from start to finish, and I was surprised by how much I had forgotten, and how much came rushing back to me.

That daily journal was simply a record of what happened. With the luxury of time and distance, I have added more about how it made me feel.

I have decided to publish it. One day at a time. One post per week. Exactly as it happened.

But before the diary begins, I want to set the scene. Over the next few weeks, I will share what led to this moment and what it actually felt like from the inside.

The first diary entry drops after that. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

Andy Candler