For a year, I went to India and North Korea and began to think about what kind of person I wanted to be.

At this time last year, when I returned from a trip to South Asia for more than two months, the most frequently asked question was, "Is India really like that?" This year, just after the New Year, I returned from a trip to North Korea and asked the same question. , just changed the subject, "Is North Korea really like that?"

It's not that I want to deliberately go to places that others are not willing to go to show off my travel experience, and I'm not that brave. I went to such a country specifically to find the excitement of life. I just had too much curiosity and hoped to be satisfied in my twenties. But during so many years of traveling, I always believed more and more that "if I treat people well, they will be kind to me." Repay me with kindness."

My childhood growth experience did not make me a person with outstanding personality. Fortunately, the seeds of unrest buried deep in my heart burst out after the college entrance examination. The first hard-seat trip without hesitation gave me a taste of it. The sweetness of freedom and freshness. I worked hard to make money and save money during the four years of college and completed countless trips. Under the influence of good movies and new ideas, I began to discover a different life.

When I was in my senior year in Xi’an that year, I sent an email to Langmusi, which was not too far away, and applied to be a volunteer in a youth hostel. It was a very long email. Later, the owner of the youth hostel, who is now my sister who is like a close relative, told me that she had not planned to go that winter. Langmusi was very cold in winter, except for the few tourists during the Chinese New Year. , almost no one visits on weekdays. For a youth hostel, it is not profitable. Moreover, she was pregnant at the time, and over the years of running the youth hostel, she has been let go by volunteers quite often.

But she said that no one had ever sent her such a long email. She believed in me, whom she had never met, and believed in my words that I would set off from my hometown in Jiangxi to the Tibetan area in Gannan on the third day of the Lunar New Year. , and I also believe she is a good person. With trust in each other, we did what we could both call our "firsts."

Facts have proved that such courage and trust enabled us to form a lifelong friendship. I attended the wedding of her and her Tibetan husband, and witnessed their children grow from being in the belly to a little baby who could only laugh, to a little girl holding my hand and telling me stories. In the past few years, apart from talking about going home, I He would also say that he was going back to Langmusi.

In the second half of my senior year, the volunteer trip continued, going to Xiamen and Qinghai, and traveling back and forth to Xi'an school for defense and graduation. Two completely different regions brought me completely different gains.

In Xiamen, you can go out to sea with a sailboat for free, wake up and sleep on Gulangyu Island for free, and walk through the alleys of this half-new and half-old old city, pretending that you are no stranger to all this. , telling myself that there is a lot of time here and there is no need to rush.

In Qinghai, I had a good time drinking with a large group of people. That’s where I learned to drink. The owners of the youth hostel and their friends are all people with stories in my eyes, and they also have the same name - members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team. It seems that ordinary people from all walks of life in the city will take helicopters into the Grand Canyon for search and rescue during holidays, organize safe hikes in the Devil's City, and load up snow mountains to clean up garbage... And I also started a solo environmental mission. Riding on Qinghai Lake made them praise this not-so-tall southern girl.

In this short period of six months, I found that I hope that my youth will be spent in a time that makes me laugh when I recall it, instead of blindly stepping on what everyone thinks is right. Spend time on the road. I have always been very well-behaved, but I began to realize that there is nothing to be afraid of when I am different from others.

In my first year of work, I chose Shanghai, where there were many opportunities. I worked as a guide editor on a travel website. The salary was not that high, and I was quite happy at work. But I knew from the beginning that I would not stay in that city that I had been to many times, so I made an appointment with myself in October: to go to the surrounding areas I wanted to visit within ten months, and then leave.

When I left, I probably relied on the fact that I still had enough money, so I first returned to the Northwest, which I had longed for, along the legendary Silk Road, and then back to Langmusi, where I wanted to be a store manager. , selling gadgets, and after experiencing the life-or-death situation of helping Tibetans round sheep but being knocked down the hillside and trampled by the sheep, a thought came to my mind to go to Xinjiang. Having written so many guides, the beauty of Northern Xinjiang and the legend of Southern Xinjiang have always been in my heart. If an accident comes sooner than tomorrow, at least I won’t say I regret it. In Xinjiang, where the riots had just ended a month ago, I saw incomparable purity. I rode in countless cars from northern Xinjiang to southern Xinjiang, squeezed into green leather carriages with the Hui people, and slept in temporary yurts at the foot of Tianshan Mountain... These were all things that I thought I could brag about for the rest of my life at that age.

After my trip to Xinjiang was over, I decided to go to Chengdu. The reason is very simple. When I met new friends in Chengdu later, I would always say, "I had two Sichuan dishes in Korla that day, and I thought the Sichuan food was so good." If you want to eat, why not go to Sichuan? "I like working in Chengdu very much. It allows me to discover the possibility of another life, just like a ticket I posted, "I am a wandering cat, but I can also be a tsundere cat." .

Chengdu is a petty-bourgeois city. Connected with Chongqing, it forms a literary and artistic circle with a unique atmosphere in the western region. People who met me later thought that I was literary. Thanks to my work in Chengdu, I thanked me Given by the wonderful people I have met. They made me discover another charm of words and pictures, which record not only stories but also feelings. Although the word "sentiment" is said in a bad way, in those years, when we first talked about it, I admired it.

What I want to say is that many people are afraid that they will be out of touch with society after a resignation trip, but I believe that as long as you work hard during the journey, everything you gain will become your future life path. chips. If you tell your story, someone will invite you to drink and pay for it.

In the end, I chose to pursue a graduate degree in this major, English. My parents are very pleased. I have been good at English since I was a child. From elementary school to college, I rebelliously took the psychology test once and failed. In the end, I chose English because it is useful.

Since I was worried about taking the postgraduate entrance examination, I chose to go to Lhasa to prepare for the exam two months before the exam. However, I didn’t like Tibet before because too many people went there to “redeem their souls” and I felt that the land was polluted. But that is not the case, it is pure and will never be polluted.

During the half year in Lhasa, from late autumn to early spring, during the entire off-season, there were not many tourists, but there were many Tibetans who had no farm work at hand. They turned around every day, drank tea and soaked up the sun. I saw the beauty of living without desires. I have no faith, but I enjoy praying because when I pray, I can really gain inner peace. I also like drinking tea, and I don’t mind even if I gained a lot of weight in Lhasa. I prefer to put on sunscreen and go out to climb mountains and bask in the sun. I feel so happy in the winter.

In Lhasa, I met many "Lapiao". They "use their dreams as horses" here because they really have a deep love for this land in their hearts. Their decision to stay and live makes me feel envious and admirable, because living in Lhasa, only dreams are not enough. I have seen everyone's efforts, starting a business, and working part-time, which are a hundred times harder than in the mainland.

During the six months in Lhasa, I not only completed my own improvement, but also witnessed the difficulty behind a seemingly beautiful life. I began to understand, "You can disagree, but please respect other people's lifestyles." I began to discover what kind of life I should want to live, and whether I can afford such a life and persist in it.

Taking advantage of the convenient geographical location of Lhasa, I came to Nepal from the border, and then from Nepal to India, starting my first solo trip abroad. From the moment I was "interviewed" at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, I guessed that this would be an extraordinary trip. After all, it was a country that was admired by the whole world as incredible.

Carrying LP and carrying a large 50L bag, I traveled to 9 cities in northern India in 25 days. At first, it was because Shao Yibei said on Zhihu several years ago that Northern India is the most cost-effective place she has ever been to. Travel place.

Beiyin is like a huge history museum, containing everything I have only seen in history books and everything I have never seen. Whether they are relics or rituals, they all make me feel unreal, but they always exist and always happen. Whether they are poor people living in poverty or well-dressed intellectuals, they all seem to have walked out of the TV, or in other words, I have slipped into the Indian TV. Whether they are dilapidated slums or beautifully decorated villas, I sometimes feel sad and indignant about the gap between the rich and the poor, and sometimes lament the exquisiteness of Indian art and culture... This is a contradictory country, which completely opened up the knot of my contradictory heart. As many foreigners I met told me, I have been to India and there is nothing I can’t understand.

As for safety, I still know the most basic thing about not going out alone at night. And as I said before, if I treat people with good intentions and treat them as equals, I will mostly get the same feeling.

I once met an aunt who poured water for people on the roadside. When I lined up behind a child to give her my mineral water bottle, she looked up at me and smiled. He scooped out a large spoonful of ice water and poured it on me. At that moment, I felt extremely cool.

I have met many kind-hearted young people. When I took buses and trains, they helped me communicate with the flight attendants, reminded me to get off at the station, helped me buy train tickets, and led me to the places I was really looking for. Destination that I can’t reach...

I have met cute children and traveling families. They shook hands with me, took photos, and talked with me, just like when I met foreigners in my hometown when I was a child...

Of course, I have met a few people who made me feel angry...but calmly ignoring them or politely rejecting them are better ways to protect yourself.

After India, I also took a trip to Thailand and Vietnam. This more than two-month trip to South and Southeast Asia broadened my horizons and made me realize some things that I didn’t believe were true before. things, and seriously thought about whether I could do some good things as a person/Chinese, so I became more determined. As a student majoring in translation, my biggest dream is to bring the true and beautiful but unknown China to the world. , introduce it to more people.

In fact, because of my childhood experience, I have a very weak feeling for my family. I used to think that I was wrong. But later I found out that there are many people like me. While I am more relaxed, I will try my best to live in my own place temporarily. city, invite parents to play. This time in the Northeast, which is farthest from home, I also asked my father to come and asked him if he wanted to go to North Korea. I saw that his eyes were shining.

There are many people who have been to North Korea. Since they can only go with a group, many people think it is more reassuring. However, it is also possible that everyone is going with a group, so there are not many guides available online. many. Before departure, I had read about this four-day and three-night trip to North Korea from Dandong. It visited three major cities in North Korea and the food, accommodation and transportation were all well arranged. In fact, it can be said to be very good. The tour guides were all very kind-hearted little girls. When they talked about the US invasion of them, they would choke up and burst into tears, which made me feel a little at a loss for a moment.

The capital Pyongyang is like Dalian in the 1970s. There are no beautifully designed skyscrapers. In the winter, people walk on the road, ride bicycles on the road, queue up to take the bus on the road, and wear tight clothes. The slogans on the roadside are very similar to those of China in the past two years. I can guess what they say without asking.

Although the accommodation is relatively remote and it is not practical to go shopping in the city with a few peers, we were arranged to take the Pyongyang subway and sit on the 38 minutes in Panmunjeom together. These two things in the Boundary Conference Room touched my heart. After all, they are trying to show us their goodness and their hope for peace.

Shortly after I went to North Korea, I actually went to South Korea. I talked a lot about North Korea with my Korean sister I met in India last year. She was very envious of me being able to go to North Korea and carefully looked through my photo album. Regarding the photos of North Korea, we sat in the National Museum and talked for a long time about history and reality. I can often see my future appearance in her who is a few years older than me. She has an independent mind. That is I like the look.

I still remember that when I exited the office after the graduate interview and was about to close the door, several teachers inside couldn’t help but sigh in Chinese, “She looks so young, but she has so much life experience.” ". Also, I really like that the boss in Chengdu once introduced me to the outside world and said that I was a "tramp".

Traveling is probably a contradictory thing. On the one hand, I always have innocence and hope in my heart because I meet too many good intentions. On the other hand, I gradually grow into a hundred people because I meet too many extraordinary people. People who are immune to poison, but this is not a bad thing, nor will it make people conflicted to death.

I hope that my life will always be like this, traveling and living freely, always being able to make a living based on my own preferences, and doing some useful things within my ability with my professionalism and experience in the near future.

Finally, what I want to say is that no matter how your family background affects your life choices, it is never too late to discover yourself. If you work hard and have good intentions, you will become luckier and luckier.