China Travel Forum

[Aynur]

So you're ready to travel. Pick a place, any place. Let's say you've always wanted to go to China. You've seen pictures of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tianenmen Square. You loved The Last Emperor and Raise the Red Lantern. You've eaten Szechuan and Hunan and Chao Chow. You've always been fascinated with Chinese culture, with red temples and Buddhas and ladies with tiny feet.

You happen to have some money socked away and extra vacation time accrued. There's nothing to stop you - now's the time to go!

But maybe you're not someone who has traveled much. Sure, a summer in Europe, a Christmas in the Bahamas. You've been to Paris to visit friends, went to Mexico with an ex-lover, stayed with your sister in San Francisco.

But you've never really traveled. Not like this. You've never been to an exotic place, where you can't speak the language, can't even read the signs. A place where you'll have to do all the research for yourself, find hotels, get yourself from airports to towns, buy train, bus or boat tickets, order your own food.

So now you're ready for an adventure. You've got the money and the time to finally realize your dream. And you're excited about it. You're going to explore China, and find, for yourself, the soul of the country.

Unfortunately, none of your friends share that dream.

Your sister thinks China sounds awful. She doesn't even like Chinese food. Your best friend just got a new job and can't take time off. Your Significant Other - well, isn't it a little too early to risk that relationship? Remember what happened in Mexico!

So what do you do? You could ask everyone you know - friends, acquaintances, coworkers. You could ask them to ask their friends and acquaintances and coworkers. You could offer to pay the airfare. You could advertise for a travel companion. You could join a tour. Or you could go alone.

To travel alone, I suppose, is a difficult decision for anyone, though especially so for a woman. For me, it seemed to come naturally. I made that trip to China. And to Indonesia and Burma and England and France.

But the reactions I've gotten, from people I know, fellow travelers, and especially, from the natives of the countries I've visited, showed me that solo traveling is unusual, and even inconceivable to many people. People ask me if I'm lonely. People wonder what's wrong with me. And because I'm a woman, I guess, (and small?) people have felt the need to take care of me.