Note on Travel

My love for travel came early and it was influenced by two people: My father and Echo.

We have a globe in the house and that’s both me and my dad’s favorite thing. We’d turn the globe and I would point my finger on it when it stops, and my dad would tell me everything about that place, history, politics, and the people. It was such a wonderful thing to know there are so many fascinating places in the world and I promised myself that I would go and see with my eyes one day. Also, thanks to my dad, I never come in second place in geography exams!

And then there’s Echo. I read her book at a very young age, they are everywhere in my house too, her books belong to my mother, I could not stop reading them through once I discovered her. I used to introduce her to my foreign friends as “the first travel blogger and influencer in the 70s.” she traveled everywhere in the world, spoke Chinese, Spanish, German, and English.

Her life with her Spanish husband in the Sahara desert that she documented in her first book《Sahara stories》 made her famous. Through her writing, People back in the East got to know the rest of the world. Her book《Gentle nights》documented her life in the Canary Islands, oh that island life! I was devastated when I read about her husband’s accident and learned later that she committed suicide. It was a beautifully sad story.
I read all her books, but I chose to keep always the first two, the ones that she wrote before the accident, the happy Echo, I intentionally chose to live a happy life. I know it’s not what life is all about, but it reminds me of the beauty of travel and love and life itself. No matter how many times I moved, these two books will forever be found dogeared in my shelves.

So thanks, Dad and Echo, thank you for showing me the world at an early age and teaching me to appreciate the diversity of different cultures. You planted the seeds in my heart, and everywhere I go, it feels like coming home.

Photo shot in Chaka Salt Lake, Qinghai, China.