400 years ago, May 19, 1613 AD
Ming Dynasty geographer and traveler Xu Xiake "out of the West Gate from the Ninghai Sea"
Began his journey of "driving tens of thousands of miles and hesitating for thirty years"
Write the first page of "Xu Xia's Travels"
Today, 400 years later
Travel has become an epidemic virus
More and more "Xu Xiake"
With his footsteps, he composes his brilliant life on the road
"Contemporary Chinese Xu Xiake"
It is the highest honor for travelers with Chinese characteristics
May 19, 2013
Zhao Juyang became one of the elected
But her "Xu Xiake Travels" is still not finished
Zhao Juyang, screen name "Stray Cat Cat"
June 26, 2016
She was alone, driving a white Outlander
Depart from Hangzhou
The wheels crush 24 countries, including Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Cameroon
Wanderer 290 days and nights, traveling 37,000 kilometers
Become the first Chinese woman to single-bike across Asia, Europe and Africa
Who is she?
The "first half of her life" of female Xu Xiake
Scorpio + O blood + the chaotic lines of her right hand doom her to yearn for freedom, stubborn and frank personality and chaotic life.
When I was a child, cats and cats liked to wander in the unfamiliar streets and alleys of their hometown, thinking in their hearts: If I keep walking, keep walking, where will I go? It didn't matter if she got lost, strange and new things made her happy.
What really makes her feel "far away" is her parents who have been working outside for many years, and the novel gifts and fresh ideas they bring when they come home - pineapples with nailed eyes and don't know how to eat, a red bat shirt that makes the limelight at school, let the family say goodbye to the salty and spicy oil from Guangzhou's light and healthy diet concept... How colorful is the outside world?
At the age of 17, she pinched the 100 yuan saved by the province, pulled a female classmate, and ran happily to the Yaolin Wonderland in Tonglu, Zhejiang. Little she was fascinated by the magical karst landforms, colorful stalactites, and the strange cave world in Yaolin Cave - it turned out that the world could really be so wonderful... The dream of traveling around the world quietly sprouted in the heart.
Yaolin Wonderland
A stray "cat"
Although the later cat cat stranded her dream for ten years because of a failed marriage, Sai Weng lost his horse and learned that a trip to the cure of Jiuzhaigou began her later journey life - 8 years of global travel, 3 years of sofa guests, most of China has been traveled by her, as well as Japan, the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Afghanistan and more than a dozen other countries.
She also got her wish to have her own books: "The Couch Ride of a 35-Year-Old Single Woman" in 2011 and "Those Adventurous Dreams, I Accompany You to Madness" published in 2012.
Traveling in the United States as a couch guest
In Mexico, unknowingly participated in a local ride of hundreds of people and saw the crazy Mexican City in the rainstorm.
Go deep into the jungle to visit the Maasai tribe and visit the Maasai chiefs, couples and clansmen.
Experience the most authentic life of Cubans
He was even elected as the fifth "Chinese Contemporary Xu Xiake" in 2013.
She is synonymous with couch guest, enter "couch guest Zhao Juyang" search, page 59 is still her legend. 50,000 yuan in 108 days, sofa guests travel to the United States, Mexico, Cuba; 7500 yuan in 28 days, sofa guests travel to Japan, Hong Kong, Macao. A book "The Sofa Guest Journey of a 35-year-old Single Woman" has ignited the hope of countless grassroots walking the world. Budget travel is not an end in itself, but an attitude. Be a traveler with an attitude, be a young tramp with an attitude. (Award Speech of the Organizing Committee)
2005 photos, the picture quality is slightly slaggy, please understand ~
The road to finding dreams is difficult
As early as the publication of the second book five years ago, she had the dream of traveling around the world by car, but she did not expect that the road to finding dreams would be so difficult.
A single woman, single-handedly driving around the world, this gimmick is enough to pull sponsorship funds, but the cat is very clear, there is no free lunch in the world, sponsorship is bound to sacrifice freedom, but for the cat and cat who have free will above all else, there is no freedom to talk about travel?
Without makeup, he put on a wedding dress and took a photo with XiaoBai on the shores of Lake Baikal
So a female Wenqing who is not good at business, started a two- or three-year-long purchasing agency, looking for good products all over the world, bargaining with locals, saving money, but when she finally put together the funds, she was beaten back to its original form by a stock market crash.
Remorse, self-blame, despair... Blame God for the injustice? Or should you blame yourself for short-term success and momentary greed?
Not afraid of a thousand people blocking, only afraid of surrendering
For a month of shutting herself up at home, she reflected on herself every day, thought about the seemingly distant dream, and got back on her feet.
Or continue to do treasure hunting, this time she directly found the manufacturer, with the most reasonable price to send to the support of her friends hands... Day after day, packing all night, working almost 12 hours a day, tired to the point of sub-health, just to leave early.
Run to the Uncle of Afghanistan's house to find the dusty treasure
When she told her friends and family about this dream of global self-driving again, they advised her to give up: as long as you continue to operate like this, you will soon be able to eat and clothe without worry, your hard work in recent years has established a good reputation, and various channels such as supply and transportation have also been opened, as long as you continue to send out advertisements every day.
Perhaps the most frightening thing is not that there is no travel money, but that there is no support, and even worn out by more or less worry - self-driving is indeed more convenient than backpacking, but along the way, there will be many unpredictable risks: the car breaks down halfway, encounters theft, robbery, corruption, and even terrorist attacks...
In Russia the tire was punctured, and enthusiastic passers-by helped to change the tire
No! Having invested so much effort and effort, who would be willing to give up? The voice inside is still stubbornly saying: Go, go! It doesn't matter if you go through pain and happiness, the future is slim, the difficulties are many, the money is exhausted, and the vicissitudes of the face are all right, but there is no regret in the heart!
Although in the end the world was reduced to crossing The Eurasian continent (and even further away in Africa), she was determined to take every step she took.
A nice red line
3.7 million kilometers, 24 countries, 290 days and nights
On June 26, 2016, she left Hangzhou and went to the world in a heavy rain.
Crossing Asia, Europe and Africa is not as beautiful as everyone imagines, these 37,000 kilometers are like playing a game of clearance, and each level is more difficult than the next.
In Russia, driving has become a stressful thing: the gap between Russian traffic rules and China is relatively large, although the relevant information has been checked, but for the small white cat cat who can't even distinguish between high beam and low beam, the actual operation is still afraid to open; in Northern Europe, the weather is cold, even the down sleeping bag does not work, camping has become a problem.
Russia's roads
Needless to say, the difficulty in Africa has greatly escalated, because of the special political situation, it is necessary to negotiate with corrupt police and officials every day, prevent theft, robbery, and terrorists, sift through information on war and turmoil, make judgments and weigh routes. (Fortunately, there are senior donkey friends on her public account who constantly provide advice, and local enthusiastic overseas Chinese also provide various consultations and help in a timely manner)
Net picture by Ding Hongyi, due to security problems in Nigeria, local powerful people, travel will bring armed guards.
The single woman single-handedly broke into Asia, Europe and Africa, which is tantamount to Xuanzang's Western Heavenly Scriptures, and there are too many thrills that make her move the idea of returning home:
In Finland, he violated Finnish law by carrying anti-wolf spray and electric shock batons, and was interrogated as a suspect for three hours; in the night of the ancient city of Piran, the ghosts narrowly avoided a group of gangs intent on robbery; in Cameroon, they were guided to a bad road by the navigation of "hooligans", the brakes failed when the rains fell that day, the car slid down the roadbed, fortunately there were dense trees on both sides of the road so that they would not overturn...
However, the cat with a big heart continued to walk on the road and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and customs along the way, and then threw the previous tears out of the cloud of nine clouds.
Russia, wake up on the side of the road to see the wonderland-like beauty
Beautiful Lake Baikal
Get lost and meet the most beautiful Norwegian forest
The Red Church in Helsinki, the capital of Finland
With people from primitive villages in Africa
I had no choice but to go back in order to better return
No amount of hardships and obstacles on the road made her really give up, and what she never expected was that her body actually went on strike.
Nine months of intense self-driving fatigue, coupled with the harsh natural environment in Africa, led to repeated diarrhea and high fever in Togo, which at first feared was malaria, and later found to be pneumonia in Gabon. In Africa, where medical conditions are very poor and medicines are not available, there are only 4 countries left before the completion of the asia-Europe-Africa tour.
Cats with fever
The doctors of the Gabonese medical team took matters into their own hands to help the cats hang salt water.
Returning home for treatment or continuing the journey? This should be the hardest trade-off issue of this trip.
The return of the central African country in Gabon means that the dream is finally labeled as a failure; it is difficult to continue the journey, not to mention the physical problems, the DRC was very chaotic at that time, the United Nations staff was killed, more than thirty police officers were massacred by the rebels, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly warned of caution.
Stop in Gabon
"Letting go of yourself is the hardest lesson." In the end, the seriously ill grandmother became the last straw that overwhelmed the camel, and she made the decision to return to China and cried fiercely...
(The current cat is recuperating at home, learning to edit videos while resting, and when the time comes, she will continue her unfinished journey.) ）
In fact, there are many people who are puzzled
What a magic
Attracting countless people, lonely and lonely on the road again and again?
Everyone has a different answer
Travel has long been a fetter for her
As the first Chinese woman to drive a bicycle in Asia, Europe and Africa
On the surface, it looks
It seemed that courage drove her to set off
But in fact, she follows her inner choice
"Your time is limited, don't live for others.
What kind of life to choose, what kind of dream to achieve, the right is in your own hands. ”
Not recommended for girls who do not have the experience of travelling alone
"Adventure" like a cat
Know that she is an "old donkey"!
Stray Cat Cat 9
Self-driving african continent one person one car 100,000 miles
Courtesy of 丨 stray cat cat
Editor 丨Wan Ying
· END ·
This article was first published in Self-Driving Geography
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