As someone whotravelhas a strong interest in, over the past few years,due to work reasons, the number of trips I’ve taken has been extremely limited.
Because of my attitude toward traveling, even those girls I used to hang out with all the time—girl gang—once gave me a hard time about it. In short, every time they came back and said:““You really get what you pay for, we got ripped off again...”...”I thought they were just asking for trouble by spending money to suffer. “There’s no way I’d ever go on a trip like that!”
We were saying these things when we were incollege.。
“Low price”Thesetwo wordsare very easy to get people hooked on. Those girls who get excited at the sight of a low priceseem toquickly forget the pain and, more than once, fall right back into thelow-pricegroup tour trap, only to come back and complain non-stop.
The most memorable was when one girl came back to the dorm, didn’t say a word, ran straight to the bathroom, and squatted on the toilet, occasionally exclaiming, “Ah, that was so satisfying. Damn, the toilets in the hotels during our trip totally grossed me out.”
So that night, I heard these girls, speaking in various dialects, share their dramatic experiences from their group trip.
“Oh, thank goodness you didn’t come with us—it was a total nightmare. They took us to some remote suburb for accommodation, with bunk beds and black sheets. The toilets were so dirty you couldn’t even go in. If you wanted to stay in a so-called three-star hotel, it was an extra 200 yuan... Isn’t that just scamming peopleorwhat?!”
It was said that those few days, they had the most disgusting sleep ever. In the words of one friend who’s still in touch: “We didn’t even take off our clothes to sleep. Even then, I felt little bugs crawling up my pant legs. I had goosebumps for days. And the bad stuff didn’t end there—eating became a huge issue. A bunch of us surrounded just a few dishes, faster than the Double Eleven flash sales. Several of the girls ended up eating steamed buns with pickles for days.”
So, in the days after they got back,TheyI felt terrible all over. I'm glad I didn't go—just like in love, I'd rather not have a poor relationship, and I'd rather not take a cheap budget trip.(Of course, the "poor love" mentioned here refers to a lack of love, not material poverty.)
Time has already passedfiveyears,sinceuniversity graduation. The girls have long since married or settled down. Though time changes, personalities neverdo. On social media, they still seem just as interested in traveling,，and so do I. Not long ago, having just been promoted to department manager and landed several major deals, I was exceptionally grantedtendays off by the company president. I thoughtthis would be the perfect time to go out and explore.。
I've always had some resistance tobudgetgroup tours, so of course I wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of those old friends of mine, turning the journey into a"hardtrip." So, as someone who’s never liked being restricted, I decided to choose a”"travel on my own terms"“independent trip.
A while back, after planning for a long time where to go for my annual leave, I felt that the recent work pressure was quite high and my mindset rather restless. I figured Tibet might be the perfect choice for spiritual cleansing. But considering transportation and safety issues, I planned to find a local driver-guide, which would be both convenient and secure.So I went online to look at some travel guides about Tibet, checking which places would be suitable to visit during this time of year. I also posted on a travel website asking detailed questions about traveling in Tibet, including what routes would be more interesting, etc. One person who claimed to be a Tibetan tour guide replied in detail to my questions and gave many valuable suggestions.Based onmytravel budget and requirements at the time, heThey even helped medraw up a detailed itinerary.Through our back-and-forth communication, I felt the person was very sincere and down-to-earth, and since he had his own car, he could meet my need for a driver-guide. So I placed an order with that guide and set a time and place to meet.
Over the course of those 7 days, although I was a bit tired, the joy, emotion, sincerity, and peace I experienced during the trip brought great comfort and positive energy to my heart. Especially the guide’s detailed and professional explanations gave me a deeper appreciation of Tibetan culture and religion. Visiting a local Tibetan family also gave me an in-depth understanding of their daily lives. All of this was thanks to having met such an outstanding local guide, who made this trip truly meaningful and magical.
After the trip ended and I returned to work, several close colleagues asked me, “Where did you find your guide? He’s so handsome and provides such great service!” I said, “It’s 900 You—have you heard of it? What they specialize in ishaving guides take you on free and easy trips.”。And they haveprofessionaland funguides all over most parts of the country.”
Finally, I want to say,what matters in travel is quality. This kind of enriching travel experience is something I’dlove to do more often.