A Low-Income Grandma Pushes Her Paralyzed Husband to Travel 12 Countries

 

Recently, Hu Yadi from Cixi has garnered a lot of attention because she was shortlisted as a candidate for the "Filial Piety and Love" category of China's Good People List in April.

According to her profile, she survives on a meager monthly subsistence allowance of just a thousand yuan, yet for over a decade she has lovingly cared for her husband Zheng Lihua, who is partially paralyzed, and even taken him to travel to 12 countries. For 11 years, they have scrimped and saved, spending nearly all their savings on travel, totaling around 300,000 yuan.

The other night, I visited the couple’s home. What surprised me the most was that during our hours-long conversation, they never once mentioned the hardships of life or the pain of illness. Instead, they showed me photos, maps, and travel journals, animatedly recounting their wonderful stories of exploring the world.

By the end of the interview, I found myself unconsciously inspired by Old Zheng, suddenly wanting to pack my bags and go see the different world beyond.

If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling the world, if you’ve ever put that dream on hold for one reason or another, then take a moment to listen to “Old Child” Zheng Lihua talk about the journeys he and his wife have taken together over the years.

“When I was young, I wanted to travel everywhere, but I had neither the money nor the time. Now I often look at maps and think about where to go.”

Old Zheng loves to travel, but before his first trip, he had his concerns: having suffered a serious illness, he worried that the exertion might cause problems. Also, being paralyzed on one side, he thought traveling might be too much trouble for his wife.

But after being stuck at home recovering from illness for days on end, Old Zheng was going stir-crazy and feeling down. In 2002, he made up his mind and went to Guilin.

Old Zheng, who is partially paralyzed on his left side, could barely manage to walk short distances with a cane, but traveling is not the same as a casual stroll. Worried that his wife might not be able to handle everything alone, Old Zheng also brought along his 81-year-old brother on each trip to help with lifting and carrying when needed.

“At the Li River, there were no handrails from the dock to the cruise boat,” Old Zheng recalled. He remembered being lifted into the boat along with his wheelchair by three or four staff members. “It really felt like riding in a sedan chair.”

After returning from Guilin, Old Zheng became hooked on travel. “Only when you actually go out and see the world do you realize how wonderful it is, and how much better it makes you feel—it’s not the same as watching it on TV.”

Thinking about this, Old Zheng stopped worrying about his physical condition. In his view, having been out and about is what makes life worthwhile.

Seizing the chance while they still had some money and while he could still travel, Old Zheng was very clear about wanting to go out and see the world. Because she worried about her husband’s health, Hu Yadi always opposed the trips at first, but she always gave in to his persistent coaxing.

Over 11 years, they traveled to 12 countries across four continents.

In 2006, he went abroad for the first time. Old Zheng chose Russia simply because he had studied Russian for three years in middle school.

The family’s travel funds mainly came from his monthly retirement salary of around 6,000 yuan. Since each trip required at least three people, they could only choose destinations within their financial means.

“Going to Argentina would cost 40,000 yuan per person—that’s way out of our budget,” Old Zheng said. The year they went to Russia was special. “I received a 20,000 yuan housing fund payout upon retirement. With three of us going, that worked out to 7,000 yuan per person, and we spent it all.”

He still remembers being awestruck the moment they arrived at Red Square. Lenin and the Kremlin from the movies suddenly felt vividly real. Sitting in his wheelchair, he walked along, taking notes and constantly asking his brother to take photos for him.

Last May, Old Zheng and his wife traveled to Hawaii, USA, where they spent $140 to try a submarine tour.

To get into the submarine, you have to descend a vertical seven-step spiral staircase. At first, the captain, seeing Old Zheng’s condition, firmly refused to let him board. But Old Zheng insisted, and the captain reluctantly agreed.

Old Zheng’s left hand and left leg are immobile, so he had to use his right hand to grip the handrail, while his wife, standing below, helped lift his left foot. Then he lifted his right foot to step onto the next stair.

It took them twice as long as an average person before the two finally stepped inside the submarine.

Inside the submarine at a depth of 100 feet underwater, Old Zheng looked through 20-centimeter-thick glass and saw turtles, tropical fish, coral... “I’ve seen coral in Australia before, but seeing it from a submarine was a first for me—really unique.”

Old Zheng said that 15 million people around the world have experienced this activity, and he and his wife had finally become part of that group.

Also last May, Old Zheng visited the Grand Canyon in Colorado, USA. There’s a large glass platform there with a radius of over 10 meters, where visitors can look down at the full view of the 1,200-meter-deep canyon. The braver ones even climb outside the railing to take videos downward.

“I have acrophobia—I get nervous at just 10 floors high,” Old Zheng said. In the end, he had his wife and brother go experience it while he waited in a wheelchair at the exit.

Old Zheng once told a reporter that another reason he insists on traveling is that he doesn’t want his illness to hold back his wife from going out and seeing the world.

He is 68 years old this year and, due to health reasons, usually only chooses international destinations reachable within a 10-hour flight. “But as long as I still have the energy, I want to travel the world with my wife until we’re 70.” As for after 70, Old Zheng plans to switch to shorter trips, visiting places reachable within three or four hours.

Old Zheng said that many people think it’s his wife who takes him traveling, but actually, it’s him who has year after year instilled in her the idea of “living in the moment.” “After all these years, I’ve finally succeeded,” he said with a smile.

“If you have money, you should go travel”—that’s his catchphrase. Their income isn’t high, but they save up and go traveling whenever they can.

He said that their son is all grown up, and now that they still have some time and are mobile, they need to seize the moment. Because the world outside is wonderful, and his own imperfect life has become all the more colorful because of it.