At 8: 00 a.m. on the 23rd, Mrs. Chen, 66, put on her glasses, turned on her computer, recorded every bit of Australia's self-driving trip with text, pictures and video, on the 21st floor of the public opinion four-way-America International apartment. From Wuhan to Australia on December 18, last year, Chen returned to Wuhan on January 11 this year. Chen Aiwu was traveling in Australia alone for 23 days, driving 5300 kilometers and spending about 24000 yuan with his wife who could not drive.
Chen Aiwu is renting a car in Australia for a self-driving tour. (photo by me)
Before this trip to Australia, four years ago, the old man took his wife to the Sichuan-Tibet Line, Thailand, Laos, the United States, Italy, throughout Asia, North America, Europe. So far, the elderly have traveled more than 30, 000 kilometers by car.
Chen Aiwu's self-driving trip is enviable, but it is incredible: how can an old man, who can only greet him in English, drive all over four continents? on the 23rd, Chen Aiwu to the Yangtze River Daily reporter to restore her continuous challenge to the heart of the journey.
Self-driving tour combined with cure of serious illness
The dream of driving around the world has taken root in Chen Aiwu's heart as early as 30 years ago. Before retiring, the old man was a bus driver and coach driver for 48 years. On her way, she suddenly thought that she would one day be able to drive around the world. However, the dream almost came to an end because of an accident.
In 2011, Chen Aiwu learned in a medical examination that she had severe hepatitis C, and that she lost 35 kilograms as she became increasingly ill. In a year of treatment, watching the side of the sick friends one after another, Chen Aiwu some disheartened, but not willing to give up on this. The old man unwittingly saw a book about recovery and travel, which made her realize that she could not sink into it.
Following doctor's advice and following her heart, Chen Aiwu is increasingly hoping to realize her dream of being young in the process of recovery. In 2013 and 2014, she drove two times with her partner across the Sichuan-Tibet line, traveling together with treatment, and the elderly gained unexpected results. Severe pulmonary bronchiectasis is controlled and severe hepatitis C eventually recovers.
Since then, Chen Aiwu can no longer stop his pace of driving travel, January 27, 2015, the elderly driving from Wuhan, lasting 41 days, across Laos, Thailand; On June 7, 2017, Chen Aiwu and his wife set off from Wuhan again, renting a car for 19 days in the United States and travelling more than 7000 kilometers. In the meantime, self-driving passed California Highway 1.
In August 2017, when Chen saw on the Internet a debate over who was more beautiful on California Highway 1 and Australia's Ocean Road, the old man decided to take a look at it for himself. "without investigation, there is no say." The old man smiled and said, after a field trip, she thought there were two different roads.
Communication depends on translation software, the only meal is not used to
Similar to previous trips, old people download software from their mobile phones, complete driver's license translations, contact rental companies in Sydney to return cars, order tickets, hotels, and set routes. "clear the destination season, lock in the travel time, and finally look for a low-cost ticket." Since Chen Aiwu and his wife have retired, their travel time depends mainly on the price of the ticket.
On December 18 last year, two old people left for Australia. Facing the lack of language, they use translation software to communicate with body language. In order to save money, they either live in The Backpack Hostel, which is cheap, or take a night's rest in the car and go to the service station for a wash-up. More than 20 days' itinerary is in order to save money. The two old men stayed at the hotel for only nine days. "the only thing I'm not used to is eating. After all, there are different tastes." At dinner in Australia, Chen and his wife either ask the Chinese for questions or rely on pictures to guess the taste.
Their itinerary has more to consider than traveling with the group, but these two Chinese old people remain in every scenic spot on the ocean road, Sydney, Melbourne's streets and beaches on the gold coast.
I'd like to make a movie and share my travel experiences.
Traveling is not always smooth sailing.
On December 19 last year, Mr. and Mrs. Chen arrived in Sydney and began their journey after obtaining vehicles. Australian vehicles are different from domestic ones, with the driver's seat on the right side of the vehicle. "at first there was some self-confidence and did not pay attention to other people's driving, because driving habits led to the deviation of the vehicle and the friction between the wheels and the sidewalk, which scared the old wife to call it dangerous." Aware that driving habits need to be adjusted, Chen Aiwu carefully observed that there was no accident in subsequent driving.
January 3, Chen Aiwu through the gold coast, the sea, white clouds, beaches, the elderly play. "thinking of myself crossing the Yangtze River, swimming well, I swam to the waves under the encouragement of my wife, and I was struck on the shoal by the waves. Although the corners of my mouth were broken, it was good to have nothing to do with my body. This made me understand." You need to learn swimming skills in the ocean before you go to sea. " In Chen Aiwu's view, the journey is not always leisure, but also learning, learning can make people happy.
For the future, the goal of the elderly, in addition to continuing to travel around the world, also has a new plan to produce a film to share their experiences with more people. "now I am collecting material, every time out photos, small videos I also learn to edit."