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Young people often say "If you don't go crazy, you'll be old", but I bet most young people are not as crazy as Hangzhou's Grandma Yafen, who just finished her 70th year in Iceland.

In the past 10 years, she has been very focused on doing only one thing that everyone envies:Travel around the world。

Since her trip to the United States in late 2013, Yafen has traveled to 42 countries and across five continents. She even visited Antarctica, the most inaccessible continent on Earth, as early as 2016.

I have used up both passports.

It's my turn to decide how to live my life at this age.

Two months before our meeting, Grandma Yafen had just returned from Brazil, Argentina and Peru in South America, where she experienced different customs and cultures, made many friends, and took a helicopter to see the world's widest panoramic view of the Iguazu Falls. She also took out a mask to show me, "This is made of the teeth of the Amazon piranha!"

Before the trip, she had the impression that piranhas were terrifying and ferocious. If someone accidentally fell into the river, they might be eaten to the bone in 5 minutes. But when she arrived in South America, she found that the piranhas were actually timid and cautious. According to the local tour guide, they were omnivorous and mostly ate plants during the rainy season.

Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. When talking about these interesting travel stories, grandma's eyes always sparkled.

to date,She has used up two passports, each of which is like a proud "trophy", stamped with entry and exit stamps from all over the world;The leather cases for my two iPads have been worn out, and the memory of several mobile phones is full because they store so many travel photos and videos. Cleaning up the photos becomes a huge project every time.

All of this stems from the experience of traveling to the United States alone more than 10 years ago.

Having never been abroad or on a long-distance trip, Yafen flew alone to Los Angeles on a transoceanic flight for more than ten hours because her cousin in the United States had enthusiastically invited her to travel.

A person who had never been abroad, did not speak the language, and was already 60 years old... When Yafen proposed this idea, although her family expressed respect, they still held a rigorous family meeting to discuss the details.

At the meeting, everyone put forward some ideas and plans for each difficulty. Considering that the mother would take a transatlantic flight alone, the son and daughter-in-law prepared eye masks, disposable slippers and airline pillows in advance, and arranged for relatives to pick her up in the United States.

If you don't speak the same language, download translation software on your phone in advance. Just speak what you want to express in Chinese to the phone and it will output the English version immediately. When you go out to play, the mobile phone signal and network must not be interrupted. Don't forget to rent a mobile Wi-Fi in advance. The attentive daughter-in-law also suggested that in Yafen's bag,Prepare a list of emergency contacts and phone numbers in Chinese and English in advance.

My son bought all the overseas travel insurance, including insurance for loss of passports and luggage, flight delay insurance, etc. My husband also volunteered to take care of the family and pick up my grandson from school during the time when Yafen was traveling...

"Everything is ready, only determination is lacking." Seeing that her family has arranged everything well, Yafen unloaded all the burdens, "It's my turn to decide how to live at this age."

She wanted to see the world. But neither she nor her family would have thought that this journey would be so long, and 10 years later it seemed like it was just the beginning.

Let yourself go

At the age of 60, he began to realize his dream of traveling around the world

Although Yafen was still hesitant before going to the United States, she quickly showed her "strong adaptability" after landing. At that time, WeChat was not yet popular.She used Line to contact her 70-year-old cousin, and the two went to Yellowstone Park together.

Because my cousin had to take care of the family, Yafen usually went on tour alone.We traveled from the west to the east of the United States, including Devil's Peak, the Grand Canyon, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Niagara Falls, New York, Philadelphia, Las Vegas... We didn't miss any of them.

She used her hands to gesture with the foreigners because of the language barrier. She took photos of the important notes in the tour manual and sent them to her son, then translated them into Chinese. She carefully wrote them down one by one. Fortunately, there are usually many Chinese people in the group, and she has a strong learning ability, so it is not a big problem for her to play with everyone. Even when communicating with foreigners, she can have a lot of fun with gestures and guessing.

Since this "feat" of traveling to the United States, Yafen has completely "let herself go".

We have roughly sorted out the destinations in chronological order:

In September 2014, she went to Vladivostok, and in November she went to Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe in Japan, Angkor in Cambodia, and Halong Bay in Vietnam; she traveled to Antarctica in 2016; in the spring of 2017, she went to Bali, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia; in June she went to Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland; in July she went to Turkey and Greece; in September she went to Israel, Jordan, and Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia; in November she traveled to Australia and New Zealand.

Grandma Yafen travels around the world to many famous attractions

Egypt in January 2018, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland in August, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria in October; South Africa, United Arab Emirates in February 2019, Morocco, Spain, Portugal in June; Iran in April last year, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in northern Thailand in June, and a trip to South America in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile at the end of the year...

The Egyptian pyramids photographed by Grandma Yafen

Experiencing "near misses" in Antarctica and South America

But the journey is worth it

In 2016, Yafen prepared for her trip to Antarctica for a whole month. The temperature in Buenos Aires is 26-30℃, and in Ushuaia it is 7-13℃. She brought a large box of summer clothes, winter clothes, thermal quick-drying underwear, etc. She also brought UV-proof sunglasses, hats and scarves, fleece jackets, jackets, thermal underwear, thermal gloves, ski pants, wool socks, waterproof shoes, etc. Following the professional advice of the travel agency staff, she prepared all these equipment.

Some preparations for the Antarctic trip

Starting from Hangzhou, after a long flight of more than 30 hours and more than 20,000 kilometers across the vast Asian continent, the Middle East, the African continent, and the Atlantic Ocean, Yafen finally arrived in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It was already past 4 pm when she arrived at the hotel, and at around 8 am the next day, she took another 4-hour flight to Ushuaia.

Ushuaia, the boarding point, is a unique and beautiful town built on the mountains and facing the sea.This southernmost city in the world is also known as "the end of the world".

"My physical strength had almost reached its limit at that time." Yafen clearly remembers that the day she boarded the ship was 5 pm on March 5, 2016.After two days of sailing through the Drake Passage, the cruise ship entered polar waters. The Drake Passage is known as the "Corridor of Death" and is located between the southernmost tip of South America and the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet here, and hurricane-force waves are overwhelming.

“I just felt dizzy and of course I was very nervous.” Yafen spent about 40 hours sailing in agony. Fortunately, the crew and expedition leader were all professionals, and in the end she had a “near miss” experience. “I also realized how insignificant humans are in the face of nature!”

Once we reached the pole, the water became very smooth and we no longer felt dizzy. When we were informed that we were going to land on South Shetland Island, there was a cheer in the cabin. We quickly put on our gear, got off the rubber boat and landed on the island, where we could see the unique polar scenery.

Grandma Yafen watching penguins in Antarctica

In Wilmina Bay, Yafen chased humpback whales, left the glacier, and sailed for two days to reach South Georgia Island. There is the largest king penguin habitat, with king penguins everywhere. A naughty penguin almost pecked her camera lens. At the Great Wall Station of China in Antarctica, Yafen sent two postcards.One was sent to her precious grandson, and the other was sent to her good sister of many years.

Sending postcards to family members at the China Great Wall Station in Antarctica

At the end of last year, after hearing that South America was beautiful, Yafen arranged a 24-day trip to Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. She was the only one who departed from Hangzhou to Pudong Airport, and flew to Doha by Qatar Airways. After meeting up with the tour guide and group members departing from Beijing in Doha, they transferred to Sao Paulo, Brazil. The two flights took a total of 26 hours.

When they arrived at Iguazu Falls, she was the only foreigner there. Yafen first took a helicopter to see the panoramic view of Iguazu Falls from the air, and then took a speedboat to the waterfall, which is known as the "widest waterfall in the world.""At the time, the staff were very nervous, thinking that I was too old to play such exciting activities. But in the end, I performed better than most people."

At the end of the trip, Yafen carefully sorted out the introduction of the tourist destination and attached her own experience. Before posting the nine-square grid on WeChat Moments, she also had to retouch every photo. "Iguazu Falls is 82 meters high, 4,000 meters wide, and consists of 275 waterfalls. The view from different locations, directions, and heights is different. The entire waterfall group is majestic and magnificent, and it is unforgettable."

Iguazu Falls photographed by Grandma Yafen

In addition to traveling around the world, Yafen has also traveled around the motherland in the past 10 years, and has been to Shangri-La, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Dianchi Lake, Guilin, Beihai, Huangguoshu, Xinjiang, Daocheng Yading, Hailuogou, Langzhong, Meili Snow Mountain, Chaoshan, Gannan, Jiangxi and other places.

The popular movie "Speeding Life 2" during the Spring Festival made Xinjiang Bayingbuluke popular again. Yafen had already gone to experience it as early as September 2015.

Usually, we should save money and spend money

I collect all the cardboard boxes and cans and sell them for money.

According to the usual regulations of travel agencies, people over 75 years old need to be accompanied by family members when traveling. In the past two years, Yafen has obviously accelerated her pace to race against time.

In addition to those who support and envy her, people often ask her: You have been to so many places in the world, and you are willing to spend money, you must be very rich, right? If you are so good at playing, can your family take care of you and support you? At such an old age, is it really necessary to go through so much trouble?

"Don't look at me like this now. I was reluctant to spend money before." Grandma Yafen was born in 1954. She is an old Hangzhou resident. When she was young, she worked in a factory workshop and lived a boring life for decades. She used to revolve around work, and after retirement, she revolved around her family. She almost never went out to travel.

"My family's conditions were not that good before, and we lived frugally. Later, our family moved away and our conditions became relatively better." However, unlike most elderly people, Yafen has always lived a youthful lifestyle.She wears light makeup when she goes out, likes to pay attention to international situations, is keen on watching military programs, and during the European Cup, she watched games with her son until the early morning. She also appreciates many new things.

As her family conditions improved and her grandson grew up, Yafen began to think about making her dream come true.

Recalling the long-distance trips she had taken over the years, she mostly went on tours with her "exclusive" travel agency and was willing to spend money on travel routes. She spent almost 80% of her income on travel... and has spent hundreds of thousands of yuan in total.

"This amount of money is not that big. After working hard for most of my life, I always have some savings." Because I often go online, Yafen has seen news about some elderly people being defrauded. "Instead of wasting hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, it is better to spend the money on something that makes me happy and worthwhile."

At home, Yafen's attitude towards life has also inspired many people. In the words of her daughter-in-law, every member of the family supports and respects each other and does not interfere with each other's interests and hobbies. After she gave birth to her child, her mother-in-law helped take care of the child from morning till night every day until the child went to kindergarten, which was very hard.

"My father-in-law used to have to travel for business in his previous job, and he has been to many places. My mother-in-law has never been there, so she really wants to see the outside world. We understand, as long as she pays attention to safety and is happy."

Every time Yafen goes out, her husband is responsible for taking care of her grandson, so that she does not have to worry about anything. Her mother-in-law will also come to help take care of her grandson.

Because of traveling, Yafen pays special attention to the maintenance of her body. She has a physical examination every year. She has no major health problems and no underlying diseases. It’s just that her knees are not very good, so she doesn’t participate in mountain climbing.

Every time she comes back from a trip, her family and friends can’t wait to share what she saw and heard along the way with her, a travel expert. My grandson used to proudly mention where his grandmother had been to with his classmates at school, but now he’s used to it.Just waiting for grandma to come home and put a new "little red flag" on the globe with him.

After the interview, Yafen said she wanted to see me off and went to the community to sell cardboard boxes and cans. "Save what you should save and spend what you should spend. Life has entered the countdown. Be kind to yourself and enjoy life while you can."

This "hardcore" old lady has already arranged her future travel plans. Previously, she went to Iceland. Recently, she avoided the peak of summer travel and focused on taking care of her children at home. Her next stop is the UK. "I have been traveling for so long but have never been to the UK. Previously, I mainly considered many trips to the UK. This time, I am optimistic about the trip, which will visit Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. It is worth going."

Jiang Yue, reporter of Chengshi Interactive and Metropolis Express

Edited by Liang Beirong

Review Mao Dilin Lin