When I am old, the touch that travel brings to me will still make me smile.

Before coming to university, I had never traveled far alone. When I was traveling in a group with my parents when I was a teenager, everything outside seemed curious to me.

Afraid that I might get lost at any time while looking around, my father would habitually hold my small hand tightly with his big hand and move forward slowly with the flow of people in the queue.

When I went to college, I stopped traveling with group tours and started backpacking alone.

In three years, I have been to many places. If you ask me what the meaning of travel is, I won’t tell you clichés like broadening your horizons. I just gained a lot of joy and a lot of carefree good mood on the road.

In the past, I only saw the wonderful lives of others, but later I gradually discovered that if I work hard, I can also make my own life rich and colorful.

I fell in love with traveling. Every time you are on the road, you will be touched by various things. These little touches, even when I think about them when I am old and unable to walk, they still make me smile.

I love walking, and I will go out and walk a few miles after eating.

When traveling, I really like to walk in the streets and alleys of a strange city and breathe deeply in the fragrance of freedom.

At that moment, every corner in front of me seemed to be lurking in temptation.

The most primitive way of hiking has changed my previous concept of traveling in a casual way. When I see a place that interests me, I will slow down and learn its story attentively.

There is no road in the world, and every road you step on has its vicissitudes of history.

Slowly, I developed a habit: I would walk to any place within 3 kilometers.

When I was sorting out my finances at the end of the trip, I found that this habit also helped me save a considerable amount of expenses. My physique is getting better and better without realizing it.

Browsing in bookstores is a little hobby of mine that can pass the time without spending any money. After I actually went out and stood in an unfamiliar area, I couldn't help but wonder what the bookstore here looked like.

Language has its own country, but books do not. People’s thoughts and souls are often interconnected, which is self-evident.

When visiting bookstores abroad, you can often find books that have been banned or deleted in the mainland. In the mood of treasure hunting, every time I see a book I like, I like to buy it as a souvenir of my trip.

There is usually more than one bookstore in a city, and there is probably one in a large shopping mall.

In a noisy shopping mall, you often turn a corner and walk into a bookstore. The crowded and noisy market atmosphere instantly transforms into an antique atmosphere, quiet and peaceful.

Another reason why I love visiting bookstores is that I can avoid the huge tour groups. Because no tour guide is willing to slow down and include the bookstore in their already tight itinerary.

Perhaps it is the age when I am studying, so even if I stand at the gate of a certain university for the first time, the kind feeling of home always makes me feel particularly strong.

A university is a cultural symbol of a city. Every time I meet the university, I can see students coming in and out one after another. The sun shines on their young and shy faces, so full of vitality.

For me, the university is not a tourist attraction, but more like a mentor for spiritual communication. Universities in different provinces reveal the different cultural heritage accumulated by the Chinese nation over thousands of years.

I hope to meet you on the beautiful university campus on my next graduation trip.

When I go to a new city, I will try to find the most popular local transportation method in the least amount of time. Because they are the most down to earth.

So in addition to walking, I will choose public transportation. Such as Hong Kong’s original Ding Ding car, Chongqing’s light rail passing through the city, Harbin’s horse-drawn sledge in Xuexiang, Lisbon’s No. 28 tram, etc.

When traveling in the seaside town of Pattaya, apart from ladyboys and beaches, what impressed me most was the local means of transportation - songthaew.

A songthaew is actually a slightly modified pickup truck, with the tailgate removed and two rows of small seats added. The car stops when you wave your hand, and the route depends on the driver's mood. When you reach your destination, you can get off by pressing the bell. No matter how far you ride, it only costs about 4 yuan.

While driving, many locals hung on the back of their cars and laughed happily. I was really worried that if the driver braked suddenly, they would roll down.

Vehicles like these, which may seem ordinary to the locals, are full of novelty and excitement for my life.

I don’t want to miss such a rare experience, so I won’t take a taxi once when I go out for more than 10 days.

Food is the most important thing for the people. You can’t miss out on eating and playing!

Thinking back to the team meals we had with the group and the delicious food we tasted while backpacking on the road, I once again felt that it was right to travel independently.

Like public transportation, food is also the most authentic microcosm of local life.

If you don’t know what to eat, you can’t go wrong by taking a look at what the locals take home in bags after get off work. Long-term residents are the most qualified food tasters in a city.

I am not very good at eating spicy food. My bottom line is to eat mildly spicy food.

But when I arrived in Chongqing, my bottom line was tampered with one after another.

The craziest day was when I ate red oil hotpot twice in a row with my friends. It was so spicy that my nose, tears, and sweat ran down my neck without feeling anything, because it was so delicious.

Sure enough, my friend and I both had diarrhea the next morning, but there was only one word in our minds, value.

As I ate all this time, my photo album was overwhelmed with food photos. But the moment you eat it and feel satisfied, all the hardships of the previous journey have disappeared.

Every city has its own unique flavor. I don’t know when or where I will taste them next. At least now, I won't have any regrets.

When traveling in college, I mainly travel on a budget, because I understand that it is not easy to earn travel expenses from scholarships and part-time jobs.

In order to save money, youth hostels are the first choice for accommodation. With more living experience, I discovered that a popular youth hostel is not only affordable, but is often not far from popular business districts.

Youth hostels are also the best gathering place for young people of the same age. There are many stories happening here every day, and it is very likely that they will be spotted by a great director and made into a movie one day.

I think I am still a man who is destined to cats.

The above photo was taken at an international youth hostel on Khao San Road. When I was about to leave for home on the last day, I found them in front of the store. The three cute little guys were still playing around on their own, but when they noticed the focusing camera in my hand, they all turned to the camera in an instant.

I will always remember the emotion conveyed by the eyes of the little guys at that moment, thousands of miles away.

No matter at home or abroad, any popular tourist attraction will always be followed by large waves of travel groups. Originally I was looking at the scenery, but ended up looking at people; my original careless composition turned out to be a tourist photo.

Gradually, I prefer to go to relatively niche places and be a quiet and beautiful man.

In Beijing, my companions and I spent a day wandering around the less crowded "798" and found that the artists here always seemed to be at ease, completely different from the brisk office workers a few streets away. . Regardless of whether outsiders appreciate it or not, they are happily immersed in their artistic creation.

There is also a café in a strange city with fans of literary and artistic youth. In the sound of young music singers playing and singing, they quietly feel that time is flowing and the years are quiet. It's a wonderful feeling.

From elementary school to high school, I was always very timid. I was so timid that I never raised my hand in class for fear of making a fool of myself with wrong answers. If I deviate slightly from my daily thoughts, my instinct is definitely "I don't dare".

After walking a long way, I slowly figured out that one of the reasons why people live must be to try new things.

If you follow the rules every day and see the rest of your life at a glance, wouldn’t this life be too mediocre and boring?

Traveling has given me many first-time opportunities. The first time I lived in a tent, the first time I slept with a stranger, the first time I went to a nightclub, the first time I sat down at a gambling table, the first time I saw the red light district.

My heart changed from the initial fear and shyness to curiosity and strength. When I got home from the trip, I discovered that there was a side of me that had been ignored for a long time: I turned out to be so courageous!

Many friends around me would send postcards with local postmarks after they went out for fun. The beautiful covers and warm words moved me for a long time every time.

I also became passionate about writing. During the trip, I would go to a small shop to write postcards one after another and send them to friends or strangers far away.

Sit at the wooden table, write down your mood, insights, and thoughts at that time in words, then put them into the mailbox one by one, and run to the distance. The moment I submit the postcard, my mood will be filled with happiness.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced the warmth and touch brought by traveling across thousands of mountains and rivers. If not, you can leave a message and I will send it to you next time.

This is actually a regret of mine, so this part has the least photos.

Having traveled so many times, or the time is too short, or the opportunity is untimely, I rarely have the opportunity to participate in local volunteer activities.

I once saw a public account that posted news every week about recruiting volunteers for youth hostels across the country. Every time I watched it, I would immediately fill out the form to sign up, but in the end I heard nothing from it.

In my second year of high school, I read Chai Jing's "Seeing" and met Lu Anke. This German has been working as a rural volunteer teacher in China for more than ten years since 1997. He has lived a simple life in many mountain villages.

Later, the class watched the documentary of the same name, and many students cried.

I may not be able to leave my hometown and spend ten years going to a strange country to help the backward areas like Lu Anke did. But I have my own dream of supporting education. I hope that as a big brother, I can visit those innocent children in remote areas and live with them for three months.

If I can infect them with happiness, I will be deeply satisfied.

There are too many touching things during the trip. I wanted to write about them, but suddenly I found that there were not enough words.

There is this sentence in "Redefining the Company":

People always say that they do not have time to read, which actually means that they think reading is not that important.

Many people say they don’t have time to travel, and I guess the same can be said.

But as long as you know what you want, it doesn’t matter which method you choose. You can only live once, if you have any dreams, you should work hard to achieve them.

On the road to "Running Three", I will still pack my backpack and go further, discovering and recording the details and touches during the journey.

When I get older and my hair turns gray, when I think of them, a young smile will still appear on my wrinkled old face.

My name is Ye Chen, and I am studying Computer Science.

It will be updated from time to time, welcome to communicate and discuss.