slowtravel

My daughter told me last night: "Mama, when I grow up I want to be a travel planner like you. But I'll plan trips for grandmas." I asked why grandmas. "Because they're the ones who actually have time to enjoy things." Out of the mouths of six-year-olds. She's not wrong though. I've spent 15 years watching travellers pack too much into too little time. The 6-city, 10-day itineraries. The "we can sleep when we get home" approach. The frantic rush from one attraction to the next. And then I watch the ones who do it differently. The retired couple who stayed in one Chengdu neighbourhood for a week and got invited to a local family's home for dinner. The solo traveller who spent three afternoons in the same tea house and ended up learning calligraphy from an elderly regular. The best China trips aren't the ones that cover the most ground. They're the ones where you let the country happen to you. Not bad advice from a six-year-old.