I hate going to a restaurant by myself.  Or movies.  Or very much else.  I am just not a solo person.  So, it is no wonder that I had very little travel experience until I was much older.  However, once I discovered an alternative, I have traveled every year. 

Sometime around 2006, I had just moved back to Washington State from California. (Moves do not count as travel experiences.) I joined the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce to reacquaint myself with the community and create visibility for my business, which I was starting over in a new area. I was at a luncheon where the speaker was from a company that promotes travel in China. He was talking about a “trade mission” where a group from the Bellevue Chamber would travel to China. As I was listening to him, he described the wonders of Beijing, Shanghai, and the countryside. I thought what a great trip it would be, but surely outside my budget (which was pretty slim since I was restarting my business). 

In my mind, I thought about the maximum amount I could spend on such an adventure. When the speaker announced the price, I was dumbfounded. It was way under what I thought I could spend. How could this be? He assured us it was an introductory trip to introduce the business community to China. Perhaps there would be some partnerships formed? I could hardly wait for the meeting to be over. I was ready to make my way to the registration desk and become the first person to sign up. 

I was not alone. There were twenty or more people from my community that signed up. The China representative promised they would take care of all details — airfare, food, and lodging. They would even take care of getting us the appropriate documents and visas. Wonderful!

The entire group was on the same plane, and I met my fellow passengers. It was a harmonious group. (Several of the folks I am still friends with, even though some are only Facebook friends.) I tried to learn Chinese in anticipation. I learned to say hello and thank you. And I probably didn’t say it right, but I always got a smile because I tried. I was told a good way to engage people was to show them pictures of your children. I carried a picture of my cute grandson in my wallet. It did create engagement. I would point to my graying hair as if to let them know I was the grandma. I learned to always ask permission before taking a picture of their children. Common sense applies to travel anywhere. 

We soon learned what they meant by “trade mission.”  We traded our dollars for their merchandise. It was one big shopping trip. Silk, cashmere, jade. We complied with the trade. We were even taken to a clinic to diagnose our health by having a technician look at our tongues. We left the clinic with purchases of Chinese medicine appropriate for whatever our tongue revealed. 

We saw all the iconic places one associates with China. The Summer Palace, the Winter Palace. The Great Wall. (Yes, I got the t-shirt). We saw the construction of the “birdcage,” which would be the stadium for the upcoming Summer Olympics. And, of course, Tiananmen square. It was in Tiananmen Square that I had what I still consider to be a great adventure and also one of my most iconic photos. I had taken a DSLR camera as it was way before iPhone photography. This means a lot of lens changes. In Tiananmen Square, I was busy with pictures of a glorious sunset, the famous tower, and the picture of Mao at the far wall, all of which required different lenses.

Suddenly it became dark, and I looked up and realized I was all alone. No one looked like me anywhere I could see. A red guard came over and looked at my pictures. As I tried to explain what I was doing, he said, “no English,” and walked away. I did not believe him, but I didn’t want to talk with such a scary armed person anyway. Eventually, I saw a tall blonde woman across the square. I ran up to her, and as luck would have it, she was with our group on a different bus. She invited me on her bus, and the driver connected with my driver. They didn’t count passengers on the bus, and I got left behind. So not only did I now have another story to add to my collection, I had a photo that really captured the mood. A dark, ominous picture of the tower at Tiananmen Square. Photo experts keep wanting to edit it because the tower is too centered and should be more to the side. Still, I won’t allow any editing because, to me, it truly captures the moment. 

The rest of the trip provided great photo opportunities also, but none were as dramatic. I did not get lost and (definitely) complied with the trade mission. I traded lots of dollars for their merchandise. 

Postscript:  the trip had a representative of the Chamber who went free. No one wanted to go the following year, so I went free as the Chamber representative. I even got luxury lodging. 

So pretty good for my first “solo” international trip.