Woman plans to explore world to the fullest
Print Edition
WHEN Deng Shen from Sichuan Province was in high school, family and friends assumed she would follow the usual career path of college and then a good-paying, but humdrum job. Instead, she went off the beaten track.
The 27-year-old has traveled to more than 80 countries, studying and working. With a master’s degree in environmental science now in her pocket, she is planning her next round-the-world odyssey, using crowdfunding to help finance the trip.
“During the trip, I will make documentaries of local people, recording their lives and their views of the world,” said Deng. “It will be one of the most important experiences in my life.”
Her outlook on life changed during a trip to neighboring Yunnan Province after she qualified to enroll in Sichuan University.
“The travel made me question what I wanted for the future, and going to Sichuan University was the last decision my parents made for me,” said Deng.
When she was 20, she participated in an exchange program in Germany. From then on, she never looked back. Once she graduated from college in Sichuan, she began post-graduate studies in Peru.
“I based myself in the country where I was studying and used holidays to explore around continents,” said Deng.
To support study and her trips, she worked at whatever jobs she could find — travel guide, translator, saleswoman and freelancer.
“It is not as easy as it sounds,” she said. “I had to consider the legality of foreign students working, the cost performance of a job and the language barrier. So wherever I travel, I try to find a base and stay there for awhile.”
Apart from Peru and Germany, she also stayed in Jordan as her base in the Middle East. Along the way, Deng acquired proficiency in English, German, French and Spanish.
“I happened to study Japanese after I went to college, and found that I was very good at remembering vocabulary and learning verses,” said Deng. “That gave me confidence to learn more languages.”
Like many young travelers, Deng has resorted to hitchhiking for part of her travels. She and another Chinese woman thumbed their way through Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa for two months.
Despite the horror stories told about young women hitchhiking, Deng said she never encountered any danger during the journey. All the people in the 62 vehicles that stopped to pick them up were polite and interesting.
“Hitchhiking became one of the best memories on the road,” she said.
She did have a bad experience in Ecuador. While she was napping on a bus, a thief rifled through her backpack, and took her laptop, camera, cell phone and wallet.
“I lost thousands of pictures,” she said. “I didn’t cry until I realized the magnitude of that loss.”
The incident taught her a lesson. She learned to back up her pictures from time to time, to be more careful on the road and to travel with friends she trusted.
Deng is not foolhardy about safety. She said she never goes out alone at night and never accepts any advances from men.
“I think traveling with other women is safer,” said Deng. “A girl from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was my companion for a long time, and on my next global trip, I will be looking for fellow travelers.”
Deng said she has budgeted nearly 100,000 yuan (US$15,500) for the trip. People on crowdfunding sites are asked to donate anything from 8 yuan to 2,888 yuan to support her journey. They will receive updates on her travels and souvenirs as rewards.
So far she has collected more than 50,000 yuan in donations, including contributions from two from companies hoping for her to do some market research during the trip. Deng is very grateful.
She is a woman whose mind swirls with ideas and a long to-do list. She wants to learn more languages, produce documentaries and write plays.
“I want to be a volunteer in Africa. I want to go to Antarctica. I want to travel as a sailor,” said Deng. “I want to experience the world to the fullest and explore the unknown.”
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