On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac. The novel is about the author and his friends’ spontaneous road trips across mid-century America, also defined Beat Generation that was inspired by jazz, poetry, and drug expe-rience. I’m not a Beat Generation obviously, but as a post-80s generation (a term we use in China for people born after 1980s; this generation was critiqued by elder generation about their lifestyle and personal value), I just want to borrow the book title as a metaphor for my trips of exploring and expanding my horizon of literacy.

I regard traveling as very meaningful for post-80s generation like me. After China’s Open Policy, life gets better for people in China, studying abroad and traveling around while we are still young be-come more affordable and realizable for students like me. I took advantages of good timing and opportunities to travel a lot during breaks. So I’m going to share some of my traveling experiences with you.

When I was second grade in senior high, my parents and I took a self-driving tour to Tibet for twenty-eight days. Those days in Tibet enjoying beautiful unrivalled scenery, seeing historical sites in Lhasa and having chances talking with local people, made me realize my previous knowledge related to Tibet are not totally correct even though I’m a Chinese. For instance, some Tibetan people are very rich and have beautiful houses of their own because Chinese government funds for their living to settle them down for political intention. Tibetan people have diversity about Tibet inde-pendence issue, some still play hardball on reli-gious freedom, and some think that’s not impor-tant anymore if they can have better material life.

I like traveling alone. Last trip I took alone as in 2010’s summer, I went to New York, London,

Cambridge, Zurich and Geneva in fifteen days. It’s the first trip I took to so many western world cit-ies. I was attracted by metropolitan New York, its’ high pace lifestyle and culture diversity seemed inspired something new in my adolescent.

Being in London is another story, everything I love that relate to London came to my mind, Arsenal FC, Sherlock Holmes, V for Vendetta, Harry Potter, No. 10 Downing Street in the movie Love Actually, Winston Churchill giving speeches, like dramas switching from one to another when I visit different sites. Walking down the alleys of Cambridge, tapping the flagstones on pave-ment, I keep saying to myself that Newton and other famous academics used to step on the same flagstone I’m stepping on, and wandering in the palace of knowledge.

Two cities I’ve been to in Switzerland are totally different since Zurich is in German region while Geneva is in French region. I can’t express my awkwardness trying to find my way on a German written map or asking about the menu in a restau-rant to a local waiter who speaks terrible English with German grammar and accent. As soon as I found my way to “survive” in Zurich, I found my-self in French speaking Geneva. People in French region seem can speak better English than those in German region, I didn’t have many difficulties on communication there. The easiness and slow life pace impressed my a lot, I can’t imagine a life that no store opens in weekends. But I enjoyed the beautiful countryside scenery on the high speed trains, reminds me of Sound of Music.

These are some stories on the road. I’m always on the road, and copying the book of world into my diary just makes me feel alive.

@Backpacker Magazine

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. “ ----St Augustine

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” -----Oscar Wilde

By Lucy Chen

Photo credit Lucy Chen