Emma shares her wild solo travel journey to China.
“Moral of the story: traveling is all fun and games until I go somewhere without my mom.”
After agreeing to visit China for the first time since 2016, Emma learns she’ll have to make the 25-hour journey alone. What follows is pure chaos: cramped flights, awkward seat-mates, a marathon walk through Heathrow, frantic texts, canceled flights, a missing driver, a crazy train station, and five hours beside snoring strangers. By the time she finally reunites with her mom and uncle, it’s clear that travel is far less glamorous without her mom by her side.
Alt Text: A pond with a layer of green leafy lily pads with pink lilies in front of a foggy backdrop at Yuanmingyuan, Beijing (Photo Credit: Emma Gannon, 2024)
Alt Text: Photo taken in .5 of the mac and cheese, roll, fruit and cheese, side dish, dessert, and drink mentioned in the story. (Photo Credit: Emma Gannon, 2024)
Animated Map
Alt Text: Animated map that zooms in and moves with an airplane depicting Emma’s trip. Starts in Boston, flies to London, then flies to Shanghai. Then takes a taxi to the train station, then a train to Beijing.
Instagram Story
Alt Text: The top photo shows a Chinese gondola on the river, while the bottom photo features a colorful archway with red, blue, and tan hues, accompanied by writing in the Summer Palace, overlaid with the words ‘Nonstop to China!’ Well, almost with a link to Listen Here.
Instagram story to tease multimedia storytelling piece (Photo Credits: Emma Gannon, 2024)
