1 . While it’s wonderful to share a special trip and new experience with friends or family, there’s an attractive case for travel alone from time to time. Solo travel can work for anyone.     1    .

You needn’t discuss with others.

It can be challenging to talk over a trip and time away from work with another busy person in your life,     2    . Usually, these challenges can be overcome by simply planning far in advance. However, if you can’t find a travel partner on short notice, it may be the perfect time to pack your bags and go anyway.

You’re your own great partner.

    3    , you may be surprised at how enjoyable it can be. Just accompany yourself. Depending on the destination, a solo trip can be a powerful and life-changing experience. Imagine sitting on a peaceful beach at sunset or taking an inviting morning hike alone. You can enjoy such a hike without making conversation with anyone.

Meet new people.

If you are a born open person, traveling alone can be a wonderful way to meet locals and make new friends. Often, people who are alone appear more approachable (亲近的) to others.     4    . You could even join a group of like-minded people for yoga on the beach. The key is to keep an open mind while keeping safety in mind, especially in a foreign land.

    5    .

For some reason, service at hotels and restaurants seems better when you’re traveling alone. People tend to admire those who travel by themselves.

2 . Peru (秘鲁) is a country on the Pacific coast of South America, a popular destination (目的地) for tourists. Here are some package tours for you.

Amazon Rainforest Tour

A short flight from Cusco takes you from the Andes into the Amazon rainforest. From there, you’ll spend one day travelling by boat to your hotel in the middle of the forest. You can then spend three days exploring the rainforest with a local guide and enjoying the plants and animals unique to the rainforest.

Machu Picchu Tour

This four-day walking tour will take you on amazing paths through the Andes Mountains on the way to the city of Machu Picchu. After reaching your destination, you will have a day to explore and be amazed by this ancient city. Especially amazing is the Incas’ dry stone method of building. Inca builders cut stones to exact sizes so that nothing was needed to hold walls together other than the perfect fit of the stones.

Cusco Tour

Spend four days enjoying the unique Spanish and local Indian culture high in the Andes at Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire from the 13th until the 16th century. Stay in a local hotel, visit the museums, admire the architecture, enjoy the excellent local food, and go shopping at the local markets.

Lake Titicaca Tour

Enjoy the beautiful countryside as you spend a day driving along the new highway connecting Cusco to Lake Titicaca. There, a boat will take you to stay with a local Uros family on an island for three days. Both the island and the Uros homes are made of water plants from the lake.

For more package tours around Peru, contact us at tourinfo@travelperu.org.

3 . 72 hours in Beijing

Traveling to China is no longer a luxury for many foreign passport holders. The Chinese government has permitted a 72-hour visa free policy that offers access to visitors from 53 countries including the US, France and Austria. Let’s start with the capital of China, Beijing. Here’s a pick of the best in Beijing.

Your trip to Beijing isn’t really complete without seeing one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World” — the Great Wall of China. The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is by far the most well-preserved of all. Taking a one-hour bus ride, Mutianyu would be your ideal location for a half-day of hiking away from the large crowds in the city. Also, the authorities have allowed tourists to paint graffiti on a specific section of the Great Wall since 2014. The Great Wall was designated (把……定名为) a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

Located in northwestern Beijing, the Summer Palace is by far the city’s most well-preserved royal park. With its huge lake and hilltop views, the palace offers you a pastoral escape into the landscape of traditional Chinese paintings. The Summer Palace was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

This would be on the top of my list! Named after the 798 factory that was built in the 1950s, the art zone is home to various galleries, design studios, art exhibition spaces, fashionable shops and bars. You could easily spend half your day wandering around the complex, feeling the contrast of the present and the past.

While in Beijing, apart from trying the city’s best-known Peking duck, the Sichuan provincial restaurant is one of places where you can enjoy regional delicious food. It offers one of China’s eight great cuisines, Sichuan Cuisine, which ranges from Mapo tofu to spicy chicken.

4 . Travelling offers endless benefits in terms of adventure, as well as getting the opportunity to experience new and unfamiliar things around the world.    1    . In this text, we are detailing some of the most important, benefits of travelling for you.

It can reduce stress. Let’s talk about the big one first, stress.    2    , and it is something that we all experience. Life can throw all kinds of things at you, causing stress and worry. However, travelling can help to relieve these feelings. It allows you to break away from your everyday routine.

    3    . Even the thought of travelling for a break might make you feel more creative and open your mind to new ideas. Jetting off overseas and getting the opportunity to see the world can bring a new viewpoint to your ideas. Increasing creativity is extremely beneficial to us, as it helps us to put any negative energy into our creativity.

It can strengthen immune system.    4    . Travelling exposes you to different climates thus ever strengthening your immune system. That certainly doesn’t go without saying that you should do everything to maintain your immune system when travelling. Get your body well used to plenty of rest, eating well and staying energetic.

It can increase activity.    5    ,so you will stay active, which is always good news for your body. Being more active means your heart rate is increased, your body is able to burn fat quicker, and your circulation can improve. However, do take caution not to overuse yourself, as it can take the enjoyment out of travelling. So let it happen naturally.

5 . Since the modern Olympics began in 1896, it has been held in more than 40 different cities. That gives Olympic fans quite a few possible travel destinations to choose from!

Beijing, China

Olympic fans should consider visiting the Beijing Olympic Park to check out the special buildings of the so—called “Bird’s Nest” and “Water Cube”—the national stadium and aquatics center built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Popular historic places in Beijing include the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and Tian’anmen Square.

Innsbruck, Austria

Located in the heart of the Alps, Innsbruck is known as a great winter destination—which explains why it has hosted not one but two Winter Olympics. Known for its mountainous views, Innsbruck is the perfect stop for outdoor adventurers.

Mexico City, Mexico

This wonderful travel destination offers a wide number of popular museums, historic buildings, and public parks. People will love shopping for fresh meat and produce at the markets, taking a cooking class, and generally eating their way through Mexico City, which is especially known for its culinary(烹饪的)experiences that include both globally well—known restaurants and locally favored street carts.

Melbourne, Australia

Nearly half a century before Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics, Melbourne became the first Australian host city in 1956. Head to the “cultural capital of Australia”, located in Victoria on the southeastern coast, for an energetic cafe culture and art scene. Melbourne offers something for every type of traveler and everyone can enjoy an evening at one of the city’s many rooftop bars or a day of wine tasting.

6 . Amsterdam is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, famous for its beautiful canals, top art museums, cycling culture and so on. It is the capital city of the Netherlands and often referred to as the “Venice of the North” because of its expansive system of bridges and canals. Here are some of the key points to remember as you plan your trip to Amsterdam.

Must-See Attractions

Most visitors begin their Amsterdam adventure in the Old Centre, which is full of traditional architecture, shopping centers, and coffee shops. You’ll also want to check out Amsterdam’s Museum Quarter in the South District, which is great for shopping at the Albert Cuyp Market and having a picnic in the Vondelpark. The top museums to visit there are the Rijksmusuem, the Ann Frank House, and the Van Gogh Museum.

If You Have Time

There are several other unique districts in Amsterdam, and you should try to explore as many of them as time allows. The Canal Ring is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was originally built to attract wealthy home owners and is a center for celebrity spotting and nightlife today. The Plantage area has most of the city’s museums and the botanical gardens.

Money Saving Tips

●Unless you really want to see the tulips(郁金香) blooming, avoid booking between mid-March and mid-May. This is when hotel and flight prices rise.

●Look for accommodations in Amsterdam’s South District, where rates are generally cheaper than in the city center.

●Buy train tickets at the machine instead of the counter to save a bit of money.

●Instead of hiring a tour guide, hop on a canal boat. They’re inexpensive and will give you a unique point of view of the city.

Check out our homepage to view price comparisons for flights, hotels, and rental cars before you book.

7 . Recently, my husband and three kids were playing in the Mediterranean, swimming and floating in the picture-perfect sea. It was ridiculously beautiful in Majorca, Spain. The way the sun danced across the water and how the blue horizon was dotted with storybook sailboats were such beautiful scenes. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.

My husband and I always dreamed about taking our kids on a trip around the world. It was something we always wanted to do “one day”. It was one of the things we talked in detail about, when we imagined our life with the children we hoped we would have.

Fourteen years later, we had three boys who were growing up faster by the day. It was time to make good on (兑现，实现) those plans.

We spent dozens of hours discussing, researching and planning.

We had to learn how to “road school” our kids and arrange time off from work. We renewed our passports, and then packed our bags.

We showed our kids the world. It was about experiencing the dozens of flights and trains and taxis together. We showed them how wonderful, how diverse, and how fascinating the world is. We wanted them to learn all that we had learned ourselves, through our own travels as young adults.

But there was something more than that: What we really wanted is to slow down time. We wanted the days to last a bit longer and the weeks to take their time. The years with our children are going too fast. We wanted to put the brakes on our busy lives for a year, and just be with our kids. We wanted a break from the daily morning routine of making lunches, eating breakfast and rushing out the door in time for school. We needed a family time-out (休息时间).

It was a wonderful two months in Europe, full of incredible moments. And when we look back at our lives, I know we’ll be glad we did it. I know we’ll be happy that this is a chapter of the story of our family.