First was the crazy idea to go to the Gobi Desert.
Then was the even crazier will to make it happen.
And then the planning meetings at Helen’s (haha) through google.
And then there were the 15 million different ways of planning it and insane itineraries and ridiculous travel costs.
And then there was the new and final plan that could actually work and the final meetings and legiiiit powerpoints.

THEN there was the trip to the hostel which turned into trip to travel agency which turned into booking flights in a language none of us are literate in.
And then there was the outrage over the price hike and dilemma over principle.
And them there was the trip to the train station to buy tickets and the sold out tickets and haggling in line and almost faking identities for lack of IDs and then the crazy convoluted stressed out hypothetical backup plans and then the stressed out relief when we got them after all.
And then there was the trip back to the travel agency and the 11k RMB cash wads and more changing of plans and finalizing shit.
And then there was the getting shatted on by extremely unhappy parentals over the phone and the frustration of narrowminded unaccommodating pissed off rigidity.

And then there’s the fact that I’m getting on an overnight train to Xi’an tomorrow afternoon, seeing the terra cotta warriors, flying to Hohhot, riding camels / hangliding on the Gobi Desert, staying the night in a yurt, watching the sunrise on the steppe, spending a day riding the grasslands in Inner Mongolia, and then flying back in time for China’s Media and Politics on Monday, all with this absolutely incredibly amazing group of people that I met less than 10 days ago. And my ukulele.

YOFO: You Only Fudan Once.