Chinese grandma, Li Dongju sets example by kicking off solo travelling on a bike in her late 50s.
As reported by CNN, the grandmother, who is now 66, and is originally from Zhengzhou, has biked through 12 countries including France, Cambodia and Australia.
During her adventures, she relied entirely on translation apps to communicate with the locals and had camped in gas station, and parks to stay on budget.
Calling her cycling experience "life changing," Li shared that her journey was put on pause by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022.
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She said that solo travelling and exploring new places helped fight her long-term depression that was caused by her divorce in 2005.
While expressing her life before she embarked on global travels, she noted, "I was heavily dependent on others...and felt like a frog in a well, now, I'm a wild wolf - free, fearless and independent."
Li was introduced to biking in 2013, when she passed a group of fully geared cyclists, she revealed that the group's energy sparked "a surge of envy" in her.
Before she started her journey, she depended completely on her pension for her expenses, which was not enough to start this new hobby.
Li, for her first step, bought herself a bicycle helmet but later her son gifted her a folding mountain bike.
To start her adventures, Li worked a year as a house cleaner, and saved enough to join a cyclists she met online for a Southeast Asia tour.
Despite facing a lot of obstacles on her decade-long adventures, she also encountered many kind people, which encouraged her to move forward.
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With a goal to visit 100 countries now Li Dongju is preparing for her planned trip from Kazakhstan to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
