For this OAT traveler, an adventure to China was just another step in the creative process
Traveling can inspire the artist in all of us, and many OAT travelers have created wonderful works of art based on their adventures. Writer and traveler Freddie Remza journeyed to China in search of inspiration for her children's novel about an American family preparing to adopt a child from China. When she wrote into Harriet’s Corner to tell me about it, I couldn’t resist sharing her story with you.
If you’ve found artistic inspiration during your own adventures with OAT, I hope you’ll email me at harriet@oattravel.com.
By Freddie Remza of Apalachin, New York, 6-time traveler and author of The Journey to Mei
I have two passions—traveling and telling a good story. So after I retired from teaching I had the time to do both. My middle reader’s children’s book, The Journey to Mei, is a story about a family who decides to adopt a child from China. Now it’s common knowledge to write what you know, but hey, I knew nothing about adoption or China so the research was heavy! Right after ordering a copy of the Chinese Adoption handbook, I called OAT and booked Imperial China, Tibet & the Yangtze River with the Shanghai extension. There were several trips offered to China but I selected that one because I wanted to be part of a small group and I liked the idea we would be visiting an orphanage in Tibet.
For seven months prior to the trip, I researched and wrote until I got to the part where the family would be leaving for China to pick up their baby. Until then I wanted my mind to be a blank page when writing about a place far away with no influences other than the ones I would naturally receive from movies, books, newspapers, etc. Thus, when the family arrived—so did I.
My OAT guide, Helen, was an unbelievable resource. I explained how I was there to gather material for my story. We spent many hours in conversation on topics such as male supremacy, the one child policy, and why the Chinese government was tightening up its adoption criteria. The places we visited were screaming to be written about—hard to choose. When I went to the Panda Sanctuary in Chengdu so did the story family. When I took the elevator to the top floor of our hotel in Hong Kong to see the view, so did my character, Shelly. When I walked into Tiananmen Square and was greeted by the “hello people” (as our guide called them) ... well, that happened to Shelly’s mom.
Settings, people and cultural differences were very important to pick up on, but I was also looking for the sights, sounds, smells, and itty bitty details that can’t be pulled off the internet or out of some text book. For example, how the tile in the Hong Kong airport is black and white; watermelon is often served at the end of a turntable meal; the streets of Chengdu are lined with hibiscus trees—things like that. Oh, did you know the custom of serving fortune cookies at the end of a Chinese meal only happens in America?
I've been on several OAT and Grand Circle trips and just when I think the last trip can not be equaled, I am fooled.
Learn more about The Journey to Mei at Amazon.com.
Learn more about OAT’s Imperial China, Tibet & the Yangtze River Small Ship Adventure.