A Chinese man has gambled his life comfortably, sold all his possessions to take his wife and children to explore the big world. However, not long after, his family had to return home to rent a house.
Give up a peaceful life
Zhan Feng was born into a family of workers in Shandong, China. His parents are both railway workers, where he has lived since childhood is a railway worker dormitory. At that time, nearly 90% of the children in the dormitory had only one dream, which was to enter a railway vocational school and later become a railway worker.
Trien Phong did not like this path, but his parents still oriented him to become a railway worker. In 2002, he married a colleague named Ton Hong Nham, quickly bought a house and car with his savings. With a stable job, the couple Trien Phong lived a affluent life, without worrying about food and clothing. Three years later, they welcomed their first daughter and became a model family in the eyes of everyone around.
In the winter of 2007, Trien Phong’s wife took her daughter to her mother’s house, leaving him alone at home. Suddenly, Trieu Phong’s heart felt empty. His wife is not at home and spends the day playing games, reading novels, and then ends the day in boredom. Life with him now is so peaceful, the past few years have been busy working for the family but never doing anything for himself.
Trien Phong began to find a way out of such a life. He looked at Google Earth again and again on his computer, feeling that the world was so big, there were many things he had never known. He then began short trips, but when he felt uncomfortable returning home.
Trien Phong yearns to explore the outside world (Photo: Toutiao)
In 2012, he read an article about an explorer traveling around the world on a sailing ship. Trien Phong studied and thought about the feasibility of traveling by sailing boat. At first, he was afraid that his wife would object, because the price of the yacht was very high, and he might have to sell all his existing assets. But surprisingly, Ton Hong Nham fully supports this dream.
So both he and his wife decided to quit their jobs, sell all their houses and cars, add a savings of 400,000 yuan (more than 1 billion VND) to buy a sailboat, and begin their somewhat crazy journey. Later, he also found a way to do more business and borrow from friends to be ready to go.
Very few people around understand the reckless actions of Zhan Phong. Knowing the news, the parents of both sides were afraid to put enough pressure on him and his wife to think again, but Trien Phong was able to convince them. Many netizens expressed their admiration for the couple’s courage as they did what many people wanted to do but dared not do.
Acceptance and loss on the adventure journey
In 8 months, the small family traveled to many Southeast Asian countries, having very memorable experiences. Every day at 3 – 4 pm, if the weather is good and the sea is calm, Trien Phong will take her daughter to the sea to swim and enjoy the mysteries of nature. Around 6 pm, the whole family had dinner under the sunset light, enjoying delicious food while admiring the beautiful scenery. Then the whole family watched movies, talked, told stories and watched the starry sky. At 9 p.m., the daughter goes to bed, and the couple will take turns guarding the ship.
The small family had unforgettable experiences for many months at sea (Photo: 163)
During the journey, he encountered many barriers such as obtaining a visa, not being fluent in the language, and learning how to sail a boat. The climax was a huge storm that put the whole family in danger in the middle of the sea. While the couple was trying their best to stabilize the boat, Trien Phong heard her daughter’s cry. At this point, he felt extremely hopeless and regretted his impulsiveness.
Fortunately, the storm gradually dissipated and the sea calmed down, but Zhanfeng himself felt that it would be better to sell the ship and return to China. No longer a home, the family of 3 had to live in a rented house. But thanks to the interesting stories on the adventure journey, Zhan Phong became famous and raised 200,000 yuan (more than 600 million VND) for the next trip when they were better prepared.
Trien Phong felt his decision was impulsive, so at one point he returned home, wanting to give up adventure (Photo: Toutiao)
Not giving up their desire to explore the outside world, the small family then sailed to Australia again by sailing boat. This time, although I have more experience, but during 4 months, the whole family also had many problems, not eating well and not sleeping well. They decided to stay in Australia for half a year so that their daughter could go to school while the couple took advantage of learning English.
After living in Australia for a while, Trien Phong feels that life is too comfortable right now. He sold the sailboat and intended to buy the plane. But because the plane was too expensive, Trien Phong sought to negotiate with a documentary film company to document his experience of flying across Australia from north to south. To fulfill his dream, the man learned to fly an airplane while working many jobs.
Zhan Phong then opened a surf camp in Bali, attracting teenagers from all over the world to sign up. He also opened a school to teach hot air balloons, but on a small scale, just as a hobby. The main income still comes from his surf camp. Tourists to Bali extremely love the experience under the leadership of Trien Phong.
But because of the epidemic, his business after that was not very good. Zhanfeng sold these models and returned to China, becoming a travel-blogger, inspiring people who take risks and want to explore the world.
Trien Phong became famous, continued his journey as a travel-blogger to satisfy his passion (Photo: Toutiao)
To achieve their dream, Trien Phong and his wife risked their whole life to open their eyes to the outside world. They choose to live the way they want, accepting the risks and even giving up.
Many people criticized the couple for wanting adventure and preventing their young daughter from getting a good education like other children. But thanks to this journey, Trien Phong’s daughter is inspired to continue to adventure to many countries to volunteer, speak English fluently and communicate with confidence.