It's been a long time since I last went back to my hometown. This time, I planned to go home during the seven-day National Day holiday and take care of some other matters. So, on the evening of September 30th, I drove home with my family.
The Difficult Journey Home#
We initially drove fast on the highway, thinking that we had already avoided the peak travel period. However, it turned out that I was wrong, and we got stuck on the highway as expected.
As for the navigation, it recommended not taking the highway at this time and instead taking the national road (I really regretted it). So, we exited the highway, but the navigation confused me a bit. We kept going around in Lin'an. We left Hangzhou at 11 PM and were still stuck in Lin'an at 3 AM. The national road was also congested, so we had no choice but to rest on the spot. We were extremely tired, and it was uncomfortable to sleep. This is how it is when traveling at night.
I woke up a little after 5 AM, and it was already October 1st. We continued our journey according to the navigation. However, we ended up on a mountain road. I don't know the name of the mountain as I didn't pay attention.
We drove on the winding mountain road for about three hours, with numerous twists and turns. The scenery was decent, so I comforted myself by considering it as a tourist trip.
We finally came out of the mountains around noon, now in Anhui Province, close to Lu'an.
We casually ate some instant noodles for lunch and continued our journey. It was already the afternoon of the 1st. By around 5 PM, we were about 100 kilometers away from our hometown, and we would have arrived in about two more hours. However, some minor accidents occurred, causing a tire to burst. We had to deal with the situation until the late night, and even after fixing the car, we couldn't continue driving. Exhausted both physically and mentally, we found a hotel to rest for the night. A deep sleep felt really great, and I promised myself not to stay up late anymore. It's too uncomfortable.
I woke up at 9:30 AM, quickly tidied up, and left at 10 AM without having breakfast. I wasn't very hungry and planned to drive straight home. As expected, we arrived in the county town before lunchtime, meeting everyone's expectations.
It's been a long time since I last went home, and I realized that the prices are really low. The four of us couldn't finish the food, so we packed the leftovers and brought them back. The bill was only around 150 yuan. However, the salary level is also similar to the price level, which triggered a new thought for me: whether I can retire in the county town in the future.
Random thoughts about going home... (No photos)
On the 6th, I started my journey back, and on the 7th, I returned to Hangzhou. I was truly exhausted both physically and mentally. It was another overnight trip, and resting for two hours at the service area didn't help much.
After arriving in Hangzhou, my stomach started to ache. I roughly calculated that out of the 7 days, I spent 4 days on the road. I ate only biscuits and instant noodles, and I couldn't bear it anymore. After arriving here, I had a meal, took a shower, and went straight to sleep until 6 PM. When I woke up, I still felt a bit tired. I estimate that it will take at least three days to fully recover. After all, I'm getting older, and it's really painful.
Reflections on Driving and Traveling#
I've learned my lesson. I won't drive long distances for travel anymore, especially during holidays. It's much simpler to solve the problem by taking an 7-8 hour train ride and getting a good sleep. However, it's also because I brought some luggage. Next time, I plan to directly send my luggage back and travel light with just a backpack. That way, I can enjoy the journey comfortably.
Complaining about Some Things on the Highway#
The Anhui section of the highway is really not good. The management is inadequate, and the rescue response is slow. When there was traffic congestion on the highway in Anhui, the emergency lanes were basically not idle. Private cars were directly using them. In other provinces, this phenomenon is rare. Moreover, when accidents occur, the rescue response is slow, and the traffic control is inadequate. This directly leads to long traffic jams. When I drove through the Henan and Zhejiang sections, I saw that accidents were handled quickly, and there were hardly any long traffic jams.