At 94, would you be willing to travel across an entire country on your own? Tan, a retired railway engineer from Wuxi, did exactly that. When he asked AI whether someone his age could make the trip to Tibet, he didn’t get a clear answer. So he decided to find out for himself.

Tan has loved traveling since he was young, and picked up the hobby again after retirement. Beijing was the first stop on his latest journey across China. He saved Tibet for last because, as he put it, it was the most challenging destination. By the time he set off for Tibet, he had already visited the country’s other 33 provincial-level regions.

His family had supported him throughout those earlier trips. Tibet was different. This time, his family and friends were all against the idea. Even a train conductor he met along the way advised him not to go.

Tan had hoped to join a tour group, but travel agencies turned him away because of his age. Still, long journeys were nothing new to him. In September, he had completed a trip to Xinjiang. He returned home, rested for 20 days, and then set off for Tibet alone.

Over the years, Tan has learned to use a smartphone to book his own train and plane tickets, reserve hotels, and research local attractions and travel routes. He is comfortable with ride-hailing apps, too, and even opts for shared rides. His daughter installed an AI assistant on his phone, which he uses to look up information such as the altitude of places he plans to visit.

Tan left Wuxi on October 10 and arrived in Lhasa two days later, after a 43-hour train journey. He visited the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and other local landmarks, and said he felt fine, with no symptoms of altitude sickness.

After his story spread online, Lhasa’s tourism authorities contacted him and helped arrange visits to the Tibet Museum and Norbulingka, as well as a Tibetan opera performance.

Having visited all 34 provincial-level regions, Tan has completed this round of travels, but he has no plans to stop. Next, he wants to see Guangxi’s Pinglu Canal, a major new waterway, and revisit Hefei to see how the city has changed. He is curious about how places beyond his own city are developing, and wants to see those changes for himself.

What makes Tan’s journey remarkable is not that he ignored the risks. He researched his route, checked altitudes, arranged his own transport and accommodation, and made use of the technology available to him. He prepared as best he could, but when neither travel agencies nor AI could give him a definite answer, he made the call himself.

AI can help plan a journey, compare hotels and flag potential risks. But it cannot decide what a journey is worth to the person taking it.

Tan’s advice to younger people is simple: get enough sleep, take care of your health, and go out and see more of the world. Whatever you want to do, he says, take the first step.