By Alice Orlova, project manager at Smart Trip Platform

Let me share a story with you. I first went to China many years ago with my best friend, and we did the obvious things — Beijing, the Great Wall, Shanghai, the Terracotta Army, pandas in Chengdu, and so on. We did some pretty cool things, too — went to Lhasa by train, for example — but nothing too intrepid.

Some things we saw made us feel a bit uncomfortable, and one of them was the way people waited for trains. You know, train stations in China can get so crowded that people prefer to wait outside, sometimes for hours. They put newspapers on the ground and sit on them, surrounded by beeping traffic, exhaust fumes, running half-naked children and dogs. Unperturbed by noise, dust, and trash, they chew on pickled chicken feet and other snacks and wait for their train or for someone to buy tickets for them. So my friend and I would pass by and say, “Hmm, that’s not a great way to pass one’s time, is it? I wouldn’t want to be in their place!” My comfort zone was not tiny, but it definitely wasn’t vast back then.

Fast forward several years and many more trips. I returned to China on a few occasions, always on my own, and traveled extensively in various provinces. And you know what? At some point, there I was — outside of a train station, sitting on my piece of newspaper, with a pickled chicken foot in my hand, surrounded by traffic and trash, waiting for my train and feeling… completely fine, like it was the most natural thing to do. My comfort zone had expanded.

That’s one of the greatest benefits that independent travel brings, I think: it stretches your comfort zone, so that things that once seemed scary, disgusting, or weird begin to feel… just fine. So that later, when you share your experience with your friends, they will say, “Oh my god, I can’t believe you actually did that!”, and you will respond, “Well, yes, it was ok, nothing too special, actually”. Of course, I don’t mean that you should run across railway tracks or eat unwashed veggies; I don’t suggest doing things that are plain stupid. But there is a huge realm of things that are not actually dangerous, or disgusting, or wrong — just outside your current comfort zone.

Now, let me stress this: I respect other people’s travel styles, and I know that many appreciate comfortable holidays organized by an agency, guided tours, and so on. But I do believe that it’s important to step outside of your comfort zone when you are in control of the situation, because a day might come when you are forced to do so unwillingly. Train yourself for adventure, so to speak.

The best way to expand your comfort zone is to plan and organize your trips all by yourself.

Nobody is born an intrepid traveler, it’s just a skill that you build up with practice, raising the degree of adventurousness just a little bit with every trip. It will save you lots of money, too — why overpay hundreds (or even thousands) dollars for a guided tour in a group when you can go where you like, visit what you want, and stay for as long as you need?

Here someone will say, “But planning trips takes an awful lot of time! You have to spend hours researching and writing emails, and then some info is not even available in English!” You will be right, and that’s where Smart Trip Platform comes into play. We are building it with a very clear goal in mind: to give you — traveler — a full set of tools to plan even a complex trip independently. Not just hotel bookings and car rentals, but also full information on attractions, transportation schedules, ways to buy tickets and ask for advice from very experienced travelers. Of course, there are travel experiences that require outside assistance to organize — jungle treks or mountain climbs, for example. For such things, Smart Trip Platform will feature — for the first time! — a database of companies that provide these services, and you’ll be able to contact service providers directly and book activities right on the platform. Cool, huh? All the info and tools you can possibly want to plan an independent trip at your fingertips!

I am convinced that many tourists just need an all-encompassing resource like Smart Trip Platform to become more independent and intrepid in their travels. We will provide you all the help you need — and you will see your comfort zone expand painlessly! Just imagine yourself somewhere on Madagascar, or in Chile, or on Borneo — living the adventure of your dreams, feeling confident and free. That’s what we are working for.

Remember that Smart Trip Platform pre-ICO starts on April 16! Subscribe to our groups in Telegram (https://t.me/st_platform) and Facebook (facebook.com/STplatform/) — we welcome all your comments!