If you have a spouse that loves to travel with you, great. But if you don't, take heart! This is an amazing way to travel, and you won't believe the money you'll save when you get to split everything four ways!

(I have kept journals on each of these seven trips, all between 50 to 105 pages, with the one on China actually being the longest).

Normally, we do all our own planning for our trips, but China is not a place for foreigners to be on their own, especially four American women. We used an agency in Dallas, McIntosh Tours, to help us organize our trip. For a very reasonable cost, we had what seemed like the perfect agenda. We flew into Shanghai, then to Yichang, where we boarded a boat for a four-day cruise on the Yangtze River. Then we flew to Guilin, then Xi'an, then to Beijing, covering 15 days.

The flight over on Northwest, on frequent flyer miles, was a nightmare. After flying almost four hours from Detroit, the pilot announced that there was mechanical difficulty of some sort, and we would be returning to Detroit, and spending the night. That caused us to miss our first day in Shanghai, including an appointment with a tailor, and a day trip to Souzhou, which was a major disappointment.

Shanghai was a fabulous starting point for a first visit to Asia. It's ultra-modern skyline is like none other in the world. Our agent had arranged a guide and driver just for the four of us for the entire trip, which I highly recommend. It was infinitely better than being herded around with 40 people all touring on a bus together and following someone holding an umbrella above her head.

We were booked into the Seagull Hotel, near the Bund. Even with a 4-star rating, it was better than any of our expectations, with a beautiful somewhat art-deco lobby, and modern, comfortable rooms.

Each morning, we were greeted in the lobby by our wonderful, capable guide, Stacey, who led us to our car, always waiting just outside the door. This was the most incredible treat, to have the driver waiting every time we needed him.

We saw Wu Gardens and the Jade Temple our first day. Although both are obviously tourist spots, both are definitely worthy of a visit. Stacey, being the savvy guide she is, took us in the exit door, so when the crowds started arriving, we'd be going "against the flow," and wouldn't get caught behind a large group, of which there were several. We all bonded in no time with Stacey. Besides the obvious benefit of not having to be with a bus load of strangers, it was such a treat to have a guide to ourselves. We constantly bombarded her with questions, which we would not have been able to do if we had been with a group.

We asked her to take us somewhere we could buy pearl jewelry and were all very pleased with the place she took us, the Fanghua Pearl store, which was not far from the Wu Gardens. We actually walked there rather than having the driver take us.

At the Fanghua Pearl store, they will make a necklace or bracelet for you while you wait. You pick out the size pearls you want, and a clasp, and they will string and knot them with the speed of lightening, and in just the perfect length of your choice. I got a triple strand 6mm bracelet with a large, gold clasp for around $200, which was a bargain. We had all researched the cost of bracelets and necklaces before leaving home, so we'd know what was a good deal.

We had done some research ourselves regarding wonderful places to eat. Having made all our own arrangements for all our other trips, it was a little hard for us to completely relinquish all control on this one. Although our travel agency had arranged all our meals, we wanted to try some we had found ourselves, that we had seen written about in magazine and newspaper articles. Stacey was happy to accommodate us, and took us to our restaurant of choice. Incidentally, the guides do not eat with you, but will get you a table, and order for you if necessary, and leave you until it's time for pick up.