Along with the beginning of a new college year comes the season when parents have to say the hard goodbye to their little babies, who have transformed into a new creature called college freshmen. While dropping off their teens to a new world could be somewhat stressful and emotional for some parents, a Chinese father decided to make it an inspiring experience, by driving his daughter across the world  to enroll her in a US college.

The adventurous father, Huang Haitao from east China’s Jiangsu province spent 108 days driving his freshman daughter, Huang Xinyi to school, travelling 30,000 km through 26 countries.

Huang said the idea for this crazy journey germinated four years ago, “My girl took that year off to travel across Eurasia and North Pole on a road trip with me. After the trip we decided that if she secured admission to a US college, daddy will drive her to school,” Huang told Yangtse Evening Post, a local newspaper.

The moment Xinyi received her admission letter from Seattle University, her father started making arrangements for the long road trip. “Maomao (the girl's nickname) is going to college, and she would never ever again spend so much time with daddy…what I could do is to send her onto her own life path with this special tour.”

The father spent the next few months completing all the paperwork required for an international road trip.

They started from Nanjing city, Jiangsu Province on June 1. The first stop was Russia, which took them 20 days to traverse before finally reaching Europe. The duo even adventured around Chechnya and found it to be surprisingly beautiful.

As they approached Turkey, the Chinese consulate warned them of the frequent terrorist attacks there. The Turkish part of the journey turned out to be peaceful. Hospitable locals made their stay enjoyable by bestowing them with meat, fruit and inviting them home for dinner.

However, the trip did not go entirely trouble-free. Huang recalled that they were usually mistaken for a couple when checking into a hotel. “When I told them we’re father and daughter, they were like..Wow! That’s interesting.”

When the Huangs finally arrived in Seattle on September 11, their story had already made a buzz in the country with widespread media coverage. The school authority offered to hold a special welcoming ceremony for them, which Huang rejected, “the kid came to study, her top priority is to settle down quickly for her future academic life.”

Huang said the 108 days taught his daughter a lesson she would value for lifetime. “You have to see the world with your own eyes, or else you won't know what it really looks like,” he added.