World Travel Archives - Ryan McLaughlin

10th Chinaversary — the Beginning of the End

This week marks my 10th anniversary living in China. It also marks the beginning of my impending move out of China and back to Canada. It’s been a good run, but the time has come to leave. I moved to China in January 2005 as an 8-month stop-over on a journey heading towards Australia, and …

January 8, 2015

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Disturbing Dubai

It’s rare that I hit on topics here that don’t involve myself, my adoptive country of China or my homeland of Canada. However, I just finished a long investigative report in The Independent about Dubai, and felt the need to share. The article, written by Johann Hari, shocked me. I had never really put much …

April 7, 2009

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Scent of Adventure

I had the good fortune to interview Rob Thomson the other day and can’t stop thinking about travelling. Rob, for those that don’t know, just broke a Guinness World Record skateboarding 12,000 km unsupported. His journey started in Switzerland and took him over Europe, the US and the width of China – beginning in Xinjiang …

October 7, 2008

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Humanaughtahaironmyhead

So, spring is in the air in lovely Suzhou. Yes – our two weeks of paradise have arrived, and just in time for the droves of tourists looking to capture a picture of the city’s tranquil gardens (which are overflowing with tourists looking to capture a picture of the city’s tranquil gardens). Spring always stirs …

April 30, 2008

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Travelversary, how I got where I am

So, that little bump in the road with the site being down marks my third year of running this blog. Well, technically I didn’t start writing on here until I arrived in China in January… but thehumanaught.com is technically three this week. Additionally, this week marks another anniversary of sorts. It was November 11, 2003, …

November 16, 2007

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Suzhou’s Surging Wave Pavilion (æ²§æµªäº)

To say Suzhou has a lot of gardens is an understatement somewhat akin to saying China’s got a lot of people. It’s the fact that there are so many of them that I’ve only slowly crept out to visit them. Much like temples in China, Suzhou’s gardens do tend to blend together. Generally speaking, they …

October 6, 2007

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Dreamblogue has head in clouds, feet on ground

Over the last week or so, in between design projects and getting set for my impending return to studenhood, I’ve been helping flesh out the design of a great China charity project – the China Dreamblogue (or Blog of Dreams – I’m still not sure why it has two names). The extremely ambitious project has …

September 9, 2007

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More seasons than a spice rack

One of the toughest things for Maggie and I to get used to about living in Suzhou over living up in her home town in the north-east or mine in Canada is the weather. We are both used to four distinct seasons running from a warming spring, a hot summer, a cooling fall and a …

August 8, 2007

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Pan Gate – ç›˜é—¨ (panmen)

One of the best things about having a guest visiting is it kicks you in the ass and reminds you that those scenic spots aren’t going to see themselves. Recently, while putting together a list of tourist spots around Suzhou for my Your China Pal site, I discovered a place I had not heard of …

June 26, 2007

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Random Australian Girl In My Bedroom

So, today I am receiving a guest. I love guests. Living in China for two years, I’ve had only a handful of people from back home come visit me, and so it is always with a great deal of anticipation that I receive new visitors. So much so, that I don’t really care if I …

June 21, 2007

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Announcing: Your China Pal

Hey all, I’m way behind in this announcing stuff, but wanted to wait until we had really got things going before plugging my newest venture on here. A friend of mine here in Suzhou and I have created this business as a way for foreigners visiting China to have access to an English-speaking local Chinese …

June 19, 2007

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Back From Dalian

Well, I’ve returned from the savage lands north east of the wall, and despite my inlaws doing their very best to stuff me to the point of explosion, I survived. I’m going to say this once, to be clear about things… NEVER TAKE THE FUCKING BUS IN CHINA. As I mentioned post-previously (c’mon, that’s kinda …

May 5, 2007

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