Page 4 of Where Did the Real Go Travel Blog Posts


Asia » China » Guangdong » Guangzhou October 7th 2014

It’s been a little over a month since we arrived and it’s about high time that I write about the noticeable changes that I have experienced since leaving four years ago. Every time I look out the window, I catch myself humming a little tune “Where, oh where, did the pollution go?” Not that I miss it at all, but it has been such a shocking difference that it absolutely has to be remarked on. Whatever they have been doing here to clean up the air has worked. I was so afraid of the possible ill effects of the pollution, that before Sean and I left Canada, I shipped in a year’s supply of Astaxanthin (an antioxidant 500 times more powerful than vitamin C ) from Hawaii to ensure that we did not get cancer while ... read more

Asia » China » Guangdong » Guangzhou September 28th 2014

Keep it Simple; Keep it Real I try to adopt a “less is more” approach to life, and I genuinely believe that simplicity is the key, thus finding myself immersed in a culture that is so familiar with having very little and keeping things simple, has been both interesting and inspiring. Down the road from our home in Guangzhou is a construction project, a ten story building being erected by a small group of migrant workers. Not a day passes that I do not stop and stare in awe at these men who – from early morning to late evening – work tirelessly at what seems an enormous task. I must mention that they have no machinery, just their bodies and the hand tools they carry with them. I must also mention that until the building ... read more
Slow but steady!
From morning to night
Keep it simple!

Asia » China » Guangdong » Guangzhou September 20th 2014

“I don’t think I can do it”. I pulled the tweezers back from his little body. So tiny. Smaller than my pinky finger. “Well, he has been here for two days and if we don’t get him off he is going to die.” “Yeah, but what happens if I accidently rip the bottom of his stomach off? Can you imagine how much that is going to hurt?” I have no problems digging a calcification out of my eye with a pair of tweezers, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. Visuals of the poor baby gecko’s stomach slicing in half as I tried unsuccessfully to peel it off the sticky door hinge haunted me and shaking my head, I passed the tweezers to Sean, “you do the last bit, he is mostly unstuck now.” I ... read more

Asia » China » Guangdong » Guangzhou September 14th 2014

Round and Round it goes... Fourteen hours on the airplane from Toronto and finally we arrived in Beijing, tired but in good spirits. As we approached security, I remembered that I was carrying all of Erin’s homeopathic remedies in my knapsack. Placing my knapsack on the conveyor belt, I nervously awaited for the Chinese officials to see the dozens of remedies in their little yellow vials as they passed through the x-ray machine. And then it happened… The conveyor belt stopped and I anxiously waited to be carried off to a Chinese prison where I would be interrogated – hour after hour – as to the content of these strange vials of small remedies. Wait, my knapsack came out the other side and no one looked twice at me! Phew! From there, we cleared customs and ... read more

Asia » China » Guangdong » Guangzhou September 8th 2014

Before returning to Guangzhou, I decided to test out a new experiment on myself: try not to create any expectations. According to yogic philosophy, expectations of any sort create havoc on appreciating something as it truly is and must be avoided like the plague. So, set on experiencing China again as it really is, I completely blocked Guangzhou from my mind for the last couple of months in Canada. I did such a good job of it that if anyone asked me if I was excited about returning to China, the only truthful answer I could give them was, "it hasn't hit me yet". I tried my best to remain in that "no expectations" state throughout all of the months of preparation and planning. The prep work was so intense and all consuming anyway that it ... read more
Sketchy Bag of Henna

North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto September 4th 2014

Here we go! After months of planning, we are about to board the airplane to Beijing, the first stop on our ten month journey through East Asia. It has been interesting that over the past few months, the words that I have heard the most is, “Are you not nervous? It is going to be such a change!” and “While I envy you two, I could never do it”. Now that our departure day has come and our current chapter nearly at an end, I feel more relaxed than ever; our adventure is about to begin! So often I hear people start a thought with, “I wish I could...” or “Maybe one day...” or “If I was in a different situation...”, and while of course life is always throwing new challenges at us, it is the ... read more
Here We Go!

North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto August 30th 2014

“So you are telling me that you can’t remove it?” She shook her head firmly, a definite no. “Really?” I flipped over my eyelid so that we could both look at the large calcification that had literally popped up overnight and was ripping my cornea to shreds. “What am I supposed to do then?” “Well,” said the GP who wasn't much older than me and whom I quietly suspected was rushing to finish her clinical requirements, “we could get you an appointment with an eye specialist who can remove it for you.” I was not sure... not only did that sound like a lengthy process, but it felt like there was a thousand needles stabbing themselves into my eyeball every time I moved; I was ready to rip out my eye. “How long is that going ... read more

North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto August 21st 2014

Twenty-seven years ago I embarked on a journey that – as the saying goes – was in my blood. It was at the age of nine when I began to set my own stage in show business, following the footsteps of my grandfather, a pioneer in the intriguing world of carnival life. Likewise, my father spent many years operating games at various fairs in Canada, so combined with my natural inclination for business, it only seems fitting that I would carry on the legacy. As Erin and I prepare for nearly a year in Asia, it is cathartic to sit here at the Canadian National Exhibition in our trailer at 3:00 a.m. and reflect on the things that bring one to any given point in time. Outside our kitchen window is a dark midway full of ... read more

North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto August 20th 2014

It's been 3 weeks since we moved out of our home, packed everything in our 30 foot trailer and moved our entire existence to the CNE fairgrounds. I think it is fair to say that a lot has happened during that time. After a wonderful week in Calgary, we arrived home late in the evening to an alarm going off in our trailer. Nothing seemed awry, but we decided to approach cautiously... I have no idea about trailers and the noises they make, so I thought it was just simply better to follow Sean's lead. Turns out that nothing was really wrong except that the giant electrical box that we broke into to get our power had a lot more people plugged into it now and someone had accidentally knocked our connection loose. So the noise ... read more
Let the party begin!

North America » Canada » Alberta » Calgary August 10th 2014

Sean and I are not much for convention and this attitude extended to our marriage. I grew up believing that I would never marry as-even from a young age- I thought the whole institution rather silly. I was never convinced that a piece of paper and an expensive wedding would solidify how I felt about someone. I always believed that if I loved someone and was meant to stay with them, I would. From what I have gathered about Sean from his family, he was much the same. However- it is also true- that when you meet the right person, you just know. (Before I met Sean, it used to really annoy me when people would say that to me!) Conversations with Sean about marriage came easily and the decision to follow through with it flowed ... read more




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