Where in the world is Tyler Kuan?

Do you remember the “Where’s Wally?” books? Dressed in a red stripy t-shirt and hat, young protagonist and adventurer Wally would turn up in various locations around the world and the fun was finding him in the melee of people and scenery. Much like Wally, it’s now become increasingly a challenge to pinpoint the location of young Macau native Tyler Kuan, who left behind an easy life as a casino dealer and his mum’s cooking in exchange for the thrill of travel. But where Tyler’s story differs from the norm is that in a world of jumbo jets, fast cars and fast travel, he’s decided to take the slow route and see the world by bike.

Going against the grain, Kuan left his last job as a trainee engineer nearly 11 months ago and began his voyage in March. But what prompted someone who seemingly had it all to abandon everything for the lure of a bicycle? “Before my departure, I had been to very few places, only Taiwan and Shanghai”, he told MDT via email. “I had never been to other countries at all. I want very much to see this boundless world”.
The desire to travel and see far of places for ourselves is surely one many of us can empathize with. However it seems somewhat of an unconventional (and rather uncomfortable) choice to brave the elements when he could have just bought a plane ticket. Yet for the young cyclist, travellers miss too much this way. With two wheels under his feet, his bike allows him to travel fast enough to get to the next stop on the map whilst also going slow enough to admire the details and meet people along the way.
So where in the world is Tyler Kuan now? Having first started out on his marathon five-year adventure heading west from Macau, he’s cycled through western China, Mongolia and the high Tibetan plateau into Russia and northern Europe. From there, he passed through the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and then Poland, through Germany and the lowlands of Holland, finally reaching the UK. “I’m in Edinburgh in Scotland”, he tells us. “The weather is very cold here, and the sky already goes dark at 4pm”.
Coming from sub-tropical Macau where people don ski jackets and scarves when the mercury dips to a balmy 15 degrees, that’s no mean feat. Saying that though, his trip would be remarkable for any athlete to accomplish, but Kuan is just an ordinary, lanky 28-year-old. Despite training beforehand, nothing could have prepared him for the inhospitable terrain, long distances and altitude he would face. So what kept him going through wind, hail and snow? “There were many times I wanted to give up the journey, as some environments were really hard to bear”, he explained. “For example when I was in China’s Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it was winter, the temperature could be as low as -26 to -32 degrees. My snot was frozen into ice, my hands and feet were frozen numb, my cellphone couldn’t be charged in the cold, and even the wires were so frozen that they broke in half”.

Facing such odds anyone would have given up and called it a day, but not Kuan. “Keeping waking forward in the vast expanse of whiteness of ice and snow, my only faith was: why did I depart in the very beginning? It’s to travel all over the world with my own legs”, he answers.
So far, his legs and his bike have taken him to Europe, but that’s not the end of the road. The next installments will see him head to France and Spain, down to North Africa through the Gibraltar channel and then onwards around the entire African continent, arriving in Egypt and turning east to the Middle East. After going to India and South Asia, he’ll close the circle and cycle back home to Macau.
Passing through so many countries already, surely he must have a favorite? “Haha!” he writes, clearly amused by MDT’s question. “Of course my own motherland, China! Many people tend to think Europe, such as France and Italy, is the most beautiful place. That might be true for staying in big hotels, having fancy meals and shopping. But for people like me who are travelling poor, it’s China where the human touch is the best!” he replies. “Many people don’t really know about China, plus a large amount of the media’s negative news coverage is on China, so they always think it’s not a good place”, he says. If anything, his own experience proves them wrong.
In spite of China’s negative press, nowadays a lot of foreigners are nevertheless coming to Macau to work, benefiting from its mushrooming casino industry and rapid economic growth. For this reason, it seems inexplicable that Kuan would decide to do the opposite and leave. “Macau right now is like a greenhouse, most people tend to think [the] Macau [economy] can soar like a rocket and never go down, forever prosperous”, he writes. However, in his view, corruption is becoming a major issue. “My god! They should know how many ‘ten billion yuan’ are missing from the Chinese government every year and flowing out overseas! We should know how many warplanes and warships [that] ten billion could [be used to] build up”, he says. “There are too many potential crises, it’s just that many people are not willing to face them or believe that”.
As a Macau native with a much sought after residency permit, Kuan was able to work as a casino dealer, one of the most lucrative and highly desired positions with a steady salary. Yet he was dissatisfied as life was somehow too easy. “Working in a casino doesn’t require too specialized knowledge”, he explained. “When I joined in 2005, I was only a junior high school graduate but was already able to be a dealer. It is a high-paying job but a job that idles away your life; a job where you just need to work like a machine but will never grow your abilities. In fact, nowadays many casinos have replaced manpower with machines. Reducing human resources is inevitable. It will be a desert outside the casino for a person who’s without professional knowledge and skills”, he says. For this reason, the former-dealer decided to expand his horizons and stand out from the crowd. “To stand firm and stand out in a complex society, people can only rely on their own knowledge and ability” he says.
Reflecting on his decision to give it all up and head out into the unknown, Kuan knew that embarking on such a voyage wouldn’t be easy – especially giving up the everyday small comforts he was used to at home. “Before when I was in Macau, every day when I got home after work, my mom had a meal prepared for me. Now recalling that, I was really very fortunate in comparison with the conditions now”, he writes. “I was once cut off from food and water in Mongolia when the only edible thing left in my entire luggage was just an onion. After walking for a while, I found a discarded package of mutton that was half sour. With nothing [else] to eat, of course [I had] to…”
In a place like Macau where money and connections can get you anything, the contrast couldn’t be more profound. “Travelling outside, all things [you do], [you] have to rely on yourself, on your own powers and resources rather than others. A lot of things are not like [back] in Macau [and] available within hand’s reach; even a wallet with money is useless”, he reflects.
Yet between the mountains and deserts some money has of course been necessary, and Kuan will also get odd jobs and work part time along the way. He’s also been lucky enough to get a couple of sponsors. “Here I also thank Roadhouse Macau and Transcity Asia’s full support. Without their sponsorship, I’m afraid my trip would’ve been more difficult”, he writes.
So far on his thousand-plus kilometer journey, having seen sights most of us can only dream of, you could imagine that this would be the most impressive part of it all for him. But Kuan insists it wasn’t the scenery that moved him so much as the people he met along the way. “What impressed me the most is not the beautiful architecture, not the majestic mountains and glaciers at over 5km altitude, the freezing cold weather, nor the hardships of the journey, but everyone that has helped me!” he affirms. “Without their help, my journey definitely couldn’t have gone on. Every step and face is still the most impressive to me”.