For Patrick-Yangguizi

Good evening everyone,

This is my 15,000th post, and it's a message I would have preferred never to write.

Patrick—Yangguizi—won’t be returning from his trek in Uganda. His health betrayed him in the mountains.

Like many of you, I laughed until I couldn’t anymore at his travel stories. I met him in Shanghai, then in Istanbul... We scoured restaurants—he was an incredible expert on world cuisines. We relived Korea, China. Always brilliant, so sharp, so funny, so down-to-earth. Being even a little bit his friend was something to be proud of. I think I envied him.

Patrick is still out there, of course... He found his happiness running across the world. He’s on his path. He never doubted that "the traveler doesn’t even know if he’ll return one day."

Not sure this would’ve suited him, but his departure devastates me.

Alright, Farewell, you foreign devil. Safe travels.

Michel

Our friend Yangguizi is no more...

He was a great traveler. He lived as he wished—free, independent—and his rebellious spirit, tinged with irresistible humor, has now soared to the peaks of a cruel mountain.

Alas, I’ll no longer read his adventure stories or his hilariously brilliant words.

His passing is so sudden and brutal—I’m shocked and devastated. Patrick was a VoyageForum icon, universally loved and respected. His travel journals, full of originality, wit, and humor, delighted countless readers. My thoughts are with his parents and his partner.

VoyageForum is overwhelmed with profound sadness tonight... And it will linger for a long, long time...

Dolma

Devastated by Patrick’s departure for the Big Journey—a big personality in the little world of VF is leaving us.

All my thoughts are with his parents and his partner.

Sandrine

Such sad news. Such deep sadness. We could only appreciate Patrick—the quality of his thoughtful contributions, his humor, and the beauty of his writing. Our heartfelt thoughts go out to his family and close friends.

"Those who have died are not dead... The dead are not beneath the earth. They are in the trembling tree. They are in the flowing water. They are in the still water. They are in the hut, they are in the crowd. The dead are not dead." Birago Diop

Frédérique

Such sad news 🙁, for all his loved ones and VoyageForum, which has lost one of its key members. I often re-read his post about North Korea. Farewell Yangguizi, safe travels.

What a shock!

This tragedy is a sad reminder that it can happen to anyone, even to us.

And traveling to the far corners of the world multiplies the risks. But we all know that before we leave, and we accept it.

It’s our way of life.

I didn’t know Yangguizi personally, but I’ve often chatted with him over the years.

I hope François will share a few words of tribute here for Patrick.

I’m really afraid this isn’t an April Fool’s joke—or even an August one—Yangguizi-style...

Do we have to resign ourselves to this devastating news?

Dismay.

To think that, like so many others, I was looking forward to his travel journal on Uganda... We’re left with so little—just words on a forum.

I didn’t know Patrick personally... but I’d watch the bright, witty trails he left across VoyageForum’s blue pages.

Playful as he was, let’s reassure ourselves—he’s surely outsmarting death right now.

Farewell, Yangguizi.

Yangguizi, this is the first time I’ve got a complaint for you. A really harsh one—I told you your travel journal had to be here today...

Danielle

Oh damn, that’s a shock. Latcho drom Yangguizi... Thinking of your loved ones.

I’m really sad, like all of you,

It was partly thanks to him that I discovered VF when I was searching about North Korea, and I never missed any of his posts on this forum.

His talent as a writer, his humor, and his courtesy will be greatly missed. My thoughts are with his loved ones and all the forum members who had the chance to meet him.

So it was you, that new shining star! Is this really all you could come up with to leave us down here? You know you’ve left us all stunned, shaken, shocked—but most of all, sad, so sad... All our thoughts are with you and your loved ones.

I join you all... I loved his words, his life... He’s no doubt still traveling.

On the road again, Yangguizi!😕

Bad news, I'm really sad about this.

A true globetrotter, this man—one of a kind. I read and reread his travel journals with passion, especially the one about North Korea.

Too young at 32, life isn’t always fair. Goodbye, Patrick—your writings will always remain on VF. We’ll never forget you, my friend, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your passion for travel through your stories.

My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Hi everyone,

Like everyone else, I was really shocked by this sad news. I also discovered VoyageForum through his travel journal about North Korea. I remember his stories—always fascinating and often full of humor. I also appreciated his amazing contributions to the geography puzzles or how he managed to avoid celebrating the New Year (worth re-reading)!!

In short, we’ll miss his posts. My deepest condolences to his loved ones.

Astrid

One of the brightest VF members I’ve ever read... and no travel journals on Uganda!!!!

A painful loss for our virtual community!! Thoughts for his loved ones and friends, who must have been so many!!

what a short life, even if it was full. I’ll always remember "my stomach made a stopover in Munich"—it made me laugh so hard.... sincere condolences to his loved ones and everyone who cared about him. claire

Like all of you, like Alan too, I’m still in shock from this terrible news. It’s the worst thing that can happen, especially for his loved ones. As a mother myself, my first thoughts are with Patrick’s mother, and I’d like to offer my condolences to her, his partner, and his family and friends (since I can’t find better words to express how I feel).

Patrick’s family would like to gather photos of him. If any of you have pictures of him from VF meet-ups in Nice or elsewhere, could you take the time to share them? I know there must be photos of him from the VF gatherings in Nice, but there are so many, and since I didn’t attend those meet-ups, I’m not familiar with them. It’d probably be quicker for those who were there to pick out the photos where Patrick appears. Thank you so much.

Hi Anne,

Photos of Patrick and Ding can be found in the meet-up from April 29, 2005, in Nice, by clicking on "Photos de rencontre" on the homepage of this forum.

I attended that dinner where I had the great pleasure of sitting across from Patrick and Ding. I’ve picked out two photos that mean a lot to me:





It’s so heartbreaking to know we’ll never see him again... All my love to Ding, his parents, and his many friends.

He freed me up for a few evenings and lunches in the times ahead...... every time he returned to Nice, we’d share moments together. The last one was in May, and he still talked passionately about his love for Korea, about his feasts with that smile of someone who devours time with gusto.....

I won’t hear his phone ring anymore, or his jokes about my fear of going to India......

But we all know him, and there’s no doubt he’ll find a way to deliver some wild stories from this long journey he’s just begun—we’ll just have to stay tuned.....

You lost your bet, Patrick..... I’m really gutted I won that one. The battles were beautiful, though—they’ll be missed.....

See you soon, my friend.....

I’ve got this huge lump in my throat, and it’ll take me a while to swallow this pill. Patrick has left to go on "another journey."

I didn’t know him personally either, but I followed his steps in India, Korea, China, and Iran.

You’ll be missed, Yangguizi.

A lover of words, food, and travel, you made us dream by sharing your encounters, stories, impressions, collections, oddities, and adventures in a tone like no other. Under your pen, the ugly became beautiful, the ordinary captivating, the unpleasant humorous, and the unfamiliar, familiar...

You’ve moved on and found Love. A journey that left a deep mark on us, just like all the others... You’ve embarked on that other voyage, too soon, too quickly.

Farewell, artist.

...may your journey continue in the hereafter! 😊

women xiang ni!

Now you walk in the land without a name. A giant journey on eternal steps. Farewell, wanderer, may your path be beautiful. Your way drifts from our horizon lines.

DeCléricy

🙁🙁So sad, last great journey for eternity.

I didn’t get the chance to meet him, but like so many others, I read his stories and loved his truly unique writing style.

My deepest condolences to his parents and his partner.

Rachid

🙁 I found out this sad news when I woke up two days ago... We’d exchanged messages just a few days before you left for Uganda, since you were torn between Ethiopia and Uganda.... I was really looking forward to your travel journals... What can I say....... Thank you for all the travel journals you’ve left us—they’ll keep your memory alive on the forum. My condolences to your family and loved ones. Ciao Yanguizi !

Sad news... I was stunned this morning when I heard. I can't quite believe that this guy won’t be writing on the forum anymore. Without even knowing each other, just by crossing paths here, helping each other out, you almost start to feel like family. Such a strange feeling.

I was in the middle of reading his travel journal about North Korea and was about to send him a message, but in the meantime, the Reaper paid a visit... Everything’s already been said about his writing skills and the way he told a story. I imagined him as someone who really lived life to the fullest. He’ll be missed.

Fair winds, Patrick. Eric

Patrick, we’ll miss you, I’ll miss you... I was lucky enough to meet you in Nice a few years ago, but I really got to know you through your posts on VF. I truly admired you, secretly. Your determination and the way you lived life to the fullest, your love for the world, for humanity, for culture, your taste for adventure and discovery, your insatiable thirst to learn and understand things deeply, your keen insight, your ability to form your own thoughts, your humor filled with such beautiful sensitivity, and your magnificent way with words—these are just a few of the things I admired so much about you.

Thank you, Patrick, for sharing your inner life with such generosity. Everyone loved “Yangguizi” on the site—everyone. You had a real talent for bridging or reconciling differences while sharing your own perspective with such finesse. Through your writing, you were—and will remain—a pillar of this community.

Without you knowing it, perhaps, you also played a huge part in making my dream come true: creating a site that, above all, inspires travel and the discovery of others—and, in doing so, the discovery of oneself. Thank you, Patrick. I’ll always be deeply grateful. This autumn, I’ll be in Nepal with my partner and our child, who’s still in her belly. Without Nepal and the people I met there, VF wouldn’t exist. Without generous people like you on the site, the dream around VF wouldn’t have become a reality. Without that dream coming true, I wouldn’t have met my partner, and I wouldn’t be waiting for the arrival of our second child. When I gaze at the Himalayan mountains this autumn, reflecting on the cycles of life, I’ll have you deeply in my thoughts...

Your unexpected departure reminds us all that we’re on a journey every day, with a return ticket in our pocket—one whose date we don’t know and can’t change or cancel. So let’s do as you did: make the most of every moment of this great journey that is life. Let’s explore, open our eyes, be curious, learn to love this world, this life. If life has a meaning, isn’t it to live it fully? You, Patrick, seemed to have understood that so well!

Rereading some of your messages on the site today, I came across this text you posted a year ago:

«My definition of travel is one that includes discovering something new, an experience (not necessarily something exceptional, just something new) and the approach that can lead to that discovery. You might not discover anything new or noteworthy, but being in a mindset where you’re on the lookout for that novelty is what matters. Travel begins in the mind [...]»

Thank you again, Patrick, for your incredible generosity. The sadness of our grief will surely fade, but everything beautiful you left behind in this world will remain.

All the members of the VoyageForum team and I extend our sincerest condolences to Patrick’s family, partner, and friends. Feel free to contact me privately if you have any specific wishes regarding Patrick’s posts on VoyageForum or for any other request.

Thank you again, Patrick...

François

Good evening everyone,

A great traveler has left us. At 32, he was a true legend—I’d say an *exceptional* traveler.

My thoughts are with his family and loved ones.

CEGA

This autumn, I’ll be in Nepal with my partner and our child in her belly. Thanks again, Patrick...

François

What a lovely summer-like piece of news... right in the heart of this chilly autumn!

As the humanist Jean-Henri Fabre wrote:

« Everything ends so that everything may begin again, everything dies so that everything may live »

I never met Patrick, but I remember during long flights and waits in airports, I always had one of those printed travel journals with me that I loved reading.......

Respect to you and your family...

We’ll miss you, your second family at VF....

I didn’t know him, but I read his account of Cambodia the night before my departure... I loved his unique way of observing and describing the smallest details like no one else could.

Rest in peace. RIP.

From this trip, we won’t have a travel journal! We’ll miss you, Yangguizi—we already do. But this is the trip where we’ll catch up with you. You’ll just have a little head start, though you could’ve waited a bit!

Affectionate thoughts to your whole family.

I just discovered you, but you’re already gone, You leave us on the shore Disoriented, like a single child, Abandoned. From the lines you traced, which I barely skimmed, What flavors explode Under your rhythmic words. They reveal to us the Love Of a life just begun. Child of infinite places and skies, you return to your home leaving in your wake The beauty of landscapes. We’ll know, by gazing at the peaks, To remember You.

for me, the hardest thing to read on your profile is this:

Last site visit: 28 July 2008 at 10:26

happy trails on your new path, unknown friend

What a shock. Words fail me.

VF loses a pillar of its community, Shanghai loses an expat.

Wo ye hui xiang ni.

What terrible news! It’s hard to add anything to everything that’s already been said here... I’m one of the many silent, anonymous people who never missed one of his new travel journals.

Thoughts to his loved ones.

Patrick,

You searched for Love and found it. You didn’t search for Death, but Death found you.

We’ll miss you, along with your warm, funny stories packed with delicious anecdotes. May this final journey let you meet your "friend" Kim Jong Il. You really pulled a fast one on us. Why make us cry when you knew so well how to make us laugh?

Farewell, my friend.

Timouss

A really sad return... Yanguizzi was a familiar presence and an iconic writer on VF. My warmest thoughts go out to his loved ones.

Do you know the circumstances of his passing in Uganda?

I didn’t know Patrick. In July, he had just replied to a recent post of mine, and that’s how I discovered his travel journal about the Amur. I really liked it. He was certainly a great traveler and no doubt a lover of life. My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones.

Safe travels,

Fabrice

MY CONDOLENCES, PATRICK!

I’m so sorry. My deepest condolences to his loved ones.

Unbelievable...

I remember his message so well, where he told us about his plans to travel to Africa for the first time in his life...

Ala ka hinè a la !

It was the announcement of his passing that led me to discover his amazing travel journals. I just finished reading all of them over the past two days, and I still can’t believe there won’t be any more.

I assume and hope (following François’s question) that they’ll remain permanently available for everyone on this site. A note about his passing on his profile could clear up any ambiguity about unanswered questions.

From now on, I won’t be able to resist bringing back one of those propaganda items he loved so much—a new passion has been born thanks to him 😉

M... Too bad. A new trip. And, while we're at it, dying while traveling isn't so bad, right? Even if later would be better.

Sending big thoughts to his loved ones... He was one of the most endearing members of the forum. His adventure stories and witty remarks will be missed... Hasta pronto, guapetón... Tina

😊 oh dear ... ohh ... ohhh ... Yangguizi!? Patrick!?

I loved his talent. His humor, his mischief, his self-deprecation, his ability to sniff out the absurd and the ridiculous everywhere ... I think I’m gonna make a compilation of his posts, print them out, and bind this anthology between two beautiful grilled steaks. As a special edition, I think he would’ve liked that ... 🏴‍☠️ With a beer too (forgive me ...)

Chris.