Laycock Family, Mind, Body & Soul, My Personal Journey

Feeling Grateful on this Thanksgiving Day

The death and suffering of war in the Middle East and Ukraine; devastating earthquakes like Turkey’s 7.8 in February; whole communities leveled by tornados; ravaging floods in Greece, Libya and here in the United States; droughts and famine like in the Horn of Africa; wildfires across the U.S., Canada and Europe; poverty and homelessness right here in our backyards; rising hatred and violence against Jews, … Continue reading Feeling Grateful on this Thanksgiving Day

Bob Laycock (He/Him)November 23, 2023November 24, 20231 Comment

Great Wall of China, Laycock Family

A Living History of the Great Wall

Frequent visitors to this blog and my website are likely aware that my grandfather, Dr. William Edgar Geil, was the first person ever documented to have walked the entire length of the Great Wall of China. He did this in 1908. After writing books and touring the world with stories of this and other adventures, my grandfather fell into obscurity. He died in 1925 after … Continue reading A Living History of the Great Wall

Bob Laycock (He/Him)August 8, 2023August 8, 2023Leave a comment

Great Wall of China, Laycock Family

Two Brothers Walk China’s Great Wall End-to-End

This updates and replaces a post from August 8 2022, a few weeks after the journey described here had first begun. The Lindesay brothers, Jim & Tommy, have now completed their 3,260 kilometer traverse along the entire length of the Great Wall of China, walking and jogging the whole way. They documented their journey in videos included here. Latest update — March 19, 2023: Added … Continue reading Two Brothers Walk China’s Great Wall End-to-End

Bob Laycock (He/Him)January 16, 2023August 8, 2023Leave a comment

Great Wall of China, Laycock Family

Review: A Story as Compelling as the Great Wall

“William Lindesay OBE is a British geographer, a research fellow at his alma mater, Liverpool University, and a recipient of The Special Award of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. After a milestone journey of 2,500 km on foot along the Great Wall in 1987, Lindesay returned to China in 1990 to retrace sections of the Long March. Since 2000, he has dedicated himself to the Great Wall in … Continue reading Review: A Story as Compelling as the Great Wall

Bob Laycock (He/Him)September 21, 2022August 2, 2023Leave a comment

Great Wall of China, Laycock Family

Nuku’alofa: Tonga and My Grandparents

My brother John, an occasional Guest Author here, posted the following a week ago on Facebook. I thought it would be interesting to share here. He talks about our maternal grandparents and particularly our grandfather, Dr. William Edgar Geil (1865-1925). Our grandfather was the first person of any race or nationality documented to have walked the entire length of the Great Wall of China — … Continue reading Nuku’alofa: Tonga and My Grandparents

John E. LaycockJanuary 11, 2021August 8, 2023Leave a comment

Laycock Family

My Father’s 105th Birthday

My brother, John, posted a great remembrance today on Facebook marking our father’s 105th birthday. He’s allowed me to share it here. Today would be my father’s 105th birthday. He died in 1998 at the age of 83. August 22, 1915, was a Sunday. World War I was in full cry but I cannot find any other events of historical interest on that day. There … Continue reading My Father’s 105th Birthday

John E. LaycockAugust 22, 2020August 2, 2023Leave a comment

Laycock Family

Remembering Mom

My brother, John, posted a short beautiful remembrance of our mother this afternoon on Facebook. She died thirteen years ago today. It was Saturday morning, January 6, 2007. She was 89 years old. I couldn’t say it better than John did. May Her Soul… Today is the thirteenth anniversary of my mother’s death. Getting older is a trial because some events seem so very distant … Continue reading Remembering Mom

John E. LaycockJanuary 6, 2020September 21, 2022Leave a comment

Laycock Family

Remembering Dad

My Dad passed away on Cinco de Mayo twenty-one years ago. It’s amazing to think that he’s been gone nearly a third of my life. Yet he remains ever-present. I think of him almost everyday. And even when not, I know that I model him in a zillion ways. He lives on inside me, just as I see David’s father in him. That’s nice — … Continue reading Remembering Dad

Bob Laycock (He/Him)May 5, 2019August 2, 20232 Comments

Great Wall of China, Laycock Family

Drone Flight Over the Great Wall

◻︎ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017 If you haven’t checked out my website section on William Edgar Geil & the Great Wall of China, I hope you will. It’s an astounding story. In that section of the website I talk about William Lindesay, a British native now living in China who has devoted his life to the Great Wall of China — it’s history and it’s … Continue reading Drone Flight Over the Great Wall

Bob Laycock (He/Him)January 6, 2017August 8, 2023Leave a comment