ABOUT ME
Hi, my name is Nico, nice to meet you!
LET ME START OFF BY TELLING YOU A FEW THINGS ABOUT ME:
I am from a town in the northeast of England and I lived in China for over 5.5 years.
I think about food roughly 95% of the time, especially noodles.
I want a dog more than anything but I love travelling too much and it wouldn’t be fair, so instead I watch an unhealthy amount of dog videos on Instagram.
I am addicted to Vaseline and never leave the house without it.
I love listening to old music, preferably played loudly on vinyl.
I am happiest sitting watching the sunset with an ice-cold beer.
NOW YOU KNOW A BIT ABOUT ME LET ME TELL YOU MY STORY:
In December 2015, I quit my job as a graphic designer to travel to South America with my boyfriend - (now husband). We had been saving up for a few years and decided it was the right time to up sticks and start our adventure. Our only real goal was a vague aim to travel for as long as possible, which led us down some pretty interesting roads.
We meandered up and down the length of the continent, from Brazil to Colombia, by way of Patagonia; hiking, exploring and taking in some of the amazing sights that each country had to offer. We mostly travelled overland on local buses and packed collectivos (communal taxis), stretching every Dollar, Peso and Bolivar as far as possible.
In October 2016, we emerged from a 5-week stint in the Bolivian jungle, rich with mosquito bites and memories, but pretty poor in terms of money. Our savings were running out fast and we needed to work out what to do next.
WE CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT WE HAD TWO CHOICES:
1. GO BACK TO THE UK AND START OVER
2. FIGURE OUT A WAY TO KEEP TRAVELLING
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
FOR US, THERE WAS ONLY ONE OPTION WORTH CONSIDERING.
As we were both native English speakers, the logical choice would be to teach English abroad. Prior to travelling, we had both completed our TEFL course so we were ready to try and teach abroad. I say try, because, we later found out that no online course can prepare you for the nerves of stepping into a classroom as a teacher for the first time, or give you any indication of just how much fun you will have!
After a lot of extensive research, we decided that our best option was China – a country that had always enchanted me. So, in spring 2017 we moved to China to start our journey teaching English.
Moving to China to teach English was a daunting prospect, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made!
We realised pretty early on in our China journey that there was a serious lack of practical and up-to-date information on China so we set up a YouTube channel focusing on ‘life in China’ to help other people who wanted to move to the country.
We said we would only stay for one year and that quickly turned into over 5 and a half years instead. Whilst we were there we decided to make the most of every opportunity that came our way and see how much we could travel around this massive country.
We have visited many cities and made over 300 videos documenting our time in China. In December 2022 after not seeing our families for 3.5 years we decided it was time to have a little break from living in China and now that the borders are back open, make the most of travelling around the country instead.
China isn’t the easiest country for a foreigner to travel around. We went back to visit for 6 weeks in the Autumn of 2023 and it was our first time travelling the country when we didn’t live there and it was a lot harder than I remember.
I thought to myself - If it is hard for me, someone who has lived in China, what must it be like for people who have never been before?
And so, the idea for this website was born.
Over the years we have made countless videos with help, tips and advice for people who want to live and travel in China. I have spent endless hours researching places and activities for all of our videos and I love it!
Now I want to help other people live out their China adventure.
Let’s plan your China trip!
I can’t wait to help you plan your trip of a lifetime. Let me know some information and I will be in touch soon.