My lust for travel was clearly passed down from my grandfather to my mother and then to me. I remember being very young and watching slideshows showing all the fascinating places all over the world my grandfather had lived in. He saw the world because of his career in the Army, and my mom grew up all over as an Army brat. The endless photos and stories stirred something in me, and after a stationary upbringing in the Midwest United States, I finally snapped. After my first trip abroad I knew this would eventually turn into a way of life.
After a few years of living in France, I knew the expat life was the life for me. I met my wife and moved to California, where I spent some of the most excellent years of my life. Then we decided to move to China and teach English. I thought life couldn’t get any better. I was wrong.
Traveling to Europe and around the Americas is one thing; Asia is a completely different animal. We faced challenges and problems with strength and resolve we didn’t realize we possessed. We made friends the likes of which we never imagined. We have had more fun in the last three years than anyone has a right to even dream of. Living in China changed my life in many ways, and all of them are positive.
Come teach English in China or Taiwan if you: 
- Love a good adventure
- Love teaching kids that will amaze you and steal your heart
- Love being surprised by the good and bad in everyday people
- Want to live well and save money at the same time
- Want to be swept away by an amazing culture that will occasionally leave you speechless
- See the value in learning a new language
- Have the temperament to understand that you can’t win all your battles, and understand the value of compromise
- Don’t mind eating excellent food on the side of the road on a small plastic stool occasionally
- Are willing to accept that people all over the world, while they may have different habits and cultural norms, are fundamentally the same deep down
I am currently living and teaching in Taipei, Taiwan, and I’m living the good life. I miss my friends and family, but this is where I am the happiest.
