As a kid, I moved around a lot. I was born in California, but I’ve lived in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Montana and Oklahoma. I never had the chance to call anywhere “home” for too long. So if you’d told me back then that I’d end up in China, I would’ve laughed.
I visited China for the first time in 2016. I was 27 years old and got a job as an English teacher in Shenzhen, a fast-growing tech hub just across the border from Hong Kong. I sold my car and used the money to buy a plane ticket from North Carolina. I had never been outside the U.S. before.
Over the next four years, living in Asia gave me the chance to travel to places like Cambodia and Thailand. I loved traveling because it was a profound chance to test my courage and resilience, find meaning and expand my worldview.
Today, I live in Shenzhen with my wife and our two kids. Here’s why it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
My wife was born in Tahiti and both her parents are from China. When we met, she was working here as a French teacher.
