Trevor James, also known as "The Food Ranger" on YouTube, is a Canadian food and travel vlogger and YouTuber known for his street food tours on YouTube, which have been viewed over 649 million times. James started filming his food and travel videos in March 2013 and his channel has since grown to have over 5 million subscribers.[3][4]
| Trevor James | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 James in December 2017 | ||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||
| Born | 1988 (age 35–36) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | |||||||||
| Nationality | Canadian | |||||||||
| Occupation(s) | YouTube personality, food and travel vlogger | |||||||||
| Website | thefoodranger travelsecurely | |||||||||
| YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Created by | Trevor James, Ting Ting | |||||||||
| Location | Dubai[1] | |||||||||
| Years active | 2013–2024 | |||||||||
| Genre(s) | Food and travel | |||||||||
| Subscribers | 5.93 million[2] | |||||||||
| Total views | 926.19 million[2] | |||||||||
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Last updated: May 27, 2023 | ||||||||||
Early life and education
editTrevor James was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. When he was 13, he moved to Calgary, Alberta.[5][6]
After graduating high school, James took two gap years to travel. During the summer after graduation, he saved up $5,000 CAD working a summer job and spent 4 months in South East Asia. In his downtime, he would go snowboarding in Whistler, British Columbia, while during the summer he worked as a hiking and outdoor tour guide at a seasonal all-inclusive resort.[7][8]
From 2008 to 2014, James attended the University of British Columbia (UBC) studying Forestry and Natural Resource Conservation, where he graduated with a BSc.[5] In his sophomore year, he moved to China and by September 2014, he was living in Chengdu of the Sichuan province where his YouTube Channel, The Food Ranger, was born and heavily influenced.[5][9][10] He resided in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from November 2019 until June 2021.[11][12]
Career
editJames began shooting his first YouTube videos in early 2013 while on a four-month trip from Singapore to Beijing.[7] Since then, he has filmed food and travel videos in Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Mexico.[13][14] One of James' first Food Ranger episodes was shot at street hawker stalls in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur in June 2014. At that time, his channel had about 2,000 subscribers. Four years later, it had over 3.2 million subscribers.[5][7]
When James first moved to China, he was pursuing a master's degree in Business and International Trade at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, China.[15] In 2015, while traveling in Istanbul, Turkey, he met his soon to be fiancé, Ting Ting, who is now part of the Food Ranger production team.[7][16]
In August 2016, James dropped out of his Master's program and enrolled in the Higher Institute of Cuisine at the Sichuan Tourism College, dropping out, after one term. He then decided to pursue YouTube full-time.[5][9][17][18] Ting Ting also quit her job as an English teacher's assistant to help film and edit. In 2016, James offered free homestays to travelers as a member of CouchSurfing.[19]
In October 2017, The Food Ranger reached 1 million subscribers. Some of James' most popular videos are his Street Food Tour videos in Mumbai and Old Delhi, India, alongside Pakistan and his Xi’an and Beijing videos. He gained YouTube popularity for tasting local street food and hole-in-the-wall food joints in communities across Asia. During his travels, he has eaten many unusual foods including live coconut worms, rabbit head, pink dolphin, rainbow lobster, camel platter, durian hot pot, bull penis soup, and Quail Egg Balut. In June 2017, The Food Ranger was listed in that's Shanghai magazine's "5 China-Based Youtubers You Need to Be Following".[9][20][21]
As of August 2023, James' YouTube channel has 5.74 million subscribers.[22]
Personal life
editJames is married to Ting Ting. They first met while on vacation in Turkey in 2015.[23]
References
edit- ^ "After 2 Years In Malaysia, YouTuber The Food Ranger Is Moving To Dubai". June 29, 2021.
- ^ a b "About The Food Ranger". YouTube.
- ^ Saxe, Lizzy. "How Does "The Food Ranger" Travel The World Eating For A Living?". Forbes.
- ^ "World famous V-logger Trevor James excited to visit Pakistan". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e golingai, philip (January 21, 2017). "What's not to love about M'sian food?". The Star. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ "The Food Ranger | Trevor James channel videos - Vloggest". vloggest.com.
- ^ a b c d Ipe, Ann (September 16, 2016). "Trevor, the travel and cuisine hunter". Deccan Chronicle.
- ^ Ipe, Ann (September 16, 2016). "Trevor, the travel and cuisine hunter". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ a b c "5 China-Based Youtubers You Need to Be Following". That's Online. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ "The Food Ranger Visited Bangladesh & said here hospitality is Amazing!". February 8, 2019. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- ^ "Coronavirus Update from Home in Malaysia". The Food Ranger YouTube Channel. March 17, 2020.
- ^ L GOH, MELODY (July 1, 2021). "Popular travel YouTuber 'The Food Ranger' Trevor James has left Malaysia". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ "(Video) Canadian foodie Trevor James discovers Sri Lanka's amazing cuisine". Island Life. March 15, 2019.
- ^ "The Food Ranger". Daily Mirror. January 10, 2019 – via PressReader.
- ^ James, Trevor (August 28, 2019). "How I Met Ting Ting". The Food Ranger.
- ^ Web Desk (March 25, 2019). "Vlogger Trevor James has fallen in love with Pakistani food". Samaa. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ "Famous vlogger Trevor James is coming to Pakistan". www.geo.tv.
- ^ Team, Trending (March 19, 2019). "Trevor James aka The Food Ranger has arrived in Pakistan and lets give him a warm welcome".
- ^ The Food Ranger (October 6, 2017). ONE MILLION SUBSCRIBERS!!! HUGE GIVEAWAY!!! – via YouTube.
- ^ Naseem, Amna (April 6, 2019). "The Food Ranger in Pakistan". HIP.
- ^ "Trevor James". Retrieved December 16, 2023.
- ^ "The Food Ranger - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ "How I met Ting Ting - And built a giant YouTube Channel - Our Story". The Food Ranger. August 28, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2021.