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.

[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.

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.