Simon James Wilson[1] is a Welsh vlogger who makes videos about him travelling all around the world.
Personal Life[]
Family Life[]
Simon was originally from Rhosllanerchrugog, Wrexham in North Wales. He grew up with a younger brother named Ben and a younger sister named Moira.
Career[]
Simon was originally an entrepreneur and filmmaker, until he dropped out of university after studying business and media, and then studying psychology and now makes YouTube videos documenting his adventures and experiences while traveling the country.
Videos[]
Notable Series[]
While Simon posts a variety of vlog content of him travelling all around the world, he has released several series that have been more popular than his one-off episodes. The most notable series would be his No Money Challenges which is what his channel is most known for during its early days.
- No Money Challenges
- 7 Wonders Of The World In 7 Days
- No Money Rat Race
No Money Rat Race[]
The No Money Rat Race is a series where 5 contestants must from a unknown location in Europe must travel to Monaco, with no money. The person to get there first wins £5,000. The series trailer was uploaded on the 3 of December 2019, and the first episode is was uploaded on the 9th of December 2019. Simon partnered with the Three Shades Creative production company to make this series, the series is to raise awareness for mental heath, more specially the charity The Bridge Retreat charity for mental heath.
Episode One[]
In episode one the contestants are:
- 29 year old Gordon Forbes, from Cork, Ireland.
- 20 year old Robin Miller, from Belfast, Northern Island.
- 33 year old Ricky Ricardo, from Birmingham.
- 24 year old Lee Kay-Barry, from London.
- 21 year old Bethany Cook, from Bristol.
The 5 contestants, and Simon then fly in a private jet to an unknown location, where they are then blindfolded and took to a rugby pitch, they then take their blindfolds off to find they are in Amsterdam. Simon then takes away all their stuff (Phones etc) and gives them a bag which has in:
- A Bottle of water,
- A pack of rich tea biscuits,
- A bottle of the 'finest' tomato ketchup (Heinz),
- A £1 umbrella,
- A cheap keypad phone, with €10 credit, and Simon's number.
He then tells them that todays checkpoint is The Grand Palace, Brussels. By the end of the episode the positions are:
- 1st place - Bethany,
- 2nd place - Gordon, Ricky, and Lee,
- 3rd place - Robin.
Episode Two[]
In episode two the contestants must make it from Brussels to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The first person to make it to the checkpoint will get a hotel room all to there self. By the end of the episode the positions are:
- 1st place - Robin.
- 2nd place - Lee.
- 3rd place - Not said.
- 4th place - Not said.
- 5th place - Not said.
Finale[]
In the 5th and finale episode the challenge ends in Monaco in which Lee and Ricky place joint first with a split of the £5,000 prize, with Bethany coming in 2nd place soon after. The final positions of Simon Wilson's No Money Rat Race are:
7 Continents In 7 Days[]
On the 16th of November 2022 Simon uploaded the first episode of 7 Continents in 7 Days series to his channel. In which he travels to (in order) Europe (France, Paris), Africa (Johannesburg), Australia (Sydney), Asia (Japan), North America (Canada), South America (Chile, Santiago), and finally he spent £5,000 on a cruise to Antarctica, in which he spend 2 weeks in and came back around the 6th of December 2022.
This type of fast-paced travel is not unusual for Simon Wilson as during 2019, Simon travelled to the 7 wonders of the world in 7 days, which he documented on his channel.
Quotes[]
- What a lovely, genuine guy!
- Literally!
- We're all good.
- Happy days!
- Spa day.
- Fair play
- Absolutely shattered
- Absolutely knackered
- Cheers, thanks very much
- Mate
- Check this out!
- I'm starving
Trivia[]
- On the 11th of December 2022, shortly after the end of the "7 Continents In 7 Days" series, Simon Wilson hit 1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
- After all his travelling he has only ever hitchhiked in one video.
- Simon has a sister called Moira Wilson.
- Simon has a family dog (pug) called Penny.
- Simon studied media and business at university, and then studying psychology before dropping out.
- He has met celebrities such as Casey Neistat, James Corden, Richard Branson, and Jonah Hill throughout his travels.
- During December 2022 when Simon visited Antartica, his locker number was 56.
- On The Fellas podcast, it's revealed that Simon is currently banned from entering the United States due to him travelling in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. This decision was then overturned as Simon began a USA Monopoly board challenge.
- Despite his many travels, Simon does not eat street food due to fear of its unsanitary nature.
References[]
- ↑ I Played USA Monopoly In Real Life - Episode 8 by Simon Wilson. YouTube. November 14, 2023.