When you have millions of YouTube followers, strangers gossip about you on the internet. This is certainly the case for Mark Wiens, who has been blogging under the title Migrationology since 2009. These days he earns most of his living by travelling the world filming food videos, which he shares with 9.7 million YouTube subscribers.

Reddit is a rabbit hole of rumours. “Is Mark Wiens bulimic?” asks someone who can’t understand how he remains so slim. “Mark really daddied up during quarantine,” comments another person admiring his uncharacteristic facial hair during lockdown. But the most frequent debate is whether the self-described “full-time eater” fakes his reactions to food.

Click on any of Wiens’ videos – almost all of which top a million views – and you’ll see the signature move. It goes something like this: a large mouthful of food, followed by eyes that widen and then close as he leans to the right in ecstasy, and finally exclaims with a breathy “oh” or an elongated “wowww”. There are even YouTube compilations of his reactions.

Sitting across the table from Wiens at Time Kaan, a new fine-dining restaurant in Bangkok that recreates ancient dishes, I watch for his trademark reaction. It’s a cinch to spot which of the 15 dishes Wiens enjoys most. He isn’t as exaggerated as on camera, but his eyes bulge when smoky grilled chicken with green peppercorn paste hits his tongue. He pauses, nods slowly and then his mouth spreads into a smile as he chews. Then I hear it: “Wowww!”

Wiens, 37, has always been exposed to different cuisines, a side effect of having parents who travelled while working for a mission organisation. Born in Arizona to an American father and a Chinese-Hawaiian mother, Wiens spent his fifth year in a tiny town called Albertville in the French Alps, before being homeschooled in the jungle in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a few years, and later attending an international school in Kenya.

“As a kid, I always had opportunities to try a variety of different cultures’ foods, which always stuck with me. We’d go to visit families, whether that be in Africa or the US or in Europe, and food was always something we’d gather around,” he says.

Wiens recalls tasting his first doro wot, an Ethiopian chicken and egg stew, as an eight-year-old. His head sways as he speaks and he unconsciously pinches his fingers together, mimicking the action of eating injera with his hands. The description flows, filled with conjunctions that link streams of animated phrases. I’m swept up by his childlike enthusiasm, the same way his subscribers are when they watch his videos.

Wiens returned to the United States after high school for a degree in global studies, before travelling around South America for a few months. When he returned home for his sister’s wedding, he started his blog, Migrationology, to document his travels. Asia was next. When Wiens ran out of money, he met a friend in Bangkok and taught English to get by. Although he didn’t love the gig, travelling for it introduced him to regional Thai cuisine, and, later that year, his now-wife, Ying. After that, he never left.

The couple lives in Bangkok with their six-year-old son, Micah, who sometimes features in videos. They make up the entire production team, with Wiens either setting up his camera on a tripod, filming in selfie mode, or handing over to Ying.

Until a few months ago, Wiens edited every video himself, which could take several days. For the past decade he’s shared two videos a week, only recently cutting back to six videos a month. He attributes much of his success to consistently providing content to his viewers, though he no longer has time to also publish written articles on his blog.

“Before COVID, before a kid, we were just travelling continuously, maybe 75 per cent of the year,” he says. “It was just go, go, go, with no end in sight. After COVID, I made a decision to calm down and prioritise. Now I think it’s about 40 per cent travelling and 60 per cent at home. We’re at a point where we’re trying new things also, so we have a few other projects going on.”

That includes an HBO series, Food Affair, which was released in late 2022 and follows Wiens around to fine-dining restaurants and street-food vendors in Singapore. He’s also a partner in Phed Mark, a Bangkok restaurant that serves only pad krapao (holy basil stir fry), which he co-owns with fellow Thai food blogger and YouTuber Khun Tan (aka iTan), actor and designer Khun Pongthep, and Iron Chef Thailand champion Gigg Kamol.

The idea for Phed Mark was sparked when Tan asked Wiens to name his favourite pad krapao in Bangkok. It’s something his fans often asked, too. Wiens’ half-jokes that his mother-in-law’s pad krapao is his pick, because she dials up the chilli (Wiens is known for his love of chilli, evidenced by the T-shirts he always wears that read, “Not Spicy Not Eating”). But that doesn’t mean it’s the best.

“I never claimed to be a food critic, I’m a food describer and that’s always been my philosophy,” he says. “I’m a terrible food critic because I just like to eat everything … food is so subjective. You’re always comparing it to something you’ve had.”

If comparing dishes to past experiences is a measurement of expertise, then Wiens is a seasoned professional. In the past three months, his videos have spanned the Caribbean, Philippines, Georgia, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

His next trip will be his first visit to Australia, where Phed Mark is collaborating with BKK restaurant as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

Unsurprisingly, given his internet fame, the Phed Mark x BKK dinners are sold out, but walk-ins are welcome during the Bangkok Street Food Festival (March 31 and April 1), when Phed Mark and BKK team up with local restaurants Soi 38 and DoDee Paidang to turn Drewery Lane into a Thai street food market.

I ask Wiens the question on 9.7 million people’s lips: where does he plan to eat while in town? He’s mostly interested in native Australian ingredients and what he calls “legendary places”. Wiens has done his research and cites Pellegrini’s, Flower Drum, Nico’s Sandwich Deli and A1 Bakery. He’s also keen to try a classic Aussie burger, but has never heard of a dim sim (until now).

“I love the food that local people are eating. My goal has actually always been to make videos that might even inspire local people to explore their own backyard or their own city, rather than create videos for travellers,” he says. “I really do think that every country has something unique to offer.”

In another of the many internet threads about Wiens, someone comments, “I would really like to see him when he’s pissed off sometimes because it seems hard to imagine.” It’s not just on-brand for Wiens to be unwaveringly positive, it’s his personality. And regardless of whether he exaggerates his reactions on camera, in person the man is genuine down to his marrow.

Mark Wiens will be in Melbourne from March 30 to April 1 for the Phed Mark x BKK dinners and Bangkok Street Food Festival, melbournefoodandwine.com.au.

Sofia Levin travelled to Bangkok as a guest of HQ Group.