We met back in the UK while both working for the government. We’ve been together about a year and a half now. We were friends first, but only together as a ‘couple’ for six months before we decided to leave the UK.

Before we got together we both had ideas in our heads about travelling, though admittedly to very different parts of the world. As it became apparent that our jobs were not secure we began to discuss travelling more and more.

When it started to get to crunch time and booking tickets, we decided that we wanted to stay together and travel together, so without much hesitation we booked a pair of one way tickets to Hong Kong and that was that.

Part of the reason behind us travelling was to be spontaneous and do something out of our comfort zone, so the thought of going together, after not having known each other that long, wasn’t really a concern.

Yes! We both worked under various departments of the UK Jobcentre, so we were all too aware of how hard things were becoming in the UK for people looking for work.

Neither of us had any real ties to the UK - no mortgage, no children, not even pets - and after years of desk jobs we both felt we needed an adventure and to see more of the world. The timing just seemed to fit perfectly.

Well we headed first to Hong Kong as I have a friend who teaches English in China and I wanted to visit her. We had a vague plan in our heads, with a Chinese and Vietnamese visa ready in our passports, so that began our journey.

From there we really just travelled along the usual routes but with no real destination in mind (again part of the ‘being spontaneous’ idea behind the whole adventure). We travelled from China, though Vietnam, into Cambodia and finally Lao.

Overall, we saw so many things that it’s hard to put into words. For us, our favourite country was without a doubt Cambodia - so much history, so many beautiful sights and very friendly people.

Realistically we always knew we would have to stop and start work at some stage. We had booked a one-way ticket after all and money was certainly not limitless. We had no real plan for ‘where’ or ‘when’ but we knew that teaching English would probably be our best bet.

We ended up in Chiang Mai on a bit of a whim. Sat in a guesthouse somewhere in Lao, I decided that if we were going to teach English, our only real option was to do a TEFL course, both to prepare us for teaching and to hopefully help us to gain employment.

After a little internet research I found one in Chiang Mai that seemed to suit us both time-wise and what the course was offering. After a few exchanged emails, we headed to Chiang Mai and enrolled on the course, which was due to start in two weeks time.

We knew nothing of Thailand other than what the guide book said, but like most things over the last few months we just thought ‘why not’ and just packed our rucksacks and headed on.

Chiang Mai was definitely love at first sight. It’s a brilliant place to introduce yourself to Thailand. It still retains much of its Thai vibe while still having all the amenities you could ever need. The people really are so friendly and it just instantly became home.

It wasn’t planned, no. We had intended to travel around Thailand for a while after the TEFL course and before finding work, but a combination of lack of funds and the fact that we finished our course in October (prime hiring time for Thai schools) meant that we decided to stay put and find work

Hmmm, you presume wrong. We did no research into salaries in Thailand whatsoever. We simply relied on the information from our TEFL course - that Chiang Mai had a plethora of schools to apply to.

We wrongly believed that this would mean it would be easy to find work, when in reality it took a lot of ‘hitting the pavement’ before both Rob and I had secured jobs. We certainly don’t regret staying in Chiang Mai, but had timing and the money situation been different, I think we would have done more research and moved on.

I was lucky enough to be offered a full-time job pretty quickly through a contact from our TEFL school. We never had the intention of working at the same school, but as we were both looking for the same type of jobs, we inevitably applied at many of the same schools.

Rob later found a part time job at another school, and we both worked for the same language school teaching private lessons.

At first, no, we never really advertised the fact that we were a couple and mostly conducted our job searches autonomously. Recently, since we have been looking for new jobs for the start of the new school year, I would say yes it has helped.

I have actually been offered a new job in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and once I told the employer there that I would be moving with my partner Rob, he set about trying to secure him a job too, first with another school and now within the same school.

I think it depends on the employer and his or her experiences with western teachers, as to whether they see teaching couples as a good bet or not. One school in Suart Thani I interviewed with seemed almost ‘put-off’ when I said I would be moving to Nakhon with a boyfriend, asking how long we had been together and implying the relationship might not last and that upon its disintegration I would be on the first flight home! I very sweetly told them this would not be the case, and was offered the job anyway.

Hmmm, well… We obviously share a sense of adventure and we both set out on this experience with the same goals in mind - basically that there were no goals. We simply wanted to see some of the world, have a good time doing it, and not have to return to the UK anytime soon.

As to our personalities we probably are quite different. I’m certainly the organiser, to which Rob would say I am the worrier, but one of us has to gauge some sort of direction.

He’s very much suited to the Thai way of thinking. Don’t think too far ahead, let things happen, and to be honest it’s worked out for us so far.

Ha ha, well lucky for us neither of us have particularly volatile tempers and we don’t really fall out. Yes, we both have our sulky moments, and the balcony is the perfect place for this, or the 5-minute walk to 7-11, but I think we both realise that we are out here together, we share a small flat, and that we really shouldn’t let the small things get to us. Maybe I’m adopting the Thai attitude more than I thought!

I think I would have approached this whole adventure differently without Rob, and I certainly don’t think I would be planning the next few years out here if I wasn’t here with him. It’s very hard to say. On my own I might have just travelled a bit and then returned home when the money ran out.

As with everything that we have done over the last year, we're going on a a bit of a whim!

We knew that we wanted something different to Chiang Mai. While we love it here, we want a complete change of scenery and I in particular want to be nearer the beaches.

We know someone already teaching in Nakhon and he has told us that there is a great ex-pat teaching community there, which is very lacking in Chiang Mai, probably because there are just so many ‘farangs’ here.

I applied for a couple of jobs, was made an offer, and that was that. The drastic increase in salary is obviously a big incentive as well, along with much better benefits from the school and a lower cost of living. We’ve never even been to Southern Thailand, let alone Nakhon, so it’s a very exciting move for us.

Well I think realistically we shall stay in Thailand for the next 1-2 years. After that we may need to think about money more seriously and head for an Asian country that pays better.

Neither of us see ourselves back in the UK within the next 5 years, but who knows? We have no plan set in stone, only to continue teaching out here for as long as it’s fun and feasible.