Andy Korteling

Can Travel Will Travel is a travel blog following the experiences of my husband Andy and I after we left the UK to travel, live and work abroad. It focusses on stretches of travel, interspersed with longer stints of living and working abroad.

The aim is to visit new places, try different activities, and sample all types of food. We LOVE food! Then, just stopping for a while and taking the time to get to know a place, immersing ourselves fully into a new culture and all it has to offer. We’re always on the look out for off-the-beaten-track destinations and hidden gems to discover.

We hope to inspire others to follow their dreams and ‘just give it a go’. We see this as a way to broaden our horizons, experience new things, and undertake new challenges. All the time learning – about ourselves, the places we’re in and the people we meet. We want to share all that with you.

Who Are We and What Are We Doing?
We are Tanya and Andrew Korteling (aka Andy), a married couple from the UK; seasoned travellers spanning six continents and over fifty countries.

We both caught the travel bug way before we got together in 2008. Ever since then we nurtured the dream of upping sticks to travel, live and work abroad. In September 2016 we finally realised that dream. It was time to say goodbye to the UK for the foreseeable future.

We set off with modest funds, backpacks, a rough idea of movement, each other, and a level of excitement akin to that of a dog with two tails.

Why Did We Leave The UK to Travel, Live and Work Abroad?
A question we were often asked before we left and found hard to answer is ‘why are you doing it’?

We both had pretty good jobs in the UK that we’d worked and studied hard for. We weren’t earning huge amounts but enough to live comfortably, enjoy our free time, and to take holidays and weekend trips. We’ve also got a wonderful family and great friends. It wasn’t that we were running away from anything either, except for boredom and routine…the generic ‘work, eat, sleep, repeat’.

So why are we doing it? I think the crux of it is that we were both ready for a change and a new challenge. We want to spend our time in the way we want to spend it, doing the things that make us happy. Not to mention we want to see each other for more than a few hours each evening before we both fall into bed shattered from work and commuting. That combined with our passion for travel, and for discovering new places and cultures made it seem the logical thing to do.

Our wanderlust will be satisfied by travelling through various countries. Our longer stretches of living and working abroad to sustain ourselves and allow onward travel should give us the challenge we’re after.

I suppose there is one other thing we were running from…the generally cold, miserable English weather – we both hate the cold.

When Did We Leave and What Are the Travel Plans?
We left the UK early September 2016 and started with a weeks villa holiday in Majorca with my side of the family.

I love South America, but also want to visit as many countries worldwide as possible. Andy’s heart, however, is firmly planted in South East Asia, or more specifically Cambodia (we’ve visited several times before and have friends there).

For a long time, Andy had talked at me incessantly about living there for a while, in order to get the full experience.

Angkor Wat Siem Reap Cambodia

Finally, I conceded, so Siem Reap, Cambodia was our first stop. A destination of my choice was to follow the next year, maybe Honduras, with travel throughout Central America; beyond that, we had no idea. Who knows what doors will open to us or where we’ll end up.

I say Cambodia was our first stop, but that’s not completely accurate. We actually started by travelling through India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar to Cambodia. This was my idea, which Andy readily agreed to.

We flew into Mumbai, hoping to get the chance to give Bollywood acting a bit of a whirl, well, when in Rome….

Other than that the idea was to more or less ‘wing it’. I won’t delve any further into how our itinerary planned out right now, but you can read more in my blog posts and can see a rough idea of the initial route we took below.


How Are We Funding Our Travels?
Just before we left the UK we renovated and remortgaged our first house, in order to buy a second buy-to-let. Both of these are being rented out, giving us peace of mind that we have a little security back home if (and it’s a big IF) we should want to return to the UK.

Other than that we sold just about everything we owned. Car, furniture, clothes, books and the general crap that we’d accumulated over the years. It all had to go! The proceeds from this and our last pay packet gave us just enough cash to cover the travel to Cambodia, and rent and bills for a year. We’ll have to earn to cover extra living costs like food and beer money, extra travelling, activities, and onward travel. For us, that’s part of the challenge and will help our immersion in the local culture.

We both completed TEFL courses, which provided us with teaching English as one way to earn a living. I’m also able to work remotely, freelancing for various clients on data, marketing and SEO projects. Before leaving the UK we also both spent some time researching job vacancies in Cambodian based companies.

How Do We Spend Our Free Time?
Voluntary work with wildlife or in conservation is always high on my wishlist. Andy’s got the goal of trying his hand at digging water wells or something similar that would make use of his development studies degree.

I try to keep up with my running, the gym and hiking and Andy his rock-climbing. We want to spend time exploring as much of the destinations we’re in; getting off the beaten track as much as possible. Even in Cambodia, where we’re repeat visitors and quite familiar with some of the country, there’s always more for us to discover.

Finally, and this is a given, of course, is that there’ll be some socialising thrown into the mix. We’re both pretty sociable and love a good party or catch-up with friends over a meal and/ or a beer or three!

What Will You Get?
We’ll keep you updated on our experiences, and trials and tribulations, mainly via our social media.

On the blog itself, alongside entertaining anecdotes, you’ll see lots of valuable information, reviews, and hints and tips. These will include posts on accommodation, food, transport, what to see and do, culture, living and working abroad, and much more.

For those of you prefer to watch and listen than to read, Andy has started a video blog ‘GOING NOMAD…aka pigs on bikes’.

Follow Us As We Leave The UK to Travel, Live and Work Abroad…
You’ll find us frank and honest; there’s no beating around the bush with us. So if you’re happy to take us as you find us, we’d love you to follow us on our journey.

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