Sh*t Just Got Real

Belize Red Footed Booby

Belize Red Footed Booby

Hi, we’re Tanya and Andy Korteling and this is the very first post from Can Travel Will Travel. 

Can Travel Will Travel is a travel blog focused on stretches of travelling (with our backpacks), interspersed with longer periods of time living and working abroad to really get to know a place, its people and culture.

Everything is finally starting to fall into place:

  • TEFL courses completed and certificates in hand – TICK
  • House remortgage finalised and completed on second buy-to-let house – TICK
  • Finally completed on second buy-to-let house and got the keys in hands – TICK
  • Instructed a letting agent and got a tenant in new buy-to-let – TICK
  • Put our house on the rental market – TICK
  • Notice handed in on our jobs – TICK
  • Flights booked – TICK

So as they say….”This sh*t just got real!” – we’re actually going to do it.

Let me backtrack a bit as the excitement had taken over and I’d started to ramble a little.

What it’s all about

To cut a long story short we’re leaving our jobs, family, friends, and lives in the UK, to embark on our biggest adventure and challenge to date.  Months of planning have followed years of talking about it and working hard to make it possible. We’re now finally about to up sticks to travel, live and work abroad.

Flying into Mumbai; we’re travelling through India, Bangladesh and Myanmar, then onto Siem Reap, Cambodia where we plan to live and work for at least a year.

After that nothing is certain, although possible next steps may be a year in Honduras, followed by a year in Nepal. No doubt be interspersed with some more travelling, then, who knows.

The general idea is to spend an extended period of time in as many countries as possible. We want to really get to know them, their people, culture and traditions. As we’re leaving the UK with limited funds however, finding work is going to be essential. We are both TEFL certified so have this as one option of a means to fund our living costs and onward travel. However we both also have our own ideas of what we’d like to do to support ourselves.

We promise you frequent, frank, honest, and entertaining accounts of our experiences. Alongside these you’ll also 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.

We’re heading off in about a month; in the interim though I’ll be posting about our preparations and also try to share some backdated posts on past travels. I’ve never blogged before so it will help me get into the swing of things!

I’ll be looking after and posting on this blog; whereas Andy will be concentrating on his video blog GOING NOMAD…..pigs on bikes. why not give that a look too.

So that’s it for now – thanks for letting us introduce ourselves and our plans and we hope you’ll join us on our journey.  Please feel free to comment and ask questions and I’ll respond as quickly as possible.

Have you done something similar? If so we’d love to hear your thoughts on what we’re doing and any suggestions that may help us.

P.S. To get to know more about Can Travel Will Travel, about us (both individually and as a couple) and about our plans check out the following:

 

Tanya Korteling

Tanya is the founder and head content creator for Can Travel Will Travel. She combines freelance SEO, CRO, Data and Marketing consultancy with exploring the world. Passionate about adventure, nature, wildlife and food, she incorporates these in her travels as much as possible. She also loves immersing herself in new cultures. She's visited hundreds of destinations in 50+ countries and lived in 4 countries. Tanya worked as a Data Planning Manager and Digital Marketing Strategist before leaving the UK in 2016 with her husband Andy, to travel, live and work abroad indefinitely. Together they share their experiences and useful information to inspire and encourage others to do the same.

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Bowral Real Estate

    i dont know what type of animal is that? but it really catch my attention! its so cute!

    1. TanyaKorteling

      Haha – it’s a Red-footed Booby!

  2. Natasja Hardes

    Hai guys,

    If you are travelling India, you have to go and visit a friend of mine, Debra.
    She runs a guesthouse and you will love it. It is in Varkala and it is called Kaiya House.
    We met when i was travelling around India and became such good friends, that she has been to visit me in Amsterdam twice already.
    She is an American, but lived in the UK for many years and has been living in India for almost 10 years now.

    And if you want, i can also contact my friend that works in Honduras for you, let me know.

    Well enjoy all of it, hope you will have an amazing time!

    Happy Travellsss

    1. TanyaKorteling

      Hi Natasja;

      Hope you’re well! Varkala’s in Kerala isn’t it? If so we’re going to be spending a few days in that area so we’ll definitely look your friend Debra and her guesthouse up. Sounds great – thanks for the heads up 🙂 It will probably be the 4th week(ish) in September I expect.

      If and when we go Honduras it’d be great to be put in touch with your friend there too – I’ll let you know for sure but that won’t be for a while yet!

      Thanks again
      Tanya & Andy x

  3. Amy

    Sounds like you have an amazing, exciting journey ahead! I think your plan is pretty solid, TEFL teaching is an awesome way to earn money abroad, I can definitely recommend Vietnam as a teaching destination, we saved a lot of money and had a great time working there. Do you already have jobs lined up in Cambodia? I love that country! If you’re heading through Chiang Mai let me know, Andrew and I are moving there next month. Good luck with the planning!

    1. TanyaKorteling

      Hi Amy,
      Thanks for your comment, and suggestion of Vietnam for teaching.
      We haven’t got jobs lined up yet, it looks as if we’ll probably be managing our
      friends guesthouse for a month when we first arrive whilst they return to the UK
      for a visit. We’ll start to look for jobs during that month.

      I don’t think we’ll be heading through Chiang Mail this time, we’ve been before though and
      loved it. If plans change though we’ll look you up. Have you done/ will you be doing the
      train to Chiang Mail from Bangkok? If not check it out as its great!

      Tanya x

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