Have you ever considered making a life abroad? Read the inspirational story of Laura Marshall who packed her bags over 10 years ago and hasn't looked back since.

Why I decided to leave Britain

Kashgar was the principal reason I left Britain. To stand in the ancient Chinese garrison, among blue-eyed desert people with golden peregrines on their wrists, had always been my dream.

Sounds great, but can you really get from the Scottish Highlands, where I lived, to the Silk Road without a trust fund? Answer: yes. Study for a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification and you'll have a ready-made passport to a new career, plus the chance for cultural integration and unlimited travel.

Getting started on the road to Kashgar

In 1991, I already had my Sociology MA but I seriously doubted I'd get to the Gobi with it. After much investigation, I plumped for a course with Inlingua, a language school that promised a job 'somewhere' in Europe on completion of training.

Spring 1992 saw me living with my partner in a tiny Parisian flat near the infamous Pere Lachaise Cemetery. I had a sweltering daily summer commute to the Latin Quarter where I was grilled on grammar and teaching technique. At the end of three months I obtained my certificate and the world became our oyster.

Now I'm qualified, what's next?

With the qualification under my belt, we set off for the German town of Koblenz, for that promised job. Thrown in at the deep end, I had no choice but to teach business classes to 'real' students, or give up and go home. It turned out to be a fantastic learning experience.

Rhineland was wonderful but I could see Kashgar fading into a dream. Terrified by the lure of staying in Europe, I contacted 100 schools in the Far East and received positive feedback from many.

Finding my vocation in the Far East

September 1994 saw us in Japan, where it was a whirlwind of career and karaoke until we left in 1999. As long as you're willing to work hard and adapt, career development for English teachers is ridiculously fast in Japan. For the first time, I worked with children and realised I'd found my vocation.

I taught hundreds of children from toddlers to adolescent classes of 40 with a Japanese co-teacher. I lost my voice several times a year but it was worth it. In the evenings, I somehow found time to gain extra qualifications to equip me for teaching young learners. Chances also arose to co-write a fun grammar book and various kids stories, create games and work as Mother Christmas (Japanese kids being scared of the male version). I'll never forgot what a luxury it was to be highly paid for doing something I loved.

Kashgar: within reach at last?

But Kashgar still called. Despite all the positives, we packed our bags. I had been accepted by a language school in France but planned to take our time getting there. We spent half a year travelling round China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Borneo. We walked in the jungle, chased monitor lizards on deserted islands, climbed Mount Kinabalu and visited ancient ruins. Eventually Kashgar was within reach. Unfortunately, my partner, being unimpressed with the Gobi sandstorms, could not be persuaded to venture further in the desert.

Starting a successful business in France

In September 1999, we arrived in Dijon, France. While teaching part-time, I worked on a proposed pilot children's programme in Spring 2000. This was a success and when a Dutch businesswoman, Debby Smits, bought the school I was working at in June 2000, she supported the expansion of the children's programme. I spent ten months refining ideas developed over nine years, we arranged open days and demonstrations in a large commercial centre. At the time the programme started, we had 40 kids involved. By September 2001 it was clear that there was no competition and we launched it under the registered name of bee-lingual kids.

Having committed ourselves to a few more years in France, my partner and I took the plunge. We bought a house in a Burgundy village of 15 inhabitants with enough cows, pigs and sheep to make us feel as though we were back in the Scottish Highlands. Although Burgundy is glorious, we're coming up to four years here and...

Back to Britain?

Not in the near future. Maybe after a Kenyan kids English programme or a Mongolian language school. I still haven't seen South America, and, of course, there's still Kashgar.

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