Thailand.

Our break in Thailand before we headed to Europe was intended to be a holiday that we knew we would not be able to repeat in the forseeable future. The cost of moving had taken it's toll and an immediate start to work was imperative. My credit card had taken a hammering and I dislike not paying it off in full every month. With the removal costs, flights, some gemstones and a holiday (albeit a cheap one) I was worrying. Unlike Claudia, I did not have family that I could sponge much more than accomodation from and I loathed having to do that, even though I knew that I was most welcome and 'My Room' would be waiting for me.

We headed down to Koh Samui and I was devastated to see that it had changed beyond recognition from my last visit in 1997. There had been so many quiet little spots and cheap, hidden gems that I had wanted to show Claudia, but they were all gone. Replaced by fancy resort developments that had DJs playing all day at the poolside with tanned and tattooed posers hitting on European and Australian women of similar spec. Very disappointing. We trundled round on a couple of hired scooters and still managed to enjoy ourselves. A trip across to nearby Koh Tao led us to some new and quiet hillside chalets where they didn't try to sell us diving trips and where we could relax with a good view of the setting sun, good food and a quiet spot to swim.

Back in Bangkok, I spent some time purchasing a few gemstones. Fossiking was a hobby that some wonderful people introduced us to in Australia. It captivated us and we spent many happy weekends looking for sapphires near Glen Innes in New South Wales and up in the north of Queensland. If you enjoy the outdoors and don't mind a bit of work, it is something you have to try in your lifetime - and go to Australia to do it. Great fun! This interest had led to us exploring the possibility of supplementing our income by trading in stones on eBay. The path to a greater knowledge of gemstones lay in having a good collection that you could compare and refer to. Bangkok is a good place to find any gem or mineral you could think of. (It is a good idea to take a look at things closely, as the quality of the cutting is generally poor and you can spend hours picking through piles of stones before you have a few dozen examples that you would feel comfortable selling or keeping in your own collection.) I was happy to further extend my credit obligations because I felt that I was securing another means of making a living in Germany that did not require extensive language skills. It was also something that we both loved doing and we were both certain back then that the two of us would be able to work very well together in our own business. We already knew that we could happily work with each other every day - in fact, it was when I enjoyed work more than at any other time in my life. We had always discussed spending the rest of our working lives in some enterprise together and it was a goal and dream that we both shared. Now there are not too many couples out there who could claim they get along that well!

At this point I made a mistake. A very grave mistake that was probably the start of The Final Countdown to our disintegration. I decided to fly to Scotland where I knew I could immediately work, stay cheaply and set about paying off my credit card. Naive idiot!