1.How old are you, where are you from, where are you living now and what took you there?
Age 35, from the UK, currently living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I decided to move to Malaysia in 2003 as I’d lived in Hong Kong for a year in 1996/97 and travelled around SE Asia and loved it! I fell in love with the heat, the energy, the food and the great lifestyle that is possible out here (not many places in the world where you can afford to eat out every night of the week).
2.How long have you lived there and how long will you stay? What keeps you there?
Moved to Kuala Lumpur in 2003, but spent some time away between then and now (8 months travelling in Latin America, 1 year working in Argentina, and 1 year working in London). Marrying a Malaysian next year, so we’re settling down here 
… so hopefully we’ll be in KL for a long time. (Not ready to move back to London after living through a British winter last year).
3.What do you do to make a living?
Market Research… Been in the same industry for the last 12 years… I’m lucky that it’s a job that is easy to travel with, and I’ve had a great experience working in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
4.Describe your average weekday and weekend day.
Average week day is probably about 12 hours in the office! Weekends involve catching up with friends, lying by our pool, or travelling. There are so many beautiful places close to KL to visit and the highways in Malaysia make everything very accessible. With the advent of cheap travel (Air Asia and other low cost airlines) we’re also lucky enough to be able to do short trips around Asia.
5.What skills have you learned while living abroad?
Languages (French, Spanish, and a smattering of Cantonese… I’ve been promising to start learning Malay soon)
6.What are you missing (professionally) by not being in your home country?
A better wage!
7.If you could live anywhere, where would that be and why?
Anywhere in the heat.
8.What is your favorite gadget that makes your work life abroad better?
I miss the Blackberry I had in London… No such gadgets for me here!
9.Do you have a favorite book that inspired you to travel or consider a different way of living?
Oh there are so many… I’ve always loved reading novels or biographies set in the country or region that I’m visiting, living in, or considering visiting… We were in Cambodia last week and reading some memoirs of people who grew up during the Civil War really gave me a greater understanding of the suffering the country and its’ people went through. In the same vein, I remember reading a photocopied version of the Quiet American in Vietnam in 1997. I also remember reading A Town Like Alice when I was a teenager, and then re-reading it when I was back in Malaysia… Again, enabling me to understand more about the history of the country I am living in. Isabel Allende is another of my favorite authors… Her autobiography (My Invented Country) really bought the Latin American lifestyle to life. Riding the Iron Rooster (Paul Theroux) was inspiring, but the descriptions of the freezing cold conditions he endured on his travels through China put me off travelling in North China in the winter!
