Currently...

We are based in Siem Reap, Cambodia (It's more interesting over this side of the world). We have set up a platform for photo and video journalism online, and on a daily basis we are interviewing photographers who have been documenting the war in Libya, to photographers who have been following the rehabilitation of landmine victims in Cambodia.

We are in the process of putting together our first interactive exhibition where photographers will present their work and their stories to audiences. We are working with the photographic community of Siem Reap spearheading new projects and thoroughly enjoying entering into the unknown.

Dinner time is more interesting than it has ever been; no more TV dinners after an exhausting day at the office. Now we are listening to passionate stories of journalists who have photographed in some of the most precarious environments in the world. We're surrounded by people who have a thorough passion in what they do and life seems a bit more colourful.

Before I escaped...

Thomas worked in fraud banking in Birmingham. Days were filled with team meetings, targets and short lunch hours. In total he worked there for two years, until the day came that he could not take any more. Yes, bills were getting paid and life wasn't bad, but it was missing that edge.

Life sensed as though it needed the brightness turned up a little bit. If work wasn't so boring it wouldn't have given him the opportunity to dream about something far away from what he was currently doing. Next step: book a plane ticket to Cambodia with no plans at all... who knows what will happen.

Alex, the partner in crime with http://www.ngoinsider.com/" rel="nofollow">NGOinsider.com, was working in insurance sales in the West Midlands. The story follows a similar familiarity; targets, team meetings and short lunch hours.

Alex, who was also known to daydream quite a lot, knew something more was needed out of life. Next step: book a plane ticket to Cambodia to go and join Thomas. No one knew what was going to happen.

My moment of truth...

First of all, we never dreamt of doing what we are doing now. We just dreamt of doing something different.

We are not photographers and we are not web designers, so if you would have told us that we would have had an online platform for photojournalists in 2012, we would have told you that's ridiculous. Yet life has a funny way of taking you down avenues that you don't expect to visit. It was through changing our environment, reaching crossroads and being forced to change direction that we have ended up where we are now. 

The moment of truth was when the plane tickets were booked and I had to go and explain to my boss that I wanted to resign as I was moving to Cambodia. "To do what?" she said. I replied, "I don't know, but it will be more exciting than here, I know that much".

It was less a moment of truth and more a kick up the backside to think differently about what we were going to do once we landed in Cambodia.

Planning for it...

So we knew we were going to Cambodia yet our canvases were blank; once there we didn't know what we were going to do.

We had a bit of money saved up, but that wasn't going to last forever, especially with our budgeting skills. We embarked on our TEFL qualification so we could teach some English and get the bills paid (the bills are much less in Cambodia).

Once we had arrived it wasn't a matter of planning for what we wanted to do as we didn't know. When you live in a different environment, your thought process about what is possible changes. Much more seems possible and we started delving into hobbies which were left on the shelf when back in England.

Before we knew it, we had entered head first into a venture which was interesting and inspiring. There is no way we could have planned for this, we have to join the dots looking backwards to understand how we got where we are now.

The worst and best bits...

It's never quite as cosy as it sounds. Our health insurance may have run out, we are fairly sick of rice, and we take our life into our hands every day navigating the Cambodian traffic systems. At times life can seem as though it's always greener on the other side.

There are days when we would change back to living for the weekend to eat some home cooked meals or sleep in mosquito-free rooms. But we like life this way. It's more colourful. We have had to look at life as an adventure, not knowing where we are going to end up. But sometimes not knowing where you are going to end up opens up a broad spectrum of opportunities.

Without doubt, the best parts of our jobs at present are the people we have met and the projects we are involved in. We have met countless inspiring people who have stories to tell that put our lives to shame. We also no longer work to targets, and decide our own lunch hours.

Best advice...

“The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.” - Albert Einstein

For most, security and a sense of knowing where one will end up are musts when deciding to change their life. It doesn't have to be that way... To make the initial decision that you want to make a change is the first step; the next step is to go and do it.

Once you are out of your familiar environment it's amazing how your thought process will change and barriers that existed before will disappear. Never be too scared to enter into the unknown; yes it will be hard, but hard is more fun, and the beauty of not knowing where you will end up can have many advantages.

Useful resources and information...

We have got to where we are today by listening to people and being inspired by people; by meeting people that we would never have encountered unless we were in Cambodia.

Our only advice would be http://www.cheapflights.co.uk" rel="nofollow">www.cheapflights.co.uk and go from there.