It was through a passion for travelling that Co Antrim man Nigel Kane found the love of his life.
Little did the 52-year-old know that he would meet the woman of his dreams whilst booking a holiday.
Now, Nigel and his wife German-born Martha (31), have turned their mutual love of travelling into a business spending up to 10-12 weeks a year travelling both at home and abroad.
Nigel said: “Martha was in Sweden and I was in Northern Ireland when our paths crossed for the first time. It wasn’t until a few years later that we met in person in Leipzig, Germany.
“I fell for Martha long before I knew what she looked like. I thought she was such a kind and interesting person. Of course once I saw her that didn’t put me off either…she’s a great person who hasn’t a single bad bone in her body.”
And despite there being a 21 year age gap Martha revealed she knew Nigel was the man for her after spending some time with him.
She explained: “We first met when I was working for a holiday rental company that Nigel had booked a Sweden trip with. I charged his credit card, sent a confirmation e-mail and that’s how we first ‘met’! Seriously.
“I know this sounds cheesy but what attracted me most initially was that he was such a kind and genuine guy – I’ve never been one to fall for bad boys.
“Once I knew him better I realised how similar we were in terms of interests, priorities and aspirations and he also just makes me laugh all the time.
“As well as that I think he’s kinda handsome too in his own way.”
In May 2015 the couple were married on Coronado Island in San Diego, California.
When they’re not travelling Martha is a professional translator and having recently taken voluntary redundancy from the civil service to look after Jonus.
They now live in Helen’s Bay, County Down with their six month old son Jonas. Due to their age gap Nigel also has three grown up children from a previous relationship Rachel (24), Christopher (21) and Richard (19).
Since getting together the couple haven’t necessarily racked up a lot of countries having only visited 18 but that’s because they revisit countries they love over and over again.
They’ve been to Sweden, where Martha was living when they met, more than 10 times.
The couple have visited and written about their adventures everywhere from Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Spain and the U.S to Croatia, Turkey, Barbados, France and Italy among many others.
“We’ve been to around 18 countries. Rather than aiming for high numbers, we prefer really getting to know the places we enjoyed the most.
“Over the course of three U.S road trips, we have travelled the Southwest of the country extensively. Our love for Sweden keeps taking us back there. We recently fell in love with Norway during a trip to Oslo and came back to explore the Norwegian Arctic and Lofoten Islands” said Nigel.
Lake Sognsvann, Oslo
Now Nigel and Martha run their own travel blog Bay Breezing (www.baybreezin.com) charting their journeys across the globe and at home.
“It all started off because I enjoyed posting daily summaries of our U.S road trips on Facebook, containing some highlight photos. One of Martha’s friends (back from her Au Pair days on Gran Canaria) works for an online travel agent.
“She enjoyed my posts and asked us if we would write for her employer. Our own website, YouTube channel and everything else evolved from there.
“The website initially started off as a hobby alongside our full time jobs. We are now more serious about making it a success. We still try to keep it light-hearted and have been known to bicker in our videos.
“Around 25% of our visitors are from the U.S. however, despite having articles from seemingly more glamorous destinations, our best performing articles remain those about Northern Ireland.
“Prior to our recent, deeply sarcastic post 20 Reasons You’ll Regret Going To Northern Ireland, our Sunbathing Cows of White Park Bay sparked the most international interest.”
When it comes to recommendations, for Nigel the Norwegian Arctic is the place to be.
He said: “We spent a few nights in Tromsø, the most northerly city in the world, before sailing to the Lofoten Islands. They are beautiful beyond belief. We spent two days exploring the islands before sailing back to Tromsø for a final day.
“The scenery was on another level from anything we had seen before. We would recommend it to anyone wanting to see and do something slightly different.
“There are regular flights from Dublin to Tromsø via Oslo, so it’s easy enough to get to. It is also a great alternative to Iceland, which has become swamped with tourists in the last few years.”
Although Nigel and Martha have a deep love for countries like Sweden they say they’re unlikely to leave Northern Ireland permanently.
Martha said: “We have a bit of a history with Sweden and we have discussed relocating there. I learned Swedish years ago and would love to speak it more. However, we have no actual plans to leave at this point.”
Nigel added: “I have three grown up children here, who I would miss. I also have an elderly mother. Having lived here all my life, I would find it a wrench to leave.
“Northern Ireland has a lot going for it. Very few places in the world offer the range of scenery that we have here in such a small area. Same goes for facilities like airports and retail.
“Most importantly, even Martha thinks that the people are amongst the friendliest in the world.”
Their ties to Northern Ireland means it’s a regular feature in their blog, in fact the couple are very passionate about promoting their home turf.
“I worked with South America for a few years and I have a special connection with Colombia” said Martha.
“It faces a lot of the same tourism challenges as Northern Ireland in terms of its reputation.
“I would love to go there and we’re both intrigued by South America in general. This might have to wait until Jonas is a good bit older. In North America, we would like to explore Oregon and remote Canada.
“In the meantime promoting Northern Ireland locally and internationally will remain our main focus.
“We would love to collaborate with the tourist authorities and local attractions to convince foreign travellers that there is much more to the island than just Dublin, Galway and Killarney.”
Follow Nigel and Martha’s journeys at www.baybreezin.com or www.facebook.com/baybreezin.