Read Dara and Andrew's 19 top tips for travelling in India

The background

Andy, a former work colleague, popped the question on a staff night out before we even went on our first date: "How d’yae fancy travellin' the world with mae, lassie?" It might have been the Scottish accent, but I said yes immediately.

Despite knowing absolutely nothing about each other, we mapped it out, made a budget and booked ourselves the best deal we could get to take us from India to Brazil, visiting 16 countries in just 180 days.

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BACKGROUND

• Start a new life abroad

• How to set up your own travel blog

• Lose a year and find yourself

• Take a break: life-changing travels

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• The complete guide to gap year travel

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• 19 things you must know before going to India

In between we managed to sneak in a few dates, then a couple of weekends away; we met each other's families and officially became an item.

So here we are, nearly a year later, embarking on our six-month world tour. As we taxi along the runway at Heathrow, it hits me. This time last year I was single, paying a mortgage and working a desk job at The Sunday Times. Now I'm off to see the world, husband in tow.

Well okay, not quite. He hasn't popped "that" question. But I do have a fake ring from Claire's Accessories, and we are booked into our first Indian hotel as "Mr and Mrs".

The idea is that in India, in the hopes of getting "in with the locals", we've decided to call ourselves married. We've been told by dozens of other travellers that it makes genuine local interaction for western couples a bit easier, especially outside of the cities.

Had we a child in tow, we'd have ourselves an even better time, they tell us. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I’ve only just learned to remember how he takes his coffee.

HER SIDE

It was his idea to start in India. The logic was that as novice backpackers, a sub-continent debut is akin to ripping a plaster off really quickly: it teaches you travel lessons fast, and the Indian experience under your belt makes many other countries seem easier to manage.

In saying that, our itinerary in India is mainly beaten track, from Mumbai to Goa, to Kerala, inland to Bangalore, then up north to do the Golden Triangle: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

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