Name: Andy Whiteman
From: Bovingdon, UK
Age: 35

IN fifteen years Andy Whiteman has travelled, lived, and worked in more than a quarter of the world's countries and, though he has come close to settling down abroad before, he has never felt more at home anywhere than he has in Bulgaria. The fact that he married here last year and that his first daughter, Lola, was born last month are clear signs of the impact the country has had on his life.

"My overriding impression is the sense of fun that exists in Bulgaria," said Andy. "It's fantastic and I love it. I've met such a brilliant bunch of people and I have a fantastic new family here."

The first time he came to Bulgaria, for two nights and a day of work, he got lost after two pints of Guinness and ended up in a bar where he was invited to a party the following night. There he met Maria, his future wife, but it took two more return trips to cement the relationship. "I was involved with someone else at the time," he said, "so it was a bit of a dilemma, but I knew exactly what was going on because I was dumbfounded by Maria."

Soon after, he took his Ford Capri to a mechanic in England and told him he was going to drive it to Bulgaria so it needed a service. He then picked Maria up from Paris Airport and they spent two weeks driving through France and Italy. "It was a fantastic journey," said Andy with enthusiasm, "and the Capri (named Carlito) is a top class car - everyone loves it." They eventually got to Sofia at 1am after a 12 hour journey from Greece, parked outside Mohito, entered the club and "went for it" to celebrate their arrival.

Andy still travels a lot with his work and has been to China, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia since he met Maria. Next month he's off to Nigeria for a three week contract and, though the work - dealing with waste management - is his passion, he's looking for ways to spend more time at home with his new family.

"I still have a great thirst for travelling," he said. "I've got no plans at the moment, and when I look at Lola I wonder where we'll go together in the next 20 years." England will certainly be on the list as although he has spent much of his adult life abroad, he has maintained a strong network of family and friends at home. Over 20 of them came to Bulgaria for his wedding, which, not surprisingly, was a great party.

His mother, who he described as having had an enormously positive influence on his life, has a world map in her front room, with pins in the countries that he and his brothers and sister have visited. "Between us we've almost done the whole lot," he laughed. "British people are born travellers. They're basically open to travelling and new experiences and most of the younger generation are very well-informed."

The extent to which he has become immersed in the local culture was demonstrated recently when his Bulgarian friends told him he's a Bulgarian born in the wrong country. Andy's not too sure about the veracity of this suggestion, but observed that both British and Bulgarian cultures have a strong emphasis on humour, though he feels that Bulgarian culture is more Mediterranean laissez-faire combined with a Balkan 'up yours' attitude. "The people here are hot-blooded, they express their feelings directly and I'm happy with that," he said.

"I'm comfortable here because people brought me into their lives. They accepted me and welcomed me, so I immediately felt at home."