True love travellers

The love story of 30-year-old Simone Gates and 39-year-old Andy Brown begins like a growing number of modern romance tales. Set in Thailand in 1998, it tells of two young backpackers – an Aussie girl and a British boy – who met at a beach party celebrating the final of the soccer World Cup. “There were loads of Aussies, Kiwis and Brits on the beach, all watching the big screens,” remembers Andy, who was holidaying in Thailand on his way home to the UK after living in Australia for eight years. Simone, who was 22 at the time, was just at the beginning of her own overseas adventure, and was on the beach with a friend when one of Andy’s friends asked her to take a photo of their group. “It seemed like everyone in the group wanted me to take a photo, so I thought I’d be funny and take one of their group with my camera,” she laughs.

This was when Andy made his fateful move. “I asked, ‘Are you a photographer?’ and she said, ’No, but I’d like to take your photo’.” A bit of mutual flirting ensued, and an immediate chemistry sparked between the couple. “We talked until the sun came up,” recalls Simone. Both she and Andy sensed they had found someone special but this happy thought was shattered when Simone admitted she was leaving Thailand that same afternoon. “I’d saved for a long time for this trip and I wanted to explore the world,” she says. “But when I told Andy I was leaving I was suddenly very sad.”

“I was sad too,” adds Andy. “I knew I really liked this girl, and my heart sank at the thought of never seeing her again.”

Reluctantly, the pair parted ways, with Simone wearing a T-shirt Andy had loaned her. “I rushed back to my hotel to tell my girlfriend about Andy; I remember telling her that you don’t find someone like him every day.” Later that day, Simone’s friend would discover just how special Simone’s encounter with the British traveller had been. “We were booked on a 4pm boat back to the mainland but I wanted to return Andy’s T-shirt first, just to see him one last time, so I told my friend I’d meet her at the dock,” explains Simone. “But when I got to Andy’s hut he just said ‘Stay’... I never went to the dock to meet my friend.”

Simone and Andy spent the next three months travelling through Thailand and Laos, sharing adventures and falling in love. “Being with Sim was almost as easy as breathing,” says Andy. When Andy’s money finally ran out the pair decided to go their separate ways, at least for the short term. Simone would spend the next three months fulfilling her dream of exploring Asia, while Andy would return to the UK. They agreed to contact each other at some point in the future, but neither knew when that might be. As they waited at the airport for Andy to board his plane home, the reality that they might never see each other again suddenly hit them both. “I’d found someone I loved and here I was saying goodbye to her,” recalls Andy.

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