Trial By Travel

Justin and Shuyi Liok tested their marriage by taking a year off work to explore the globe. This is their story.

While travel, along with food, is a national obsession in Singapore, taking a year off work to trot the globe veers from the norm. Which explains Justin Liok’s reaction when his wife of one year floated the idea. Says the 37-year-old asset manager: “I love travelling, but to do so for such an extended period and having to quit our jobs... I initially baulked at the suggestion and hoped that she would forget about it after a while.”

But Shuyi Liok did not forget. The couple had been working for eight years and this was a golden – read: pre-children – opportunity. Justin eventually relented, figuring it would be a way to turbocharge their marriage. With a condensed time frame in which to experience the trials of marriage, they would either break up or “become an inseparable, perpetually-in-love couple”.

Fast forward a year to 2015. The couple returned – bitter arguments, silent treatments and impulses to flee notwithstanding – convinced they wanted to work together. Today, they share a name card – as co-managers of the Liok family office. Here’s what went down.

What advice did you get before you went on the trip? 

Justin: To go with the flow, not stress on pre-planning and make bookings as and when the time to move comes. But there was so much we wanted to do, we actually dedicated two months to planning the entire trip, which allowed us to cover over 30 countries and 80 cities in a year. 

Many expected us to cut the trip short as they couldn’t fathom travelling with their other halves for more than two months. We proved otherwise.