Boyfriend or travel

Apologies for being absent for the last couple of weeks. I've been swamped with work, and needed to take some time to gather my thoughts. January is such a depressing month at the best of times, and I feel a little like I need to re-evaluate where my life is taking me.

I've been thinking about travel a lot recently. I've looked into travelling to different places, and definitely want to improve my Spanish. I don't want to take time out of my career, but being a teacher thought I could use it abroad. I've been looking into teaching abroad. I don't want to do TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) as generally it's badly paid and attracts a lot of youngsters. I have discovered though that I could use my teaching qualification and complete fully paid teaching abroad, if I use the right websites.

I've decided what I would really like is teaching GCSE English in Mexico. I loved Mexico when I visited for a few weeks, and I could improve my Spanish whilst working. I visited a website and they offer basically the same amount, or more, than I am currently being paid to qualified teachers to teach the same thing over there in what seems to be a private school for those who want English qualifications. Students would likely be more motivated and keen to learn.

The only thing holding me back is my boyfriend, dog and house. It's a tricky situation. Do I travel, and leave my boyfriend behind, risking that in not seeing me for months that we will grow apart, or stay and regret not having achieved things I want to in life. I have always wanted to live abroad for a period of time, and I need to do this before I have children. If I go for 9 months, I was hoping he could come and visit for a couple of months in the middle to break up the time apart. I wouldn't even consider going if I was worried about our relationship or didn't trust him, but I think we would be ok. It's always a worry though.

how do you feel about travelling? Would you travel without your boyfriend or partner?