Dianne Minardi, 26 and Daniel Constable, 27, attended the private Boston College and public Miami University, Ohio respectively, wracking up a combined debt of $58,000 (£45,700). They took on the debt without a concern, "because everybody [we] knew was doing it". But only two years after college had finished, the couple were debt-free. Here's how they did it.

First of all, let's look at the American student loan crisis. As of 2017, 44 million Americans owed a hefty $1.48 trillion (£1.16tn) in student loan debt. That's $620 billion (£488.5bn) more than the total US credit card debt. Unlike other payments, student debt cannot be cleared through bankruptcy, making it one of the trickiest debts to face.

Dianne and Daniel met in 2010 at the beginning of university when Dianne was visiting her twin sister who studied with Daniel. By the end of their courses they were still together, but they were facing adult life with a combined debt of $58,000 (£45,700), despite both working part-time jobs. But this is far from out of the ordinary – the average American student loan debt was $39,400 (£31,000) in 2017.

Because Daniel attended a cheaper public university in Miami, his share of the debt was lower. "I think I had about $18,000 (£14,200)." But it was Daniel who was keen to pay off the money as soon as possible. "Pretty much from when the first payment came due, I thought 'Ah man, I actually have to pay this off,'" he says. "A lot of people pay over years. They get on a 10-year payment plan, or a 20-year payment plan. But I wanted to get this over with as quick as I could."

They started to look for jobs. When Dianne saw an advert for teaching roles at SABIS International school in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, she was intrigued. "I was always fascinated by Middle Eastern culture in college," she says. "I didn’t really have a career path planned out so it sounded good – we can make some money and we can travel and then we’ll pay our debt. Because we didn’t really have any living expenses, it simplified the payment process."

The couple signed up for two years teaching English, maths and art to pre-schoolers. The contract included accommodation, flights at the beginning and end of the school year, and a tax-free $2,200-a-month (£1,734) salary.

Dianne and Daniel put half of their tax-free salary towards repayments. But in Abu Dhabi this wasn't so simple. "We would go to the mall, take the money out of the ATM – $1,000 each – go to the money transfer, and pay a fee of $10 to transfer our money to a US bank account to pay our loans," Dianne recalls. "We did that every month for two years. It was awful. It makes it feel more real when you’re holding $1,000 in your hand, and it is all going to a decision that I made in the past. It sucks."

But life wasn't all work and no play. As they were living and teaching in Abu Dhabi, they had lots of vacation time and were near other countries to explore. "We were able to pay off our loans and we were also able to travel a lot, because we had so much vacation time. It didn’t feel like we were sacrificing a lifestyle to pay our loans," Dianne explains. "We were able to have both."

The pair had a total of seven months vacation time over the two years they spent teaching. This, and the fact that they didn't have to pay for living expenses, meant that they were able to visit nine other countries, from scuba diving in Thailand, to ringing in New Year in Barcelona.

At the end of their contract the couple received a $10,000 (£7,880) bonus from the government and the school, and this meant that they had completely cleared their student loan debt. They then got engaged in August 2015, and had their engagement photos taken in the Abu Dhabi desert.

They married in November 2016 in Ohio, America, but having caught the travelling bug, they are far from ready to settle. They both work remotely – Daniel as a content manager, and Dianne as a freelance writer – while moving around the world.

They began in South America, living in Colombia and Peru in 2017, and this year are making their way across eastern Europe. The jet-setting couple are currently in the Serbian capital of Belgrade (pictured) and document their travels on their blog www.slightnorth.com.

The couple may live a nomadic lifestyle, but in terms of money they now prefer to play it safe. "We’re pretty careful about how we spend our money," explains Dan. "A lot of people go to undergrad and they have debt, and go to grad school, which is more debt. We really try to live within our means and are always putting money away. We have fun, but we are financially responsible."

The couple are happy to be debt-free, but know that in the future that they will probably have to enter more debt if they want to settle down. "I know that we’re going to want a house," Dianne admits. "So obviously, buying a house with cash would be ideal, but I think at some point we will have to take debt on again, but we will be going in with a clear understanding of how much money it is, and what it’s going to take to pay it off."