A Máximo alum recently updated us on his adventures in Cambodia. Jared received his TEFL certificate about a year ago and is still teaching and traveling. He’s a happy wanderer and shared in his email that he’d just returned from a four-day trip off the grid. He took his new motto south of Phnom Penh to explore some hikes and slept in a hammock wherever he could find a couple of trees to string up under for the night.
He says it was a test run for the longer drive to Siem Reap. He’s planning to circle the Tonlé Sap Lake over his Chinese New Year break. Last we spoke with Jared, he thought he would spend a year in Cambodia before returning to the United States. But he let us know that he decided to sign another one-year lease. He explained, “I like it too much here to come home right now, at least much more than the corporate grind back in America.” And who knows, maybe Cambodia will become his new home.
Wherever they land, it’s always encouraging to see our TEFL graduates shine in their lives’ overseas. But Jared is just one of many English teachers who are not eager to forgo living abroad. Teaching English in a foreign country can free you from the feeling that you’re just a cog. You can redefine what a daily job routine is supposed to look like without sacrificing your paycheck. If you’re feeling stuck in your current job and you’ve never considered teaching abroad, keep reading for three common misconceptions about the world of work that teaching English as a foreign language defies.
Work ties you down to one place.
Some college graduates feel like their lives are ending rather than beginning when they walk across the graduation stage. Feeling tethered to the line of work you choose in your twenties is not uncommon. Finances and expectations from our families and society can pressure us to commit to a field that doesn’t bring us a sense of purpose. And once you’ve signed your first contract it’s normal to think you’re locked in. You chose a job, maybe signed a lease and all of a sudden it looks like Fresno or Yuma or Detroit is your forever home.
But there’s no reason for your career to leave you landlocked. Teaching English abroad is an ideal way to let your career lead you from one location to the next. It allows you to pursue consistency and variety at the same time. With each new teaching position you’ll be developing credibility in your field while being able to regularly change your living environment. So if you’re looking for stable work without wanting to commit long-term to a city, consider exploring TEFL certification programs. It’s hard to feel like you’re in a dead-end city or job when your qualification could take you almost anywhere in the world.
Eventually any job becomes monotonous.
Another day, another dollar. After a few years or even a few decades in the same field it can begin to feel like you’re always on autopilot. All of a sudden it’s Christmas again and you never took down that string of outdoor lights. Each day is a blur of meetings, familiar documentation and cups and cups of coffee. But even though it’s normal for your career to start feeling stale, this doesn’t have to be everyone’s reality.
If you can find a career with enough internal variation, it’s possible to keep things interesting without leaving holes in your resume. And teaching English abroad could be the perfect solution. Working in international education is a way to regularly change your scenery without modifying your line of work. English teachers are in high demand all over the world. And you’ll never feel like your life has become monotonous when you’re adjusting to the rhythms of Cambodia, Croatia or Colombia with each new contract.
Your career will run out of things to teach you.
A constantly evolving environment also means that you will always be learning new things. When you become experienced in your field, it’s normal to think you’ve learned everything there is to know about reimbursement forms and sales tactics. But if you’re teaching English around the globe, your new students and your new homes will always have something to give you. Teaching is already a collaborative exchange in which each student challenges your perspectives. And moving this career overseas only gives you more opportunities for growth.
So if you’ve been told your whole life that work will leave you stuck, bored and burnt out, stop listening. Your real boss is yourself; only you can decide what “work” means. Choosing a flexible career could allow you to never stop learning new things about yourself and the world around you. Rather than stressing about getting ahead in a competitive job market, create a professional life that’s best for you all around. You’re the one who has to live it every day so skip the daily grind and consider teaching abroad!