How we got here
With a huge increase in travel and tourism over the past ten years, it’s easy to see why so many people are quitting their 9-5 jobs in pursuit of a life filled with more adventures, and less office time. It seems like just about everybody wants to travel full-time, but lack the knowledge and confidence to manifest it whole-heartedly. It’s one thing to tag your friends in idyllic pictures on Instagram… and it’s an entirely different thing to buy a one-way flight across the globe.
"I don't have enough money to travel".

Here are some things to consider when doing your search:
Teaching English was never our final destination, but rather a stepping-stone to allow us to travel while also saving money.
This being said, a high salary with a low cost of living was at the top of our list of requirements. After some research, we found that our options were basically China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. As first year teachers with no previous experience, other than the 20-hour TEFL practicum, our chances of landing a high paying teaching job decreased significantly. Additionally, only one of us actually possessed the now mandatory, four-year degree requirement. This meant that the only country where we met the education criteria and could earn a competitive salary was China.

Fortunately, China is huge country with diverse landscapes, and cities. It also happens to be ranked as the highest paying country for first year TEFL teachers, so that’s a thing. After stumbling across a teaching job in Fuzhou, China- we scored a Skype interview and nervously accepted a job working for York English, a successful training school well on it’s way to dominating the English education in South China. As with any move abroad we didn’t really know much about where we were going, which would make anyone wary. Although our school’s director was extremely helpful and responsive, there were so many questions that we knew simply couldn’t be answered unless we took the plunge and found out for ourselves firsthand. To be honest, we simply thought it was too good to be true. Stumbling across our school so easily, interviewing within 48 hours of contact, and accepting the job a day later just seemed too convenient. When our director told us they would be compensating us for our flights, providing a private apartment in the city, and that we could choose when we came, we were shocked. It really seemed to good to be true.
Confidence is power!

Without things like rent, car payments, and health insurance, we were able to save around 80% of our paychecks every month.
Want to teach abroad? Read: How Teaching ESL Let Me Travel the World
As with anything, there was a bit of luck involved, but we like to think that we manifested this luck ourselves- and that our readers can too! Teaching English abroad is only one of hundreds of ways to make your travel dreams attainable. From volunteering, to workaways and couch-surfing, cruise ships, even blogging- the ability to travel and explore Earth is not one that resides in dollars, but rather your commitment to making it happen. Plenty of people are traveling, but even more are dreaming.
Go confidently in your dreams and you will find success in whatever you do.
For more questions about TEFL certification programs, teaching abroad, or information about York English, feel free to contact us or drop a message in the comments!

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