Expert travel storyteller Jordan Adkins, founder of InspiredByMaps.com, brings a decade of adventures across 101 countries and 450+ UNESCO sites into rich, off-the-beaten-path narratives, melding ecological expertise with genuine, seasoned travel insights. His full bio can be found here.
Balance. It’s what we are all searching for, now even more than ever. Unfortunately, it can often feel like it is an impossible dream to acquire, especially in an age where it seems like a battle between staying connected and switching off every once in a while. Thankfully, help is at hand in the form of using work to supplement a travel lifestyle.
In particular, one profession that enables this much more easily than many others is TEFL, or Teaching English as a Foreign Language. There are a host of benefits to the mind, body, and soul of this challenging yet rewarding vocation, and there is evidence that following this path can indeed lead to growth in the brain department too.
Sounds straightforward enough, right? Well, you might actually be pleasantly surprised to find that it is not as complicated as one may initially suspect. Below is a neat and handy guide to getting started on the path to balancing work and travel commitments, as well as everything you need to know about Teaching English jobs.
Balance Business And Pleasure
An easy way to get started on this is to understand the nature of working hours that will best fit your free time timetable. For instance, if your goal is to enjoy a spectacular sunrise, then it is definitely not optimal to schedule an online class for that moment, staring at a computer screen instead of soaking up the early rays. Of course, the view from Elephant Mountain will be pretty breathtaking at any time of day, but even so, organising class times around checking this out ought to be pretty high on the to-do list for any budding TEFL expert.
To help with this, a simple 3 step day should assist in balancing those needs perfectly: for two of these, work needs are to be prioritised, while for the third, the enjoyable travel part takes the fore. For some, this will mean getting the hard yards done earlier, so that the sightseeing can be partaken in at leisure, whereas for others it could be a travel sandwich, with early morning and late night duties either side of the day trip excursion.
Another factor to consider when arranging the day is the requisite needs of the time zones of potential online students. For example, if the students are located in Asia, then their day will look a whole lot different to those from Latin America. Planning effectively in advance, and using an online calendar tool to keep everything on track is absolutely a key way to counter these challenges in a proactive manner.
Balance Income And Expenditure
While many activities can be done on the cheap, or even for free, there are certainly those activities which are worth splashing out a little bit on. Whether it be taking in the sights of the Ciyou Temple, or something even more well-known to the global tourist, finance does need to be taken into account (if you’ll pardon the play on words) when making these kinds of decisions.
On the one hand, life is there for the living, and any opportunity to travel and see new things should be grabbed with both hands. Of course, there is a great deal to be said for a positive mindset and outlook, and it is usually infectious in a good way, spreading to those in one’s immediate vicinity and often beyond. In addition, the savvy traveler is well aware of the fact that many chances come into the lap of one when they least suspect it, as a result of a chance encounter weeks or even months before. Perhaps that random encounter at the street market led to an undiscovered walking tour that led to a hidden secret getaway at a rock bottom price.
On the other hand, it is prudent to be realistic. Cash is king, now more than ever in these uncertain times, and having ready money on hand for items such as transportation, food, and drink, or even souvenirs for loved ones back home is just a reality of global travel these days. So, it seems prudent to have a fallback plan that is both friendly to the travel itinerary and also keeps a little something back for that rainy day, just in case the deluge does transpire on your watch.
Teaching English online is absolutely a wonderful way to balance those two contrasting needs. With the option of teaching as little or as much as one feels able, and safe in the knowledge that those hard-earned dollars might actually be able to buy much more in the region one is traveling to than back home, makes the position of TEFL teacher rewarding to both the career and the wallet.
Balance Today And Tomorrow
Finally, it is wise to take a look at the future when making potentially life-changing decisions regarding one’s career. Of course, one does have to think about the here and now, whether it be concerning shelter, paying day-to-day bills, or even what and where to eat. These factors should not be taken lightly or with a pinch of salt when lining up a job choice that fits the long-term need.
Once again, this is where being a TEFL maestro has its advantages. Nowadays, more people than ever are studying English as a Foreign Language, and are eager and ready to take that learning journey with a promising and keen tutor. With a global marketplace facilitated by the internet, this growing area has literally an entire planet of chances for a teacher who is willing to get their hands dirty and work hard to become the best instructor they can be.
Looking to the future, TEFL is a wonderful way to source up the CV, showing potential future employers that you are able to combine a set of skills, both hard and soft, into a winning and deliverable package for the right students, demonstrating flexibility and willingness to take initiative in this modern work sphere. Finally, it also leaves the door open for future side hustles down the line, either with learners who you have already made the bond with, or with new students who are just getting started on their own path. Either way, with TEFL, the sky really is the limit, now and in the future!
