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Life as a nomad?


HadaraNight

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Hi, well all my life I've always dreamed on traveling and leaving this country of mine which I hate so much; however, so far, I've never had the chance to. Lately I've been hearing many things about this kind of nomadic life and I got really interested on it. I like the adventurous part of it and I would like to try it out, however, I don't have that much money and just traveling to any destination gets really expensive, not to mention having to pay for a place to stay, food, medicine, etc. It concerns me, how do nomads do to get enough money to survive? Is it actually a good idea or should I think of some other way?

Im a teacher and artist too so there are options such as teaching abroad or artists residency programs but I'm having a hard time applying to those and I feel like I'm getting nowhere...

 

So, what do you guys think of nomadic life? Is it a good idea?

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This sounds more like being unhappy at home and fantasies of running away. What you are describing is being homeless, unless you have a lot of money saved for this in terms of travel, food and lodging expenses,etc. You can line up a job somewhere and go live there or you could get a job that entails a lot of traveling. Or sign up for a position that involves taking temp jobs in other locations.

this country of mine which I hate so much
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Hi, well all my life I've always dreamed on traveling and leaving this country of mine which I hate so much; however, so far, I've never had the chance to. Lately I've been hearing many things about this kind of nomadic life and I got really interested on it. I like the adventurous part of it and I would like to try it out, however, I don't have that much money and just traveling to any destination gets really expensive, not to mention having to pay for a place to stay, food, medicine, etc. It concerns me, how do nomads do to get enough money to survive? Is it actually a good idea or should I think of some other way?

Im a teacher and artist too so there are options such as teaching abroad or artists residency programs but I'm having a hard time applying to those and I feel like I'm getting nowhere...

 

So, what do you guys think of nomadic life? Is it a good idea?

 

I'm right there with you!

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^

Me too! It's been a dream of mine for years. Finally got the job so i can do it, now trying to save up money. Teaching English abroad is always a good solution. You don't really need to know the country's language. Do your research, you can find tons of jobs. Oh, if you are a native speaker that is. Dunno how many jobs you can find as a non-native, but i am sure there are out there too. They usually give you a place to stay too.

 

So HadaraNight and cupcake22 let's do this! *whistling* On the road again *whistling*

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@Wiseman2: yeah, I know it sounds like that because it's really like that. I don't like it where I'm living right now so I want to run away. I've tried to solve the problems at my house but since I've not been able to I have come to the conclusion I have no other resource but to leave... if I don't leave, I'm afraid I may be stuck here forever... if I don't die sooner...

 

@Hermes: I mean, it's confusing. I've been applying online but I don't know if many of those "speaking agencies" are frauds or not. I've been targeting different countries. My native language is Spanish and I speak English and a little bit of French; Italian and Portuguese are not hard for me either as I can understand many things they say because they are really similar to Spanish. I've applied to scholarships on different countries too but I've been rejected like three times already.

By the way, I live in El Salvador, in Central America.

 

@Wolfshook: I know three languages so I could teach English or French in Spain or Spanish at France or Spanish and French at the UK. There are many options but I just don't know how to apply to a position as a teacher. I've tried with many speaking agencies but then I don't know if they are a fraud or not.

 

@cupcake22 and @Cope Alright! Let's do it! Let's go!

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There's been an explosion of blogs and articles about traveling the world on a minimal budget with a minimalist mentality.

 

It's true, there are hostels everywhere, plenty of friendly people, and anyone will throw you quarters for a song...

 

What they don't usually talk about are the actual inherent risks.

 

As a female traveling alone, you're at a very high risk most places you go whenever you need to depend on a stranger. More complicated is that women in this position often get emotionally involved in really sh**ty guys they meet, partly out of safety, and partly just out of lack of judgement (could be attributed to poor diet, exhaustion, desperation, etc) and find themselves stuck in a dependency cycle. Also, to be honest, it's not really the type of culture that typically attracts solid or well-rounded people.

 

It concerns me, how do nomads do to get enough money to survive?

 

Typically they sit at stop-lights and try to clean windshields...

 

My honest opinion is that you're chasing a youthful and glorified homeless lifestyle...

 

Once you have yourself a solid financial base, travelling isn't actually that difficult if you're determined to make time for it.

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Right, Hadara. It's becoming clearer. Not nomadic after all, but Europe yes. I so love it that my native continent is seen as El Dorado lol.

 

The bad news is that we are awash with "English teachers" or "language teachers".

Even worse news is that the so called academies over here (anyone can set up a languages academy) are all to often a real scam, in the sense that they draw students who are not aware that none of the staff is qualified, they charge students exorbitant fees, and severely underpay the "teachers". Qualified teachers would refuse to work for the pay these "academies" offer.

So, it is important to keep that in mind.

 

Keep well away from any online so-called recruiting agencies. They'll ask you for money upfront and promise you a non-existent job.

 

You mention you are a teacher. In what subject(s)?

 

You truly need to do your research in-depth before attempting to spend a large chunk of money on an air-fare. And you would need enough money to live for a number of months while you try to source a job on the ground.

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As a female you need to be extremely careful. White slave trade, aka women being sold into sex slavery is very real and the way the creeps running that capture and transport women from country to country is through legitimate seeming job offers. So you travel willingly and all is perfectly above board when you are passing through customs and past all the security. Bad things happen later on arrival and you basically walk yourself into it without any clue until it's too late to run out.

 

Anyway, the above caution aside, there are legitimate groups, means and ways to couch surf when traveling. One such is servas.org - a very old organization where members are well vetted and basically it's couch surfing before couch surfing was a term. There are some rules and obligations towards your hosts. Not sure if they have a group in your country but even if they don't, you should reach out to them and see if you can join.

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@Pixels: Yeah! It was mainly due to those blogs that I got really excited with the idea. But as you say, nothing is as it seems...maybe it was too good to be truth...

That sucks... I would not like to end up cleaning car windows or begging for food...

 

@Hermes and @DancingFool: yeah, everything is clearer now. I don't want to be a nomad anymore. I want to travel and go and live on a different country. But thank you so much for telling me that about the job offers. That was the main reason why I had so many problems applying to a teaching in a foreign country job. I was too scared it may be a scam and I may end up as a sex slave. And yeah! I'll try with volunteering. It sounds like a great experience too!

By the way, I'm a literature teacher.

 

Also, thank you so much everyone for your responses. Now everything is clearer for me and so I won't go into doing such a reckless thing hehe

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I really thought I would be stairing at a computer in a room for a job. Life though had other plans. I've traveled for the past 16 years. If you want to travel get a job that involves it. It doesn't cost you a dime. You actually get paid to do it. Once you see everything 20 times it gets old. You can get burnt out quick. Over all though I'm glad I did it. Good luck.

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I hear you can make good money teaching English in South Korea, and decent money teaching in Taiwan. A lot of people do that for a year or two and then travel around Asia or another place with what they saved.

 

WWOOF and Help Exchange and Workaway are also good sites to find volunteer work, but some places charge a fee (and many don't). Whether they charge or not is often based on the region you go to and its economic level. You also have to be quite careful. I have used two of these sites, and did have a bad experience once with someone who could have easily hurt me if he wanted to.

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Unfortunately you won’t be at the top of the hiring list for most language companies for teaching abroad since you’re from Central America. Not saying you shouldn’t try, but the reality is that the majority of companies are looking for native English speakers.

 

On top of that, the majority of companies will choose American English speakers over British English or Australian English etc. So, unfortunately it will be much tougher for you since you are competing with many native English speaking people from the United States.

 

I wonder if there is a market for teaching Spanish abroad? If you can find a language company to teach Spanish instead, I bet you can have a higher chance of being hired since you’re a native Spanish speaker.

 

It’s good that everyone is warning you about how hard it is to live abroad and how some of those companies might be scams, and it could be true for some situations. But, on the other hand, those things never happened to me. Apply to companies and programs that are well known and reputable and you should have no problem.

 

I’m a female and lived abroad teaching English for several years in my 20s. Many of the language companies and teaching programs prefer to hire young people.The program I was part of actually cuts off the hiring age by 34 or 35. So, since you’re 38, it is much harder now in some cases with some companies.

 

I chose to teach in one of the safest countries in the world so I never worried about crime or assaults. I taught English in Japan for about four years when I was in my twenties. I went through a very well known and prestigious English teaching program, so I didn’t have to worry about weird con-artist scams or anything. The teaching program paid for my flight to Japan(and back), they paid for hotels for career orientations. I was paid a generous salary, housing was provided, benefits and a pension plan were set up for me. Do note, this was the gold standard of teaching abroad programs though. Other teaching abroad programs aren’t likely to provide all these things.

 

One of the great things about teaching abroad was it allowed me time to travel!! I traveled a lot all over Asia and Europe during those days. My favorite trip was actually a solo trip I took through Europe. I absolutely loved traveling through Europe.

 

Anyway, if you do it right, and find the right company, living abroad can be the most amazing and magical experience in your life. You will meet so many wonderful people! The best people I know and am close friends with to this day is from my days abroad. I never would have met them if I had just stayed in my hometown my whole life! I love them so much because they are completely open minded and free spirits like me.

 

Actually, I’ve noticed that globe-trotters are more open minded and enjoy embracing new things and challenges more often than compared to people who don’t travel. People who don’t travel tend to be close-minded, boring, and scared of anything that is out of their routine or their normal life. Nothing wrong with that I guess, but personally I just find that kind of life boring. Sure, it’s safe and comfy, but hella boring.

 

In my opinion, if you can find a legit company or program, keep trying!! It doesn’t even have to be teaching. I think there are things like travel to do farming in Australia, or sheep herding in Scotland, or whatever else. I’m sure you can find many fun programs out there with just a little research.

 

Also, it’s not like you have to commit the rest of your life to living abroad in a weird new country. There are programs out there for 3 months or six months or one year. You can do short-term programs if you’re not quite ready for a whole year abroad. Heck, if you decide you hate it after only one week, guess what? You can quit and go home. I doubt you would do that though. Living abroad will no doubt open up your mind and world. I can tell you right now, there are LOADS of amazing experiences out there when it comes to life abroad and traveling!! Go get it!

 

Don’t be one of those people with regrets at their deathbeds, wondering what if?

 

I know money is a big factor in your decision and definitely very important. My personal experience in making money while living and traveling abroad was teaching English, and it’s a legit way to do it, but there are a lot of other options too. Here are some stuff I’ve heard of, but you’d have to do the research:

 

Travel Agent/Tour Guide/Cruise Ships:

From my previous globe-trotters days, I’ve heard travel agents, tour guides, or even cruise ship crews get many chances to travel. I think there is even a cruise ship company that hires English teachers to teach English on the cruise ship while they travel the world? One of my former colleagues had tried applying to something like that back then. Not sure if that’s still around?

 

Remote Writing:

Other possibilities, you could also get a remote job blogging, remote job travel blogging, or writing content creation stuff for marketing companies so that you can get some kind of income.

 

Exchange Programs:

I’ve even heard of programs where you can exchange homes for a period of time with someone else in a different country. Like, they’ll come live at your home in your country, and you get to live at their home, in their country. I think there is even house-sitting opportunities. There are nanny opportunities...though I think those programs prefer younger people. But hey, maybe you can find a nanny job where the parents really want their children to learn Spanish?

 

Obviously with all the above suggestions, research and thoroughly vet each program and company to make sure they aren’t scams. There is a lot of legit programs out there, so just be smart about it, prepare, do your research, and apply away!

 

 

Otherwise, you can always just save up money to live on for a few months of travel or living abroad? I’ve been back in the States for the last few years, but I actually plan on traveling and living abroad again for at least one year coming up in fall 2018. I enjoyed teaching back in my younger days, but I’m too impatient nowadays to deal with children and teenagers, lol, so no teaching for me this time. Instead for the past year or so I’ve just been saving up and saving up!! I will have more than enough by the time fall 2018 comes around to just go wherever I feel like going! I’m super excited! It’s a lot of hard work to save up for my upcoming year abroad, but it’s worth it.

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