With the climate of today’s America, many people have their hopes set on “getting the heck out of dodge.” One of the easiest ways to move abroad while still earning money, is to become an English teacher (or foreign teacher in general).
If you are from one of several English speaking countries (usually America, Canada, South Africa, and Australia), you have a university degree (4-year or equivalent), and a TEFL (or TESOL) certification you can get a job teaching in Asia. Now, I will admit that you will be limited on the countries that you can choose from. As of now, only China, Thailand, and South Korea will accept those without teaching certifications.
Those with actual teaching certifications and experience in the field, will have more options on places to go.
I had the opportunity to teach English in South Korea from August 2017 until August 2018. I actually lucked on with the program that hired me. After several failed attempts with recruiters, a girl saw my post in an Expat groups and messaged me with details on how to apply to her program.
The program was located in Cheonan, South Korea which is an hour outside of Seoul. It was a part of the Korea Nazarene University. There was no requirement to be apart of the Nazarene church but many of the new teachers are.
We were provided a Korean-style studio apartment, health insurance, free training prior to working, and around $2,000 per month. While this doesn’t sound like a lot of money, keep in mind that the cost of living is much lower in South Korea and you don’t have any major bills while living there. (Unless you still have bills back in your home country.)
I highly recommend tying up all loose ends in your home country so that you can focus on saving, and keeping, as much of your salary as possible. I have heard stories of people saving upwards of $12,000 plus in just one year of working.
I was able to save a pretty good chunk of change in addition to traveling to 8 countries, including the Maldives. (Yes, the Maldives)
There are several other comparable programs in Korea as well as China. I suggest joining the expat groups for countries that you are interested in and asking questions to get a feel on what to expect. While there experience won’t be yours, it will help to give you a gauge on how things could possibly be.