By far the most common question people ask is: How do you travel so much?
Or they ask about teaching abroad and that directly ties into my travels.
So here’s the answer.
As college graduation got closer in May 2008, I had no idea what came next. The idea of sending out demo tapes to small TV stations around the country wasn’t appealing, and there were no immediate prospects toward securing my dream job. Sitting at a bar in College Park, my friend Melissa and I started talking about a crazy idea: teaching English overseas.
I’m not sure how we decided on Korea — a few other countries were thrown around — but it mostly came down to wanting to explore Asia and hearing how much money you could save there. I’m being 100% honest when admitting that a special passion for Korea wasn’t part of the equation for either of us.
Me and Melissa on graduation day with our mentor, Ken Joseph, who died unexpectedly last year.
We found jobs on Dave’s ESL Cafe, which is such a great resource for anyone looking to teach abroad. There are tons of job listings and helpful forums to answer any questions. And so on August 22, 2008, Melissa and I accepted positions at Seoul English Village, Suyu Camp, in northern Seoul.
Moving to Korea was definitely the scariest thing I’ve ever done and also my bravest moment. I’m the kid who hated summer camp. Moving 7,000 miles away for an entire year = awesomely terrifying.
The most popular summer class: swimming. Four hours of getting paid to play in the pool.
Overall, teaching abroad was an incredible experience. Learning to read and write Hangul (Korean), making friends from around the world, actually seeing kids’ English skills improve in front of me and discovering a country I knew absolutely nothing about besides the Korean War. And even that knowledge was a little fuzzy before going, seeing as a lesson on the Korean War was hurriedly squeezed in between lengthy units on World War II and the Vietnam War in high school history class.
Plus if I hadn’t lived in Korea, how would I know about bands like Girls Generation, Big Bang and The Wonder Girls?! Or discovered delicious foods like patbingsu, portable kimbap and my favorite chamchi deopbap? 
What did I teach? SEV is an immersion school that puts kids in interactive environments where they’re forced to speak English — there’s a mock bank, post office, doctor’s office, TV station, etc. I mostly taught broadcasting and cooking. One of my favorite things was the letters students wrote to their teachers: check out a few of my all-time faves!
After a week together, a few students gave me this packet of notes.
Living in Korea and having about 15 vacation days meant I had time to travel to the Philippines, Thailand and Australia. In many countries, especially in Asia, English teachers get a pretty sweet deal that includes free return plane tickets and a free place to live meaning that it’s easy to save money, even if you don’t try.
Because of that, when I moved back to the US in October I was able to take time off working, just doing some freelance writing and part-time work for my dad’s PR company. After this upcoming trip Down Under, I’ll finally join the “normal” workforce. Sigh.
In short: You can do it to. So many people say, “I wish I could do that” and you can, but it means stepping outside your comfort zone. I would highly recommend living abroad for a while, being immersed in a totally unfamiliar environment and learning about a brand new culture. Can it be scary? Of course! But it’s also so worth it.
Have you ever lived overseas? If not, would you want to? Where? I’d love to live abroad again. My dream is to move back to London temporarily — I had the best time studying abroad there — or even spending time living in a small English village and seeing what that is like.
Have questions about teaching abroad? Interested? Leave a comment or email me at dctravelexaminer [at] gmail.com. 
I love this! I travel a lot too (I’m in New Zealand right now) and I agree that anyone can do it if they want. It’s all about making the choice to travel and saving for it.
I studied abroad in college, lived in Austria for a few months and traveled around Europe. It started my traveling obsession and I would love to live abroad again, maybe in London. I thought about teaching english in korea too, but I’m not sure I would like living in Korea for a whole year.
As everyone and their mother knows, I lived in London for six months, except it felt like six years – and I miss it dearly. I would love to go back for work and eventually settle there.
Again, stuff you already knew. But who knows, maybe if you get over there, we could live together? One day!
I’m still holding on to this dream by the way.
I wish I could “like” this comment like you can on Facebook.
Interesting posts today. I had thought about teaching abroad 5 years ago when I was thinking about getting out of what I’m doing. I was talked into continuing on so haven’t really been anywhere for 10 years now. Unless you count weekend trip to Buffalo Bills game.
Wow! That’s a truly amazing story. I can’t even begin to imagine how scary it must have been to take that first step, but now you have all those incredible experiences to reflect upon.
I’ve never lived overseas but I spent a semester of college in London. It was the best decision I ever made.
Your Korea experience sounds incredible.
London semester abroad = fabulous. When were you there and where did you live? I was there in Fall 2007 living in Marylebone (a block from Regents Park).
Great post, I’ve always wanted to travel around the world and find a way to live without being hungry! I just have too many ties to do it right this moment. I wish I could experience every lifestyle at least once in this lifetime. Cheers~
i would LOVE to go to south korea (though istand by my comment from yesterday about not wanting to go to north korea lol) i was supposed to go to vietnam (where my mom is from) and teach english for the summer almost 2 years ago now, but unfortunately i couldn’t go bc of my ED. same goes for studying abroad in turkey, everything was all set up for that but sadly i didn’t get to go. lame! i really do want to live abroad at some point soon though, i think it’d be an amazing experience.
It’s definitely more important to take care of yourself first — South Korea, Vietnam and Turkey will be there for a while.
Hi! Wow, I just came across your site–perfect timing. I’ve been tossing around the idea of teaching English, whether in Korea or somewhere else, and I’m always happy to come across reviews. What were your teaching hours like? Is the school reliable?
I love the idea of teaching kids in this kind of environment. Always something to keep in mind.
Yes – I lived in the Philippines! I went with a Christian organization to teach Bible studies, but we also taught English classes at a local college. I was there for 2 months and I loved it, but I missed air conditioning so much!
Hee hee, this post was dear to my heart…but hey, did you know that Koreans are persecuting foreign ESL teachers now? It angers me SO much…but a lot of Koreans are getting hostile towards these foreigners, even stalking them to make sure they aren’t “hanky-pankying” with students. What…the…hell.
On a brighter note, I’m planning to study abroad next spring semester, either in Sydney or HK. And in the fall 2011, I plan to study abroad in Beijing, but hopefully the internet censureship will be lifted by then, because I ain’t going if I can’t blog!
Yea, unfortunately it’s something we heard about from time to time although I never experienced anything negative like that myself.
Heard great things about Hong Kong from friends who’ve studied/worked there. I had a friend in Shanghai who somehow got around the blogging firewalls but was only able to do it like once every two months…
Haha small world! I graduated from UMD in 09 and know Melissa from Hillel/mutual friends etc. I’m currently living in Hanoi, Vietnam working at an NGO and getting some traveling in during vacation time. Off to Laos & Cambodia tomorrow.
Moving back to DC this summer to return to the “real world” and find a job *gulp*.
Really small world! Enjoy Laos and Cambodia — heard amazing things (from Melissa haha) about both.
We’re in the same boat this summer. *sigh*
Hey Er…wanna go move across the world for a year? (WHAT were we thinking?)
I love how our daydreaming during class and Cornerstone brainstorms turned into something so amazing. A year in Korea is a “never again” sort of thing, but no regrets. We’ve turned into two of coolest people we know.
If I don’t speak to you, have a safe trip to Oz, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do
I moved to American Samoa before I moved to Hawaii. It was gnarly…..but an experiencefor sure
I took a TEFL course while I was studying for my degree, but I haven’t really used it yet. Korea sounds fascinating!
What a fantastic post! I love love love your tips about travel. I’m impressed with how brave you were to up and move to Korea. I studied abroad in Rome and had the time of my life. It’s true that living abroad even if only for a short time feels like a lifetime. It’s because you are in such a different environment, you’re challenged, you feel more alive and therefore you live each moment intentionally. Four months in Italy and I felt like I owned the place. I can’t wait to read more about your travels!
Traveling is do-able on a budget, but you have to understand that it may not always be as glamorous as some people make it out to be.
On my own and on a budget (aka without the parents)… I volunteered at a school in Buenos Aires, Argentina for two months one summer in undergrad. It was a great way to travel alone! Met a ton of cool people and really got to know the city!
I also studied abroad in Portugal. I met with a friend before my program started and we rented a car and drove around Spain and Portugal. We had picnic lunches from grocery stores and stayed in really cheap hostels or hotels when hostels were full. Really fun and definitely do-able!
Wouldn’t it be amazing to have the money to not just travel, but travel in luxury?
Hey! I graduated in 08 also and I’ve been wanting to teach abroad ever since. I’m so impressed that you just went and did it. I think if I had a friend along it would be much easier but I’m a little nervous to just get up and leave- plus I have a great apt in NYC that I can’t give up now! (haha hear the excuses?!) I’m hoping to travel to India with 2 of my best friends in March and possibly Cuba in April with my Church but I would had love to live somewhere for months!
xo
Jocelyn
If you have any questions about teaching abroad, I’d be happy to answer them.
I really recommend it!
Cuba would be incredible. Wow, can’t wait to hear how that one turns out.
My sister-in-law just got back from 10 months in Malaysia teaching English on a Fullbright scholarship. She really enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing your story with us! I think it is great that you got out there and went to Korea when you weren’t exactly sure about it! I lived in Rome for 7 months and would love to do something like that again – but with my husband this time!