Living/working abroad?

[lookingup]

Does anyone here have experience with working and living abroad? I'm in my early 20's and am dying to see the world. I've been on several trips over the past few months, but I've never been overseas. I would absolutely love to get into some sort of program where I could travel outside the country for a period of time and have my room and board covered; I think working in a hostel would be ideal.

Any help or advice you ladies could offer would be greatly appreciated!

[pittpurple]

DH and I have lived in Scotland for 6 years now and absolutely love it so I can definitely see why you would want to live in another country. However... it's not easy at all. Do you just have an American passport? Do you speak any other languages? You'll need a work visa to work anywhere else in the world and every country has it's own requirements. We were lucky with the UK and got in before they changed the immigration policies. DH had a job and he was able to get a work visa through that and bring me along but it's really, really hard to qualify.

I've known a few people who have taught English abroad - there are various programmes and they'll help you with the visa situation. I had a friend live in Japan for a year and love it and I know someone on the International Living board did the same in Prague. However, the majority of expats I know moved overseas either because their spouse is from another country or had a transfer within their company. It's really hard to just go somewhere else without the proper passport.

[GilliC]

I've lived and worked in Paris, Beijing, and Oslo. I am an engineer working for a large multinational company with a strong emphasis on creating an international workplace. I actually joined the company after university knowing that I would have the chance to move overseas after a few years. However, they don't cover my room and board. For the first few years I got a housing allowance that covered part of my rent, but I still had to find an apartment and pay for part of it out of my salary. Food, transit, utilities, etc were all out of pocket as normal.

One option you might look into is teaching English in East Asia. When I was living in Beijing, there were a lot of people living in China to teach English even without any kind of teaching degree. There's so much demand that a lot of schools will take any native English speaker. Many of those arrangement include housing. However, there are also some disreputable organizations that should be avoided, so a bit of research and asking around on appropriate teaching/expat forums is in order before accepting a position.

Have you considered the Peace Corps? The foreign service if you have the right background? (In most places I've lived, embassy staff have pretty cushy digs. It's annoying to know that part of your tax money is paying for your friends' rent.) The military provides room and board.

Another option is to consider doing a graduate degree abroad. Many countries extend their government-funded university programs to foreign students as long as they have the money to pay for their living expenses. You're eligible for a student visa, school fees are relatively small, and a lot of graduate programs are taught in English. I know of quite a few foreigners here in Norway working towards Master's degrees. And at the end of the program, if they'd like to stay on, they often have the necessary contacts to find a job that makes them eligible for a work visa.

[emilyinchile]

There was a post about this recently: pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=trav&action=display&thread=45156

As others have mentioned, there are a lot of programs for teaching English in various countries around the world. I know one in Chile, English Opens Doors, which provides you with a host family, although I think there's a fee associated with the program.

Working in a hostel is another option, but it's definitely WORK. You scrub toilets and often work long hours, and at the end of the day you go to bed in a shared room with people coming back from bars at all hours of the night. There are people who want that, but since you say you haven't traveled much I don't know if you're aware of the realities of that lifestyle.

[alleinesein]

I work for an US based international company. We have offices in Mumbai, Botswana, South Africa, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv, and Toyko.

I am currently on assignment in Mumbai and am hoping to come back next year.

My company pays for our housing and provides a per diem for food but we work insane hours (60+ a week) and we only get one day off a week.

[lookingup]

Sept 11, 2012 10:23:16 GMT -5 mintchocochip said:

I have a friend who did a teaching in S. Korea program and she loved it. I studied abroad first to see how that would be. Also, what about working for a Club Med or something? XH's cousin did that in Israel and she loved it. I know they had people from all over the world at each of their locations. I have a feeling you're at their disposal but it's very camp like and young and could be a lot of fun for you! (because I know you and I can make that conclusion) Seriously, they're like the happiest people I've ever met and you can imagine how I wanted to smack them. You'd fit right in!

Hahaha, thanks, MCC!

Thank you for all of the responses; I really wasn't expecting much when I started the thread this morning.

To answer some questions, I haven't travelled outside of the country at all, and I don't speak any other languages. I've stayed in hostels around the US, which is what I would do if I was only traveling abroad.

This is something that I've been thinking about for a while now, and I feel like it's something I need to do before I make any long-term ties with the city I'm living in now. I love the company I currently work for, and I know that if I left on good accord I could always go back.

I'm thinking about living abroad for maybe a year at most. I make friends easily and I don't usually get lonely, so I don't feel like it would be really hard emotionally. And I would definitely want this to be in an English-speaking country for my first solo trip. Maybe I could learn a new language while I'm there? I just know I need a new adventure.

[emilyinchile]

If you're under 30, both Australia and New Zealand offer visas that allow you to live and work there for a year. You have to find your own job, and people usually get jobs doing things like working at resorts or picking fruit. It sounds like that might be a good option for you, and the age limit might be slightly higher.

[lookingup]

Sept 11, 2012 12:58:50 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

If you're under 30, both Australia and New Zealand offer visas that allow you to live and work there for a year. You have to find your own job, and people usually get jobs doing things like working at resorts or picking fruit. It sounds like that might be a good option for you, and the age limit might be slightly higher.

This is great to know. Thank you!

[anna7602]

Sept 11, 2012 4:57:13 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Have you considered the Peace Corps? The foreign service if you have the right background? (In most places I've lived, embassy staff have pretty cushy digs. It's annoying to know that part of your tax money is paying for your friends' rent.) The military provides room and board.

If you have the time/background to invest in the Peace Corps or Foreign Service Application process, you should also look into the Fulbright program. The application process usually starts around this time of year and there are usually information sessions across major cities in the U.S. Some of the Fulbright programs require a detailed research application/proposal, but there are other programs that are straight business exchanges or are for other specific purposes and don't require an independent research component.

[justthetip]

I spent a year of college in Spain in a study abroad program affiliated with my university. If there was a language you were interested in studying, you could learn a lot in one year. Some of my American classmates were able to continue on or return later to teach English through contacts they made that year.

I also taught English for a year in South America. I was given a free apartment & meals with a host family, but paid barely enough to cover my basic needs. It was still totally worth it. Now is the best time to get away, before you're tied to a job, spouse, etc. It's the best thing I've ever done and I highly recommend it.

[ejpint]

I'd start on the BUNAC site. www.bunac.org/usa - they have several options for students, young people and volunteers to live and work abroad.
I lived in London through BUNAC, and several friends did Australia through them. I returned to England as a graduate student, if you're looking at graduate studies, that's a wonderful way to get some international experience. My classes were very diverse, I worked with students from all over world, got a great international business education and was able to live abroad. My visa also allowed me to work up to 20 hours/week as a student.