Bee's 3 Step Guide to Going Abroad: Step 1

Step 1: Getting Back to Y.O.U.  (Your Own Unfilled Promises)

So you say you have always wanted to travel, teach abroad, and see the world. This is what you say. Ever since you went on your last vacation to the Caribbean, or visited your family in some foreign country, or took the road with some friends on a spontaneous backpacking journey, you promised yourself that you would come home and start saving because you really enjoy traveling. Then you met someone who told you that they have taught in South Korea or if you live in the Washington DC area, you have met all the recent graduate non-profit workers who volunteered with disabled children at a camp in some far away land. Either way, one of these things peaked your curiosity, and you thought about how cool of an experience that was. But, you never thought it could be YOU.

But, yes it can be you. No you don’t have to volunteer in a village in India, Nicaragua or Kenya. You can actually do anything that you want to do, in any part of the world. You just have to be true to yourself. I have heard that phrase before, but it didn’t really understand the depth of that until last January.

I have known that I wanted to teach abroad since June of 2008.  I always had it in the back of head, but from time to time, my passion for the unknown and the need to get away would creep back up on me, usually as I was tired and driving to my second job.  

In January of 2012, per recommendation by a sister, I created a list of things that I wanted in the year and what things would be unacceptable for me. Unacceptable for me was still being in the DMV by August. I was determined to go to either Venezuela or Panama, practice my Spanish, and explore.  When the first opportunity didn’t work out, I started working on my plan B, which was Panama. Plan B, to date, has been a blessing. Everything happens the way it does for a reason.

Without being “true to myself,” I would have never been able to take this step. I had to first accept that fact that I was not comfortable with the way I was working, I adored both of populations that I was serving at both of my jobs as a youth development worker for county recreation and as a call specialist on a hotline assisting victims of human trafficking; yet, I wasn’t totally fulfilled and happy about where I was in my life. 

When Plan A didn’t work out, I started on plan B right away. I made the decision to register for the TEFL class. I couldn’t really afford it but was willing to make the sacrifice. I stayed home for about a month just being broke. But when the class started, I felt like I was getting back to myself. I love learning actually. Most importantly, I knew that I was actually taking a REAL step towards doing what I wanted to do. I was listening to my heart. 

Next, I started researching the teaching market for English teachers in Panama and possible job opportunities. Though, I had my heart set on Panama, I still made sure to consider many other teaching locations and opportunities including South Korea, Costa Rica, Indonesia, to name a few. But since Spanish was important to me, I narrowed it down to Spanish speaking countries. I knew that I wanted to be in Central America because of the tropical weather. Wasn’t quite ready to make it back down to South America yet. I also knew that I wanted to be in a place that was thriving and safe. Based on the little research that I found, it seemed like Panama had a good economy, demand for English teachers, and lots of places to see! Panama was a go.

Find out what steps I took before leaving after I decided on Panama. This next blog post is the how-to on teaching abroad, basically, before you leave! Stay tuned. You even learn while riding on Bee’s Backseat! :)