An Expat’s Guide to Moving Abroad

Moving abroad can be scary! It is full of so many unknowns and a lifetime of memories. A year ago, I was still newly into my career post college. I had finished an internship in Hawaii and was starting to build a career in Tennessee. At the time, I thought my time in Hawaii was my “gap year”. It was supposed to be my year of fun after a hard breakup and a pandemic cancelling every plan I thought I had for the future. Hawaii was a day dream, a time where I could be free and dip into my savings because it was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. When it was over, I would settle back closer to home, start my career and begin the first day of the rest of my life. What I didn’t know then was that Hawaii was shaping this innate desire in me to see more of the world and to live unconventionally. It was turning something inside of me that needed to feel free. I loved my job, my friends, and my life — but something was missing.

What followed was a google search. A desire so deep it had to be tended to or it would never be released.

“How to live abroad?”

“What jobs can I get that will let me move abroad for a year?”

I found teaching, and that was it for me. I was an English major in college, and although I never had the intention of teaching with my degree, my remote job wasn’t working for me, and I had always wanted to work with kids. How perfect could it be to get to travel and live abroad while seeing if I had what it takes to teach?

Here’s each step I took and what I have learned along the way —

First, I’d recommend getting your TEFL/TESOL license. This is an online or in person course that grants you a certificate to teach English as a Foreign Language. I got mine through tefl.org, and it took me about four months to complete! The nice thing about this company, is it updates its website with different teaching jobs around the world that you can apply to and you have lifetime access to its resources. I found various teaching positions through tefl’s job postings and applied for jobs in South America, Thailand, and Europe, eventually landing a job in Madrid, Spain!

Alternately, if teaching is not your thing, there are plenty of ways to find work abroad including becoming an Aupair, Workaways, Wwoof, or studying abroad. Each of these offer unique experiences working, studying or volunteering abroad so you just have to find what works for you.

From my experience, it is not as daunting as it may seem, and once you finally step foot in your new country, all the hard work to get there will be worth it. It will not only give you a new perspective, but a lifetime of new experiences that will benefit you the rest of your life!

If you have been questioning the possibility for a while, my advice is do it. And don’t look back! It may just be the best decision you ever make.