March Blog Carnival: Adventure Tips, from the Experts!

Our bloggers were asked to write on this particular topic, “Travel, it’s a whirlwind adventure! What advice would you give to people getting ready for their own adventure (in preparation) that you wish you could have done differently?”  

 

Join us by reading there amazing, funny, inspirational and spot on tips to help you in your travel endeavors! Do you have tips of your own!? Comment below, join the blog we’d love to hear from you!  

 

Today’s article is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. I’ll be posting a new ESL related article on my blog on the 5th of every month. Check back for more articles, and if you’d like to contribute to next month’s Blog Carnival, please contact Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he will let you know how you can start participating! 

 

MAGGIE: Adventures Through Mishaps and Lack-There-Of-Planning

Hi, my name is Maggie Attoe and I love to travel! I spent this last year living in Beijing, China. I came head on with so many adventures and was fortunate enough to be able to blog that year away!

Join me in my article revealing that sometimes the best trips aren’t the best planned out! 🙂 Open your mind to new travels with just a few items at hand but a heart full of courage, and you never know where you will end up and the amazing things you will see! Good Luck travelers, and remember to always be open to the unknown!

ETERI: Ratz Ikneba, Ikneba

My name is Eteri. I have lived and studied abroad in Germany and Japan. I have taught English abroad in Georgia and the Czech Republic. I am now making my way around New Zealand.

What advice would I give to someone about to embark on an amazing journey. Well, don’t stress. Don’t over plan. This post is a retelling of an adventure in Georgia while teaching English. It is a harrowing tale of letting go of being organized and finally going with the flow.

JAMIE: Travel Advice: Get Ready to Get Lost

There’s nothing like real life. All of the research, blog and travel guide reading, and advice-taking won’t give you a true picture of what YOUR experience is going to be like. And nine times out of ten, this is a great thing. It’s going to be better than you imagined; you’re going to be blown away. Dispense with expectations. Prepare the necessities, and then let the world show you how incredible it is.A few years ago, Jamie packed up, sold, and redistributed all of her non-essential belongings, crammed her life into a backpack and wandered aimlessly into the world. She has gone swimming with alligators in the Amazon, hitch hiked the Carretera Austral highway in Chile, ridden camels in the Australian outback, and spent the weekend in a Buddhist nunnery in Taiwan. She blogs about it at theaccidentalnomad.wordpress.com.

DEAN: Getting Ready To Teach English Abroad? Take My Advice

This month I let you know what three things I would have done differently whilst getting ready to go and teach English abroad. We have all made mistakes and have regrets over things we wish we could have done differently. I share with you my top 3 in the hope that you don’t make the same mistakes that I did.

My name is Dean, I have been traveling for around 2 and a half years now with a small stint back in my home country. I’m from the UK and I began my teaching career on the island of Bali. I then made the move to Taiwan where I currently reside. Here I have the joy to fulfill my passion for writing by providing ESL/travel related articles to the Reach To Teach website.

SAMANTHA: Wow, You’re So Brave: A Guide to Packing Your Bags and Moving Abroad

Answers for several common questions based on my experiences living and teaching in Taiwan and Vietnam.

 Samantha Baker is an American who has been living and teaching in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for about a year.  She previously lived and taught English for 15 months in Taipei, Taiwan.  Samantha is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she was a Special Education teacher for 4 years.

CHRIS & JENNI: Reach to Teach Advice for Anyone Brave Enough to Follow in Our Footsteps

Our blog entry is about the preparation side of traveling and things we should have looked into or wish we had done differently. It includes some our tidbits on advice for people looking into taking this kind of adventure as well as advice on basic living here. Enjoy!

Chris and I (Jenni) are from just outside Reading, Pennsylvania. We both went to Albright College and have Secondary Education and History degrees. We wanted to travel during the job slump back state-side and found our temporary home in Anseong-si, South Korea. We have been here a little over 7 months and within 5 months will be returning to our families with more stories and life lessons than we can possible share.

STEPHANIE: Adventures and Misadventures

Traveling is not a ‘vacation’, it’s not something you can completely prepare yourself for. Yes you can pack your bags, read your guidebooks and maybe book a few hostels or tours, but you can’t be fully prepared for the adventure that awaits. To me this is the best part of travel, knowing that there’s a lot left up to the unknown.  My best advice for those just getting started or continuing their adventures is to be open to possibilities, welcome the adventure that awaits.

Stephanie is a 25 year old with a passion for exploring new countries and cultures, making valuable friendships along the way.  After spending two years teaching English to some phenomenal High School students in South Korea, she took off on an adventure through SE Asia.  She’s currently in Cambodia with big plans for the future, even if those plans don’t provide much detail for her worried mom back home. Read about her adventures, follow her blog or send her a message to meet up if you’re out there traveling as well – she loves coffee and food!

REBE: Teach Abroad Blog Carnival: Do as I didn’t, do as I did

My post this month includes the group travel experience that pushed me to travel alone, my ATM troubles that taught me one should always travel with cash, and a few travel road bumps where flexibility was key.

 

 I’m a Wisconsin-native currently teaching English at a rural elementary school in South Korea.  My Spanish skills aren’t quite as useful here as they were when I lived in Madrid, which is where my Spanish nickname Rebe (Ray-bay) stuck.  I have an itch to travel, craft, learn, and read – and to make the world a better place!

JESSICA: Never Book in Advance 

Travel, in the more generalized sense of the word, is unpredictable. It’s flawed. It’s risky. It’s full of people and places and cultures, which means that even the most prepared traveler can’t plan for everything. So stop trying. My advice to rookie travelers (well, to all travelers, really) is to never book in advance, which leaves your schedule open to accept the unexpected, often leaving you with an unforgettable experience, and a great story.

Jessica spent the better part of the last two years teaching English and traveling her way around Asia, and now she’s planted herself in Colorado just long enough to earn a M.A. degree and explore the beautiful Rocky Mountains before taking off on her next big adventure. Well, that’s if she can make it that long. She already escaped to Colombia, South America for Winter Break, and who knows where her itchy feet will lead her next.