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So you're tired of battling the Great Recession which seems to linger on longer than you'd care. Even with your penny pinching, your monthly expenses leave next to nothing in savings. You still dream of travelling around the world, but that's a luxury reserved to the upper crust. Right? Wrong. Even if you don't have a rich uncle that favors you, you can still go on what the Aussies call “The Great Overseas Experience."
For young Australians and Kiwis, the 'Great OE' is a rite of passage. As soon as they graduate college, they work a bit to save just enough change to take care of the first leg of their trip. From there, they hustle their way around the world, working at an odd job here or there or securing temporary or seasonal employment. But in today's economy you don't have to be straight out of school to jet overseas, people of all ages can become world travelers on the cheap.
English
One of the most lucrative ways to see the world is to take advantage of the fact that you speak English. Your native tongue just happens to be the Lingua Franca of the world. It is the language of business and diplomacy and there is a huge demand for English teachers all over the planet.
It helps to have teaching credentials – but it’s not absolutely necessary. If you already have a college degree you might want to check out www.tesolcertificates.com to get an idea of how easy it is to get accredited as a language instructor for students learning English as a second language.
The demand for native speakers of English continues to increase especially in Asia. Just to get an idea of the opportunities available check out en.chinatefl.com and www.asiapond.com.
You won't earn a ton of money by teaching English, but you can couple that with some consulting to make a pretty penny in some countries.
The Peace Corps
If teaching isn’t your bag, consider joining the Peace Corps (http://www.peacecorps.gov). The pay isn’t great but is usually considered quite attractive by local standards. The benefits package includes 48 vacation days a year to go home or visit neighboring countries. And as a final bonus, you get $6,000 after completing your two year stint. $6,000 isn't a lot of money but remember, that's what you take home after all other expenses have been covered.
The Peace Corps isn’t just for kids out of college – they encourage older applicants. So it’s actually a great way for retired folks to see the world, give back a little and stretch their income. It also helps that the compensation includes an excellent health insurance package.
Work Visas
There are many other opportunities for Americans who want to work abroad. Most countries require work visas but a few countries allow working holiday visas. Its unfortunate that the United States doesn't model Canada when it comes to these visas. Typically Canadian citizens between 18 and 30 can show up in a host of other countries and obtain a visa that allows them to work for as long as 12 months while they're "On Holiday". Working Holiday Visas were created to supplement travel funds for youth and promote cultural exchanges. Unfortunately, the U.S. chooses not to participate in most of the programs. U.S. citizens still can get these visas in Australia, Ireland, South Korea, Singapore, and South Korea.
Of course, you can always take your chances and just count on being able to get some kind of service or restaurant job when you land with or without the proper documents. But count on low wages. Even so, a service job can be an excellent way to get a good handle on the language.
Worldwide Consulting
If you have good computer, programming, writing, or design skills, the world is waiting for you. Many of these jobs are done on contract without any official employee relationship being set up. There are services such as Elance, Guru, or Rentacoder that would allow all the payments to funnel right back into your stateside bank account. All you need is a laptop and an Internet connection. If you lower your monthly living expenses to $500 living in a place like Thailand or Egypt, the $75 for writing a press release or $500 for the quick programming job starts sounding very attractive. Chances are you'll end up saving more than if you were making three times as much in your home country.
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