As risky as this is to summarize, here is #HowToGoAbroad in as few steps as I can manage. Please note that one size does not fit all, and you absolutely should tell me what I've gotten wrong. But in broad strokes, if you or someone you know is curious about living abroad, here is how I recommend you approach making that a reality.
1. What are you going to do: #StudyAbroad , #TeachAbroad, #Volunteer , #Travel? 2. Where will you go? Choose the continent based on your personal interest, then select the country according to opportunities. If you have no idea then start researching the best opportunities based on the type of travel from the previous question (for example if you’re going to teach English and want to make decent money, East Asia is the place to start). 3. When will it happen? Make a time-line based on financial needs, opportunity schedule, season, etc. You should plan a minimum of six months in advance to get all the logistical tasks settled (visa, flights, contract, ending obligations at home), and if you’ll need time to save money or finish a contract/degree at home then it’s not unreasonable to plan 3-5 years in advance. 4. How will you do it? List the obstacles, all of them. How will you overcome them? What is needed (resources, actions, and time) to overcome them? Chart these obstacles on your timeline. 5. Do it! Remember that this is a life-changing experience that will not just come to you one day, you have to make it happen!
Does this all still seem intimidating? Let’s start smaller: take out a world map and imagine what you would do with six months. Don’t worry about money at this point, there’s plenty of time for that. I remember doing this activity a good friend Bethany) while we were both studying abroad and I was trying to decide whether to spend the next two years in grad school or to enroll in the “university of the world.” We both listed all the places were we would like to spend three to six months. Eventually this turned into a grand idea of spending six months in four of the most diverse countries I could find as a kind of crash course in human culture and society. I had no money, no idea what I would do abroad, no experience in a non-western country. But over the next three years I slowly built and followed a plan, with lots of twists and turns and huge obstacles to overcome, and eventually I spent a year in Japan, three months in South East Asia, six months in India, and six months in Tanzania. I definitely jumped in the deep end and I don’t necessarily recommend that you do this to the same intensity and length of time. But the point is that if you take time to plan for your dreams you never know what might become reality. Take out a map today, you never know where it might take you…
More content is coming to How To Go Abroad. Feel free to ask questions about your specific situation, I’ll answer and perhaps feature it in a post. Please like this facebook page and share posts with your friends. Thanks for reading!
