A Road Less Travelled
Tell someone that you’ve just quit your job to move to Vietnam to teach high school English, and they’ll think you’re insane. They’ll look at you with this strange look on their face, and they’ll think you’ve joined some kind of cult.
But trust me, they probably just won’t get it — and that’s okay. Maybe you’re the sane one. Maybe everyone else is missing out on something.
Teaching abroad breaks the script. It’s not what you’re meant to do.
What They’ll Say
Here’s them: “But you’re giving up your pension, your retirement fund, your tenure, your job, your security. Is it even safe? Are there real schools? What’s an international school anyway? Are you just going to be teaching English? It’s a poor country. You’re going to be paid peanuts. How can you save any money? You’ll never get out of the place. You’ll never be able to afford to go anywhere. Don’t you want to buy a house and settle down?”
What You Know
Here’s you: “I’ll get to travel and see the world. I’ll teach highly motivated students from all over the place. I’ll be respected as a teacher. Holidays to new countries four times a year, and a huge summer holiday as well. My accommodation’s paid for. I get return flights paid for every single year. I have free private health insurance. I might learn a new language. I’m certainly going to learn about new cultures. I’m going to learn a lot about the world. Many international schools pay a whole lot more than what I’d be getting if I stayed back home.”
I remember the day when I told my boss back in Australia that I was leaving, and he was shocked. I’d been at the school for years, and he just assumed that I would stay there, then maybe move on to another school in the district or a different part of the state. But moving to another country? That was weird.
I actually had quite a few people come up to me and ask what I was thinking. There was an element of curiosity, but also this element of: “You must be crazy. Why would you want to do that? Why would you leave your family and friends to go and live in another country that you’ve never been to before?”
Why Such Negativity?
There are a few reasons why people react this way.
1. They’re Worried
First of all, it’s risky. It’s like starting a business. People are genuinely concerned about you and they think you’re putting your livelihood at risk in some way, or your safety. They hear about all these things that happen in other countries on the news every day.
2. They Don’t Understand It
The second thing is that they just don’t understand what you’re doing. They don’t understand what international schools are, what kinds of jobs exist. They don’t realise that you’ll be doing the same thing in a different place — often being paid more, being respected more, and having better students as well.
And even years later, if I bump into old friends from school and say I’m teaching overseas, they still think I must just be teaching English at some kind of language centre. They don’t get it.
3. Could They Be Jealous?
Maybe people want to do exciting things themselves, but aren’t brave enough. When they see you doing it, it’s challenging for them. So they question it and say, “No, this is just silly. You can’t do this. Surely you’re just the same as me. How can you go off and have all these exciting adventures and travel the world and teach in these international schools that pay you well, where you get respected, where you don’t have any management problems in your class, where students are all well-behaved?”
Nah, that can’t be real. Surely if it was, I’d be doing it — wouldn’t I?
Maybe they just think they’ve missed the boat. Maybe this is something they would have done, but they don’t have the courage to do what you’re about to do. So they question it. Maybe they get defensive and think, “Nah, you can’t be doing that — otherwise everyone would be doing it. It’s unusual, so it must be wrong.”
Other Reactions
Here’s the other thing: after your first year, when you go home and want to catch up with friends, they might be curious at the start. But they really don’t want to hear about all your stories of international trips or these incredible students that you’re teaching. They don’t want to hear about how much money you’re making. It’s not their life. They’ve not chosen it. Therefore, it’s not that interesting to them.
And here’s another kicker: when you eventually decide to move back home, it might be tough. I tried it once, and I actually experienced what I’d call reverse culture shock. It was hard going back. Part of that difficulty comes from the fact that people really don’t understand what you’ve been doing.
Driving Forces
I once had a boss who applied to an international school in Singapore. He didn’t get the job. He had the best résumé, the best experience — wife, two kids, big plans to travel the world and do all these exciting things. But he didn’t get the job. And he knew I was thinking about doing the same thing. He told me, “Ah, it’s too hard. I didn’t get it. What chance have you got?”
That was my incentive to go ahead, to explore this international teaching thing, to get my foot in the door. In the end, I found myself in Singapore — and I was certainly pretty quick to let him know I’d made it to where he thought I wouldn’t.
It Just Doesn’t Matter
So yes, they will think you are crazy — and it doesn’t matter. When you go back home and visit, you can explain how it’s all working out. Maybe they’ll even want to join you for the ride. In fact, I’ve known friends who have done this. They’ve seen what I’ve been doing and then pursued it themselves. I’ve bumped into them in interesting places around the world, years later.
The point is: if they think you’re crazy, it probably just means you’re on to something. Some of the greatest businesspeople the world has ever seen had ideas that people thought were crazy.
Yes, it’s a risk. But for me, international teaching — the real risk is just that you’re giving up some things back home. Maybe some experiences, some birthday parties, some time with your parents or grandparents. So there are sacrifices, for sure.
Maybe when you go back home and catch up with people you used to spend a lot of time with, you’ve changed — and they’ve changed too. There are compromises. But from my perspective, it’s been absolutely worth it.
And I really think, if someone says you’re crazy, that should be the sign that maybe you’re on to the right thing. Or maybe it just means you need to investigate a little further and make sure that this is your path.
Is It For You?
If you love to travel, if you like cultural experiences, if you want to learn a new language, if you want to understand the world better — if you want to be respected as a teacher, if you want good resources, professional development, and a clear career pathway…
If you want to teach in a way that focuses on learning and not on behaviour management…
Then maybe this is the thing for you. Maybe doing something that’s just a little bit out of the ordinary is exactly what you need to do.
Sure, it’s the road less travelled — but that’s probably what makes it better.