Great Escape Publishing

Posted January 11th, 2013 by Bonnie Caton & filed under Travel Writing.

We never talk about this… but if you ask me, it’s about time we did. After all, it’s one of the best ways to get paid to travel.

Here’s what I mean…

The year after I graduated from college, I retired to the South of France.

Ok — officially I was “working” there as an English teacher. But that consisted of chatting with high schoolers in my native language for about eight hours a week (my contract paid me for 20 hours, but they never scheduled all of them).

The rest of the time I spent skiing in the Pyrenees, relaxing at the health spa, hiking in the forest, eating lots of cheese, starring in a local play, trying my hand at French cooking, shopping at outdoor markets, enjoying picnics in the wine country with my French friends, and traipsing about Europe during the long and very frequent school vacations.

All funded by those weekly conversations in my native language.

Sound ridiculous? It gets better…

Then the entire country went on strike and I was paid not to work for about a month and a half — time that I used to laze on the beach in Spain.

Best. Year. Ever.

Teaching English is one of the absolute GREATEST ways to get to know and live in another culture. Whether you land a gig for a foreign government, as I did, or you find a private company, most of the time, you don’t need teaching credentials to do it. Just native fluency in English. And it’s not just for recent college grads, either. You can get started at any age.

Find a part-time position, and you can easily do your travel writing and/or photography while you teach English.

… or laze on the beach in Spain like I did. It’s up to you.

[Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.]