It was only a few decades ago that Vietnam was the last place any Americans wanted to be, so it isn’t surprising that some friends and family were a bit baffled as to why we would want to come now. But there were a lot of reasons.
First and foremost is the opportunity to experience another culture and travel while we’re young. Although we hope to find ways to travel all throughout our life together, things will never be so uncomplicated as they are now. Once we go back to the States for good, there will be grad school, jobs, and eventually kids to impede our wanderlust.
Teaching English is not something either of us ever aspired to do, but it’s a perfect vehicle for travel, especially in southeast Asia! There are so many opportunities here for native English speakers, with or without teaching experience.
Southeast Asia is also a perfect place to be, because once you get past the initial flight cost, travel is very cheap. Basic guesthouse accommodations can be found in most parts of the region rather easily for under $10 per night. While traveling, we budget about $25 per day for food for both of us (and that’s very generous--you can usually eat for much less than that if you choose to).
In addition to being ridiculously cheap, there’s so much to see in southeast Asia! We’re having a really difficult time narrowing down the list of countries we’ll visit while we’re here. On the heels of our Christmas trip to Cambodia, we’re already planning for our 17 days of vacation during Tet in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. At some point we’ll need to do some traveling within Vietnam, since Joey hasn’t seen the rest of the country yet. Neighboring Thailand and Laos are on our list as well, and we’ll probably take some time off work later in the year to visit them. We also plan to travel for two or three weeks at the beginning of December before flying home for Christmas—but where to go? India and Nepal? The Philippines? Japan? Australia and New Zealand? Round trip flights to Perth can be found for well under $300.
Although Joey and I have dreams and plans that will most certainly take us back to the states, teaching English in Asia is not merely something for young 20-somethings who are trying to work out their traveling bugs before returning to the real world. Lots of people choose to settle down and make a life here, and for good reason: one can live very comfortably on an English teacher’s salary here.
The work week in the U.S. is an often-grueling 40 hours, possibly more for those who are trying to get ahead in demanding careers, single parents, or those working to support large families. Here, 20 hours of teaching is more or less considered a full-time position. It’s possible to work as many as 30 hours per week without making overtime, but it isn’t necessary.
Here, an English teacher can afford to eat dinner out every night, take taxis everywhere, go out drinking often, and have any sort of clothes, shoes or accessories custom made. From Saigon, a weekend trip to the mountains of Da Lat or the beaches or Mui Ne or Nha Trang is easy and inexpensive. It’s also common (for Vietnamese and foreigners alike) to employ some sort of domestic help: a housekeeper, and perhaps a cook or nanny. On a teacher’s salary!
If you chose to, you could spend a few hours teaching each evening to support yourself, and spend your days pursuing artistic endeavors. You could write your memoirs or a novel. You could spend most of your days around the table of a restaurant with other Westerners and a Saigon Green in your hand (many do).
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