Hey everyone, I'm a a rising sophomore in college and its time to seriously decide on what I want to do as a career. In the beginning I had planned to become a doctor (non surgeon) and then retire early to travel the world. As my first year ended I realized I can't wait that long. I have a serious case of wanderlust to see and explore the world today.

So basically I need to find a career that would allow me to travel as work. But the hard part is I want a career that would enable me to stay in a country/city outside of the US for a few months out of the year rather than travel every other week in another city. I want to be able to explore and learn more about the history of that country/city. Not have a glimpse of it and then move on.

Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed and appreciated. Thanks.

There's few career paths where you will start with that kind of flexibility. The Foreign Service comes to mind as a good option. Skobb is our resident expert on that, and he's got an extensive thread on it over here.

If you want to primarily stay in the first world, you might have good luck on a management career path with a multi-national corporation. Difficult to get started, but once you're in, you'll probably get some of the flexibility you want. Something along the lines of an MBA is probably a good way to kick start this, but you will have to put in your time as a domestic drone before opportunities open up.

If your interest lies in the developing world, a career with aid agencies, NGOs, or the UN might be a good option. I don't know much about getting in with those, as the only contact I have is one friend at the UN, who took her law degree, spent a year with a volunteer program (she did get a small honourarium) processing refuges in India - essentially doing all the work to make get them papers and all the things they need to be "people" in the modern world, then got a full-time job doing the same for Iraqis in Jordan. She's now in Jerusalem...not sure what she's doing there, actually. In general, you'll probably have to start off as a volunteer before you can get a paid posting.

If you're still interested in medicine, there's no shortage of need for doctors in a lot of places...but getting paid decently may be a problem.

No matter which option you look into, learn more languages. My friend at the UN can pick up a new language in 2 months flat, as long as she's totally immersed in it. You need to have pretty specialized skills in order to be a valuable asset with a translator in tow.

Neil, thanks for your advice. I was also thinking about the UN but I'm not sure if political science is along my drift. I'm going to have to look into that more. Someone also mentioned to me about a career in Anthropology since she knew I love Egyptology. I'm not sure about that career path either. Its just very confusing for me.

You could get a teaching certificate and then get a job working for the Department of Defense at a school somewhere in the world. Look here for that. This is an excellent civilian placement, frankly, because of the benefits and the extra pay that you earn if you are placed in a school that is considered 'hardship.' One of my friends earned hardship pay for living in Iceland for a year but had such a great time and got to meet really interesting locals. That hardship pay meant that she had extra pocket money for travel during school breaks.

Having a teaching certificate would also allow you to get a job working in an international school -- while those jobs commonly place you initially in Korea, China and Kuwait, with a few years of experience/seniority, European posts become a possibility. This site is the absolute best resource for international school placement.

The nice thing about teaching abroad is that you make a decent wage and have time off for travel in the summers as well as school holidays. Many schools, after you sign a year contract and fulfill your obligation, also reimburse you for the cost of your ticket to get there. Some schools even give you a housing stipend.