It's not as difficult as you might think to teach English overseas.

My experience with it (all TEFL) since 1992:

Korea - 2.5 years - teaching EFL in a college - good pay good savings

Taiwan - 1.5 years - same as above

Saudi Arabia - 5 years - same as above - VERY good savings!

Thailand - 1.5 years - college and teacher-trainer work - usually poor salaries in Thailand!

Korea - again - 3 years EFL at a university - excellent savings

Thailand - again! Just starting as a teacher trainer again.

Worked legally in every country and every job - visa obtained by my employers. Airfare paid only in Saudi Arabia (hogwans, but not usually universities/colleges, will usually pay airfare in Korea).

Housing provided free by employers in Korea and Saudi.

Savings and not wages are usually your best measure due to difference in benefits and cost of living.

Difficult to save much in Thailand - but my home is there (Phuket) and I love the people, food, culture.

First TEFL jobs - found through adverts (pre-Internet days!) - later all on Internet. Last two jobs purely through contacts with friends.

Prior to my TEFL jobs - spent 89-91 in Botswana as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was excellent preparation for a life overseas.

When: 1993, Feb-Oct.

Where: Venice, Italy

What: Private English tutor/babysitter for 4-year-old, 4 hours per day, 7 days per week. Pay: 1 bed in a shared hostel room, no board.

How obtained: The hostel owners were language buffs and knew I wanted to stay in Venice for a while, so found it on the spot. Illegal, hence the exploitation.

At the same time, I found some tutoring work through language schools in and around Venice. These I found through the Yellow Pages(pre-internet). This was my only source of actual cash. I also did some translation work which I found by putting up notices at the university.

years 1994-2000

Got a job teaching English in Japan by doing phone interviews w/ the owner who lived in Hawaii. That was a safe ticket there - one year afforded me $15G to repay student loans. first word I learned was 'breadcrusts' - 35 cents a bag!

'95-'96 - cultural visa through my karate master - taught English under the table. this was oh-so-sweet.

'97-'98 - found this job in the national enlish newspaper. 'self-esteem coach' (working w/ kids who had dropped out of school) was my title so I had a work visa.

'99 - outdoor sports guide & trainer, found this one in a local paper, too. had a work visa from an importing company where things didn't work out.

From my experience, once you get yourself overseas and can do some networking things fall into place for follow-up positions.

I've been living and working abroad for... about 14 years now.

I've done the Czech Republic, Germany England and France in Europe, teaching English (of course) working as a designer, in a bank, a police line-up suspect (well paid) and many many many utterly crap jobs.

I've been in Cambodia for the last 3 1/2 years working as an art director for an ad agency before going freelance recently.

I think a working / traveling lifestyle is absolutely possible to maintain, and I know many people who have also done it - most teaching english, but many who have found unique and satisfying careers as well - including myself.

I wrote an article a couple of years ago for Student Traveler Magazine about working in Europe ( Here it is)

Ciao

Have worked in Canada as a cabinetmaker on a regular Employer sponsored visa from Nov. 2002 - August 2004, came back to Germany to go back to school.
Would like to return to Canada, already got my WHV for 2006, as I will finish school in July '06 (yesssssss, can't wait anymore!).

Me me, i have...and currently am!
Spent 2 years in England working as a croupier and had an absolute blast. I am now in USA working as an au pair, not as much fun but i'm getting to do loads of travelling around the country.

I just finished 1 year of teaching English in Korea, and I really had fun. After about 6 months of traveling I think I'm going to go to Japan, Taiwan, or South America (if I have enough money left) and do another year.

Middle East, S/E Asia, Europe & South America
War Profiteer and Pirate

I worked in Lesotho for two years as a Senior Fulbright Professor (very powerful place, geographically gorgeous, often heartbreaking: real culture change IN YOUR FACE for westerners, wonderfully Afro-centric thinking--as it should be!). Adopted two children there (long story), and then when Mandela was elected I applied for, and got, a position as professor and head of the drama department at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. It was an amazing time to be in South Africa: everything was changing, FAST, and many people felt they were, as Adrienne Rich writes, "On the first page of the end of despair." It still is the most exciting place to do theatre in all the world, IMO. In addition, ZA is one of the most politically-exciting places on earth, with much more respect for human rights and diversity enshrined in its constitution than the US Constitution ever thought about having. I stayed the whole time Mandela was President, returned to the USA in 99. I ache for it still, probably always will.

I am currently working Warsaw, Poland. I have an Illinois elementary teaching certificate. No problem getting my work permit. Only thing is to get a visa you must return to your home country or get it before leaving. I was lucky and got a job with a big enough school that they covered my(and my daughters) trip back to Chicago.
My first experience working abroad was in Budapest, Hungary about 8 years ago. I got a job at a preschool with only my B.S. I worked illegally, cash in hand, no visa or work permit. Had to leave the country every 3 months. Did this for 4 years. Don't recommend it, most countries won't even allow it anymore, some have 6 month cumulative stays in a 12 month period. After those years in Hungary decided to get my teaching certificate so I'd have more freedom to go where I wanted, legally. It has worked out so far!

I lived/worked in Toronto for 3.5 years (77-81) as a software engineer. I had a landed immigrant visa and could have stayed as long as I wished, but when the $CDN went south so did I.

Life in Canada was somewhat different from the US, but not extraordinarily so.

I taught at Amercian Scools in Mexico City, Mexico for three years and then two years in Damascus, Syria. There are over 190 American Schools in the world. They are built for American kids but then the elite of the country want their kids to go to school at Harvard or Yale and they send their kids to these schools for a leg up. I enjoyed it very much because the caliber of student was awesome so I could teach at a high level. I taught US HIstory, Econ, Govt, World History etc.

I also liked it because you move into an instant community, that is a mix of people who have lived there for years and people who are new there and want to explore with someone.

More info at http://www.iss.edu/

YOu have to be a certified teacher in the US to go through this route.

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Middle East, S/E Asia, Europe & South America
War Profiteer and Pirate

oh...you too. I was gonna call myself a mercenary...but 'war whore' says it so much nicer....

i'm a Canadian, and here's a lil overseas resume:

Australia - orange pickin, paid in cold hard $$ under the table

New Zealand - mandarin pickin, kiwi pickin & packin - cold hard $$$, above the table i might add
- hostel cleaning person, fringe festival front-of-house volunteer - these paid in kind (accomodation and free shows respectively)

The Gambia (West Africa) - shopkeeper, locally-made liquer promotions rep - $$ under the table
- Cultural center volunteer - paid inkind sort of - got connections and help to find local prices on things like accomodation and food instead of tourist prices - BIG difference!

All of these jobs i found by rockin up on the scene, except for the volunteer job which i found on a posting on africaguide.com (which led to several weeks of email correspondence to sort out the details).

Go for it girl! You won't regret it!