Life Updates Regarding Travel

Hellooo travel buddies!

Sad to think that summer is just about over…and I haven’t even left the state! Ugh. I’m itching to cross state lines (or leave the continent…whatever). I thought I would take a moment to catch you all up on what is happening in travel-plan-land AKA my life.

-My trip to New York City is on the move! Tickets are booked for mid-October. The next step will be to book the hotel and to, well…save all the money I can. I’d really rather not spend crazy amounts of money. My friend and travel pal, Sarah, and I have already gotten discount tickets, and we’re going to book a budget hotel…so I kind of want to keep the theme going. There’s plenty to do in the city for free, most of it being visiting rather iconic locales. To just walk around in Times Square or Central Park would be plenty for me….and plenty free! So, we’ll see if I can stick to an NYC budget.

-Louisville, KY is host to a very cool event every Fall called the Idea Festival. Brilliant minds and speakers come together and share ideas and what not. Pretty darn cool, you say? Well, it’s even cooler this year because Anthony Bourdain is a featured speaker! And yours truly got a tiiicketttt. I’m pretty stoked. (And I don’t use “stoked” lightly.) But really, I admire Bourdain and what he’s done for travel/The Travel Channel. He’s a brilliant, funny guy who just tells it like it is, and really wants travelers to experience more than a luxury hotel. I’m so glad I get to see him! And, bonus, it’s mere days before my birthday! Pretty sweet deal.

-You all NEED to check out STA’s World Traveler Interns. Their trip is almost over, and it seems like they’ve had an amazing time. Lindsay Clark, one half of the WTI duo, is keeping up with her personal blog [Nomadderwhere] as well, so please check it out. Good stuff, people. Good stuff.

That’s it for now. Hope you all have had a wonderful summer. Make the most of the last few weeks! The next trip I’ll be taking is back home for a week to spend some down time with my family.

Happy trails.

One more year

I have a lot of time to sit around and think this summer. So as I was thinking about summer itself, it struck me…this is my last summer as an undergrad. Last summer as a student, most likely. (Seriously doubt I’ll be doing grad school)

What am I doing with my last summer? Working, mostly. Waiting for a paycheck so I can start saving money for some semblance of a trip this coming year. But I’m also thinking about what I want to do with my life post-grad. And I think I’ve come to a decision:

I will throw my hard earned, expensive degree to the wayside for a couple years and teach English abroad. It’s  something that has been in the back of my mind, but I always thought I could do it later in life, as a kind of retirement thing. I know a couple who is teaching English in China right now who absolutely love it, and they gave me the idea to begin with.

I have a couple of options: One, I take an online course to recieve my TEFL/TESOL certification, which will enable me to teach all over the world.

OR, I can apply for a Fulbright ETA Grant, which will send me to one country for under a year on their dime to teach English. I’m thinking Malta, if I go with this option.

Either path I choose, it would be a great experience. The better thing about simply getting a TEFL/TESOL cert. and teaching abroad is that I will be getting paid as soon as I start working…which means I can start paying back my student loans. Yippee!

So what about that great Communication degree, you ask? Well, it won’t just be a pretty piece of paper to hang on the wall. Once I feel I’ve spent enough time teaching, I’ll begin searching for jobs relating to my degree. Perhaps even overseas. Being an ex-pat would be cool, I think.

Have questions about becoming certified to teach abroad? Ask me, I’ve been doing tons of research on the topic. If you’re super curious and can’t wait, I suggest visiting i-to-i, a travel site that specializes in adventure and volunteer travel, and offers great TEFL certification classes. I think I’ll be taking their online course.

More to come on this topic later, I’m sure. I’ll keep ya posted.