Asia

Asia is such a culturally rich and vibrant continent. I’ve never met a traveller who didn’t love Asia and once you travel there you’ll understand why. From the street markets of Taiwan and the towering buildings of Hong Kong; the backpacker trail in Vietnam to the tranquil oceans of the Philippines; Asia is an incredible shock to the senses. Sizzling street food, bustling cities, crazy bus rides, mountain villages, rice paddies and hot bowls full of noodles. Who wouldn’t want to go travelling in Asia?

Rice paddies

Ecotourism in Thailand: Planting Seeds at Phu Ruea Ruean Mai Rice Farm

If you spend any time at all in Thailand, or any Asian country, you’ll immediately notice that rice is essential to the local diet. Many people, especially from the older generations and in the countryside, eat some form of rice three times a day. Having spent so much time in Asia, Charlie and I have also become a little bit addicted to rice, and quite happily eat it seven days a week, and sometimes for breakfast too!

So naturally I was keen to visit Phu Ruea Ruean Mai resort, an organic rice farm, and learn more about how some Thai people are trying their hand at ecotourism. The rice farm is run by Nu Dee, a young, well-educated woman from Bangkok, and her mother. Nu Dee is one of a small handful of people bucking the urban migration trend, and she argues that there’s more to life than sitting at a standstill in Bangkok’s notorious traffic jams.

5 mins read

Thailand’s Alternative Community Based Tourism

Those who haven’t visited Thailand, and even some of those who have, might think of its tourism industry as being synonymous with full moon parties and massage parlours, but there’s another kind of tourism which is all about exploring the real Thailand. It’s about meeting communities of Thai people, learning about their life and culture, and respecting the environment.

Community based tourism, which is often described as “travelling like a local,” has been going on in Thailand for decades, but is still not as well known as it should be. Community based tourism seeks to uplift local communities by providing them with a sustainable way to support themselves while providing a rich, cultural experience for travellers.

4 mins read
LuoDong Sport park in summer taiwan

Teaching in Taiwan: An Interview with Teacher Danny & Teacher Stephanie

Teaching in Taiwan is something I often get asked about by people who are thinking about making the move and starting a new career on the island. What I always emphasise is that everyone’s experience of teaching in Taiwan is different – variables such as school and branch, workload, location, personality and whether you’re going solo or as a couple can be make or break. I’m interviewing different teachers in Taiwan to find out their thoughts on island life, ESL teaching and travelling. This interview is part of the Teaching in Taiwan series.

8 mins read

Teaching in Taiwan: An Interview with Teacher Tu

Teaching in Taiwan is something I often get asked about by people who are thinking about making the move and starting a new career on the island. What I always emphasise is that everyone’s experience of teaching in Taiwan is different – variables such as school and branch, workload, location, personality and whether you’re going solo or as a couple can be make or break. I’m interviewing different teachers in Taiwan to find out their thoughts on island life, ESL teaching and travelling. This interview is part of the Teaching in Taiwan series.

9 mins read

Teaching in Taiwan: An Interview with Teacher Katie and Teacher Ryan

Teaching in Taiwan is something I often get asked about by people who are thinking about making the move and starting a new career on the island. What I always emphasise is that everyone’s experience of teaching in Taiwan is different – variables such as school and branch, workload, location, personality and whether you’re going solo or as a couple can be make or break. I’m interviewing different teachers in Taiwan to find out their thoughts on island life, ESL teaching and travelling. This interview is part of the Teaching in Taiwan series.

6 mins read

Teaching in Taiwan: An Interview with Teacher Liezl

Teaching in Taiwan is something I often get asked about by people who are thinking about making the move and starting a new career on the island. What I always emphasise is that everyone’s experience of teaching in Taiwan is different – variables such as school and branch, workload, location, personality and whether you’re going solo or as a couple can be make or break. I’m interviewing different teachers in Taiwan to find out their thoughts on island life, ESL teaching and travelling. This interview is part of the Teaching in Taiwan series.

8 mins read

Why I’ll Never Forget This Small Town on Taiwan’s East Coast

After months of searching for ESL teaching jobs which would accommodate a couple in the same school, or at the very least in the same town, back in 2012, we finally had an offer from one of Taiwan’s largest language schools. We pretty much immediately accepted and only weeks later were in Taipei ready for a crash course of teacher training. Even when we were on the training course, we had absolutely no idea what part of Taiwan we would be living in.

Like many ESL teachers in Taiwan, we accepted a conditional contract offer over the internet. As part of this arrangement, the contract is only signed if you pass your teacher training course in Taipei. You can specify beforehand three location preferences but there’s no guarantee that you’ll be located there and you won’t find out until the last day of training. Luke and I were so desperate to be located together that we decided to make an open application, not specifying any desired locations.

This could have totally backfired on us. Fortunately, it didn’t.

5 mins read

Do I Need a TEFL to Teach English in Taiwan?

Plenty of companies out there are trying to sell people qualifications for teaching English abroad. But are the courses worth the asking price?

No, is the short answer. You don’t need any teaching qualifications whatsoever to teach English in Taiwan. With teaching gigs offering full time employment in an interesting profession and excellent pay compared to the price of living, it’s little wonder many English speakers are considering leaving their home country.

6 mins read

How Teaching in Taiwan Prepared Me for Long-Term Travel

One year ago, I quit ESL teaching in Taiwan. Now I’m on an indefinite travel adventure in Central America.

When I left Taiwan, I knew that I wanted to travel more but I still didn’t know how I was going to achieve that. Instead of sitting down and crafting out a long-term plan in time for our return to unemployment, Luke and I booked a flight to Vietnam and blew some of our hard earned savings. After all, we’d saved them for travelling.

By this time, I’d started keeping track of our expenses. Vietnam is a cheap place to travel, but when I looked at our Vietnam travel budget, I realised that the £6000 (that’s $9600) we’d each saved from teaching in Taiwan wasn’t going to go that far. We had to rethink the way we travelled.

5 mins read

Debunking 5 Myths about Teaching English in Taiwan

Thinking about teaching English in Taiwan? Teaching overseas, as anyone who has done so will tell you, is quite an experience. You move to a new place, discover a completely different culture and way of life, work with amazing people from around the world, meet children who inspire you, and learn more about your native language than you ever have before (even after doing an English degree!)

6 mins read

Taiwan Travel Guide

After a year living and travelling in Taiwan, Luke and I know that little sweet potato shaped island pretty well. Taiwan is a bit of a hidden gem in Asia. While backpackers flock to Thailand and Vietnam, and adventurous travellers tackle China and South Korea, there are very few Western tourists in Taiwan. Instead, Taiwan sees a fair amount of domestic tourists and Chinese tourists in high season, and otherwise mostly attracts expats coming over to work as ESL teachers.

12 mins read

Why Life as an Expat can be Challenging

Expats are people who live outside their native country – whether they are teaching English in Thailand, working as translators in France, or retired in Costa Rica. Expats make up 3.1% of global population, which totals to 230 million people – the equivalent to Indonesia. If all the expats around the world were to form an imaginary country, it would be the 5th most populous in the world.

6 mins read