I have worked as a teacher with the online English teaching company VIPKID for over a year now.
Working for them has allowed me to live long-term in my heart’s home in Siem Reap, Cambodia since July 2017.
Before I first arrived in Asia, I had been working for 10 years and didn’t take much of a holiday during that time.
So I thought, “While my parents are healthy and I have savings, I want to take the time to travel long term.” I ventured around Asia for a year and a half.
I easily lived off my savings doing endless adventures including staying in the mountains of Thailand, cycling around Cambodia, scuba diving in Indonesia, and couch surfing in the Philippines.
–Apply for online teaching jobs with VIPKID!-
When I came back to Canada, I wanted to find a way to work online while traveling. Free traveling is great, but at some point, I got adventured out and felt like I wasn’t contributing to anything meaningful.
About the Author: Melissa Chungfat is an experienced VIPKID teacher from Canada living in Cambodia.
My friend suggested that I apply as an Online English teacher for VIPKID and I’m so glad I did because I have been able to live in Cambodia while working four to six hours a day.
A huge benefit to working with them is there are no minimum hours per week so in September, I wanted to take two weeks to explore Vietnam, so I gave myself the time off.
Many traveling teachers work an hour or a few a day and while they explore different countries. When I went to Bangkok, I got a SIM card and taught off the phone’s internet for an hour and spent the rest of the evening exploring the city.
Read: How to Apply for Teaching Jobs with an Online ESL School
For myself, I often prefer to work really hard before my trip and relax for one or two weeks and not work. Other teachers sometimes work the entire weekend so they can take a few full days off exploring different cities.
The company has over 20,000 teachers around the world and continues to grow.
What has been very helpful is the generous community of people in the Facebook group VIPKID Teachers Who Travel.
We are always helping each other find out the best places to teach in different countries and sharing tips for teaching effectively while we’re on the road.
It is wonderful being part of a community of people who are committed to giving Chinese students a great educational experience and while helping each other enhance our traveling experiences.
I highly recommend teaching online if you want to travel the world and choose your own work schedule!
Related Articles:
Pros and Cons of Teaching Online
Is Teaching Online for You? 5 Qualities of an Online ESL Teacher
Where do you stay? Any recommendations for a house that has its own wifi and backups that I should have for teaching for a month there with VIPKID?