The Adventure Continues: We're Heading to Asia
Written by Kyle on Sunday, March 01, 2009 in Argentina
Feelin' excited
Sometimes you never know what's going to happen. One day, we're planning on staying for a while in one of South American's most cosmopolitan citys, Buenos Aires, the next day, we are planning on flying across the Pacific Ocean to teach English in Korea. How did we arrive at this decision?Feelin' excited
Trying to Make it in Buenos Aires
Well, basically, we found out pretty quickly that what we were planning to do in Buenos Aires wasn't going to work all that well. Our plan was that I would pick up some freelance computer programming work from the US of A while Bessie would possibly teach English or do volunteer work. The freelance work was a bit tough to get because without face-to-face communication, I was competing against people from all over the world willing to work for a tenth of the pay that I would. Am I better than the people working for $8/hour? Yes, but it is pretty hard to convince someone of that when the first thing they look it is the cost.
As for teaching English, the market is super tough in Buenos Aires, as basically half the native English speakers on the planet want to also teach English in Buenos Aires. We could teach English for around $8/hour, but this is a bit deceiving as it doesn't include the cost for getting clients or traveling to them. As Buenos Aires is quite the large city, that travel time could easily add up to half the day, of which we are not being paid. On top of that, the culture is not of one to set an appointment and stick with it. So, I'm sure there would be more than once where an English teaching appointment would be cancelled, leaving yet more unpaid time.
Could we have both worked and made a go of it in BA? Yes, we could have, but it would mean living on the super cheap and leaving us very little wiggle room for enjoyment. We like BA and all, just not enough to consider living in this manner. We don't want to just live, we want to enjoy ourselves.
How About the Kitchen Sink?
Ok, so now we had figured out that doing our thing in Buenos Aires probably wasn't going to work. So, we then started looking at basically every other opportunity we could find on the planet. Literally. We were both applying for just about anything globally that met our skill set. For me, I can say that there is no lack of job oppurtunities in the US of A in the technology sector, many of which I had employers interested in hiring me. But, ultimately, after considering those and other things, we decided on South Korea. Why?
The Korean Decision
For one, South Korea offers financial gains that would be hard for us to match. Our flight there and back is paid for as well as our housing and half of our insurance costs. Then, on top of that, we are paid about $1500-$1750 / month each to teach on a 40-hour schedule. So, when we extrapolate what we spend daily on food, fun, and other things, we ran some calculations and figured that we could save over $20,000 in a year. That's a number that is hard to attain by both of us working and living in the States.
Of course, we're not the kind of people to make decisions soley based on financials. Basically, we made the decision based on the 10-year rule: if we looked back on the decision 10 years from now, which one would we regret the least? Based on this, it is pretty easy to assume that we might regret not continuing traveling to settle down back home. I mean, how many opportunities are we going to have to live and work in Asia, especially after we have children and a house/condo and/or other resonsibilities to think about?
Everything is Based on Happiness
On top of everything, though, we think that going to South Korea will be a great experience and it will give us a lot of good memories. And really, we're out to live a happy, fulfilling life just like anyone else, and we think our experiences there will allow us to do that. If you don't believe me, even science says so: buy life experiences, not stuff and that will lead to happiness. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090207150518.htm) If there's one thing we've learned while traveling the past year it's that we want to continue living in a way that is fulfilling and rewarding to us. While our lifestyle may not be for all people, we certainly enjoy it and want to continue living our lives in a manner that gives us the highest degree of personal happiness.
The Near Future
We'll be heading back to Chicago and Kansas City for 1-2 months while we get some documents together and weigh the various teaching positions available to us. We'll continue to report from those locations as a tourist, as we have discovered there are many things in our hometowns that we have yet to do or see. You'll also see an upcoming post about the wild Carnaval celebration that we went to in Argentina; I would write it now, but we're still recovering from the lack of sleep.
Don't Touch That Dial!!
So, stay tuned with us as we learn Korean, drink and eat more strange things, and probably get ourselves confused as we explore the other half of the world.
Comments on "The Adventure Continues: We're Heading to Asia"
at the end of this trip, we're definitely looking forward to a contrast to Latin America - the notion of temples & modern, clean development is VERY appealing!
Best of luck to both of you. Thanks for the link to the article on experiences = happiness. I think I shall use it to point to the next time someone questions any of my "stupid" decisions.
Ya, it's always a matter of choice. We basically traded in getting a house/condo so that we could go traveling, knowing that the latter would make us happier. The article says some practical things like going out to eat with friends is worth more than, say, a new TV. As long as people aren't running up un-necessary debt, it's all good.
How fun! I love the change of destination :) I wish you both the best of luck in an entirely new part of the world!!!
Next year: africa??!!
You guys are amazing. I'm so happy for you and glad to hear you're taking your adventure even further (personally and geographically) =). I love you both and wish you a safe trip here, to Korea, and lots of luck everywhere you go xo
Wow! That's a huge shift! Have fun and I look forward to reading more!
Great success to you on your new journey!
Time to bone up on your Asian character writing---with pen and ink, I assume; your chopstick dexterity; your meat identification skills (ie:how to avoid eating a Pekingese); alert your tastebuds for withdrawal from Latin food; and prepare mentally for being in a classroom with energetic youngsters who will challenge your imagination, wit, and patience. From kayaking, parasailing, Carnival, hiking, bumpy bus rides, and hostels, you will be entering a world of crayons, scissors, broken pencils, bulletin board assemblage, lesson plans, inter-student peacemaking, recess duty, school politics, parental interference, and, the best part...wide-eyed curious little people all competing for your undivided attention. The fun begins!
it'll be a transition indeed - and not a moment too soon. we're both so ready for another adventure. It's going to be a year full of it's own discoveries and adventures... :)
This is such an awesome website. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon it through youtube (I was watching a video of you guys in Cahuita, Costa Rica). Congrats on extending your travels to Asia! Oddly enough, my original plan this summer was to visit Mongolia, Tibet & China...however it's now changed to a tour of South America. Anyhow, I hope you guys continue to write/photograph your adventures in Korea! I'm still in the middle of reading your Colombia entries.
P.S.: Watch out for Soju! Koreans are insane when it comes to drinking.
Thanks for the props - South America rocks! From our posts you'll see Colombia was our favorite country. We originally didn't plan to go there, but we met so many travelers that said we couldn't miss it that we decided we had to go. We ended up spending the 2 month tourist visa time period there. It's amazing.
Thanks for the heads up on the soju - I was just reading last night how it's really rude to turn down drinks, and totally socially expected that you keep drinking, even if it makes you sick. Yikes... Reminds me of college.
Hej Bessie and Kyle, nice website, following you guys for a while now even when I don´t know you :) I started my new travel adventure this month.. right now I am in Buenos Aires. Great city so var but not a city I would stay in. Heading south now, see what Argentina had to offer :)
I love your movie about what you guys are packing.. I got the same sort of movie! (that´s how I found you on the internet!)
Good luck in Korea! Will read you stories with great pleasure.
And if you can figure out dutch, try my website :P
We've tried to figure out Dutch, but I only know the word "Watskeburdt"...
Wow, that sounds like a fantastic opportunity. Korea is a country that sounds incredibly exciting, but for some reason doesn't appear to be as high up most travellers' schedules as its neighbours. Really looking forward to reading about your experiences there, I imagine it'll be quite a contrast to Latin America
by Geoff at March 02, 2009 03:35 AM