Hi Helen

Well for starters 30 is not too old I am 30, if anything I reckon we will appreciate the different countries, cultures and people we meet along the way.  Well done on your cycle ride though amazing achievement. I went to Cambodia and Vietnam last year and loved it.  I have done exactly the same working in recruitment thinking there is more to life than a 9 to 5 job, i don't have a degree either and thought i would give this tefl qualification a go though finding it hard to find time to study, there is always something to do or people to see.   I have been traveling on my own before and you will meet so many people along the way one big adeventure.  Which country do you think you will go to first? if you not been travelling on your own before I would advise you get a lonely planet they were my life line sometimes and give some fantastic hints and tips of places to go and not to go.  If you have any questions give me a shout sophie:)

Hey,

Welcome to Chalkboard. Great to see you're looking to get out of the rat race! Making the move and teaching abroad can be daunting, but don't worry all will become clear! I'll try answer the questions in your profile.

It just depends how long you plan to go abroad for to what you do with your possesions, some people will sell everything and some people will put their things into storage. It also depends where you want to go whether you would want savings, you can easily get by in most countries on just your TEFL wage as in many countries the cost of living is really cheap. Whereas in some countries you could actually save whilst teaching, as the wage can be quite high.

Not having a degree won't hold you back, but some countries do need you to have a degree due to visa purposes. There are still loads of countries you could teach in without a degree, such as China, Ecuador and most European countries. In terms of making friends, the simple answer is yes! I speak to people who are teaching abroad every day and I have never come accross someone who hasn't made loads of new friends!

To get you started on the site take a look at the groups to get a good feel for what teaching in different countries is like:

http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-chalkboard/groups

Wow- that was a long message. Hope it helps you! Feel free to ask me any questions you have about anything :-)

P.S your cycle trek through Vietnam to Cambodia sounds amazing and a lot of hard work. Well done on doing it!

Thanks for looking, Im after any advice about TEFL courses, what its like to teach abroad, please read the 'about me' section for more details, thanks again! Helen :)