Written by With high levels of wind, rain and flooding, the UK in autumn and winter can be a miserable place to live. You can choose to leave the UK for months at a time if you have reached the age of retirement, only coming home as the days get longer and lighter. If you have not quite reached retirement age but would love to sun yourself instead of struggle through the snow, then think about teaching jobs abroad.
Whilst you do not need to be trained as a qualified teacher at a school in the UK, you do need to take a TEFL course in order to be able to work in foreign schools teaching English to speakers of other languages. EFL training and other courses can be taken part-time or through distance learning, making it easier to work whilst you learn. This means that by completing your course in the summer, you can begin your winter life as a TEFL teacher as soon as the days start getting shorter.
If you have a job in the UK which does not allow you to leave for two or three months in the year then this plan might not be for you however for those of us whose working pattern is more casual, you could be working in different exotic countries every year for the rest of your working life. China, South America, Japan, Africa and Asia all have opportunities for British natives to travel there to teach English as a foreign language.
You will probably have to pay for your flights however once you are there you should be given discounts off accommodation, the cost of living in most TEFL countries is significantly lower than it is in Britain, and you will experience life changing culture and ways of life.
Think about teaching small children in Thailand before finishing work in the early afternoon, taking a walk down to the golden beaches and dipping your feet in the crystal clear sea whilst your colleagues back home are wading through mushy leaves and slush. Brilliant!
