Teachers Plan for Summer Travel
Experience Professional and Personal Growth During Summer Vacation
Teachers enjoy the unique advantage of long summer vacations. Exciting travel opportunities can be educational and purposeful, but they don't have to be expensive!
A teacher’s income may not be as impressive as that of other professionals, but teachers enjoy some perks that money can’t buy. Take summer vacations, for example. What other professional can bask in over two months of uninterrupted time away from her occupation and still be invited back with open arms to resume working?
Teachers recognize that education is a lifelong process and most are committed to exemplifying this philosophy in their own lives. Summer is the perfect time to indulge in personal and professional self-improvement through travel. By using travel experiences to help students understand new concepts, teachers can impact a new crop of students next school year.
Educational Travel
Some teachers travel extensively during the summer months. Others take short jaunts or long weekends when the mood strikes them. The downside is that traveling can get expensive, so teachers need to be creative in their planning. Spring Break is a great time to explore your summer opportunities. Here are some options:
- Have you always dreamed of backpacking through Europe? Teachers are generally permitted to stay in youth hostels, which offer inexpensive nightly rates, and can qualify for reduced youth rates with the Eurorail pass if they are under twenty-seven years old.
- Is it possible for you to teach overseas for a summer term? Corporate representatives in China, Japan, and Korea actively seek out native English speakers to teach their international businessmen.
- Can you arrange to be a chaperone for a travel group of students and/or adults? One excellent company that has been organizing educational travel for students is EF Tours. This company allows a teacher to travel for free when she enrolls six students and/or parents in a group and agrees to be the group leader.
Purposeful Travel
If you prefer to remain autonomous, why not develop your entrepreneurial spirit and make a little money to support your adventures? Explore a new hobby such as photography or travel writing. It will help motivate you and guide your journey.
Of course, you will need to learn to market your work. Many travel writers begin by writing articles about local activities, events, parks, and restaurants. You don’t even have to fund a trip to be a travel writer. Fall in love with your community again! What about taking daytrips from your home and writing about your experiences? Often you are paid more if photos accompany your articles.
Volunteer Travel
Are you looking for a summer teaching position? Many unique teaching and travel opportunities are available to teachers. It is simply a matter of seeking them out. If you are interested in experiencing a different culture, you can put your teaching skills to work and be compensated with room and board during your stay in a foreign country. For instance, World Teach offers summer volunteer teaching positions in Bulgaria, China, Costa Rica and South Africa. If you find you love teaching overseas, you can later volunteer for a full year.
These are just some of the ways educators can venture out of the classroom and enjoy a summer vacation full of adventure and exciting new experiences. Be sure to keep a travel journal to documents your thoughts and impressions along the way; you can share these with your students next school year!
