We’re all getting older, and earning a living is what we tend to do. Every week much the same as the rest, often doing things we don’t especially like or dislike, month after month, year after year… and suddenly we’re old, tired, ready to retire, and wondering why “life” was something that happened to someone else.
With the recession, some of us will be forced to spend months at home, living off our savings. Some of the time will be spent looking for work, but that’s often only a small part of it. But … what could we do?
I’ve been wondering about this myself. Is there any way one could simply go off for six months, or a year, and work in some scholarly environment in Rome, or the US, or somewhere, doing something completely different, mixing with people — which in my case is something that normally happens infrequently — perhaps doing some teaching, or whatever?
Surely it should be possible, particularly if we pay our own way and don’t ask for much money?
Does anyone have any ideas? What could be done?
English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers are in great demand all over the world. Summer, 6 month and 1 year sessions are very popular. I have done two summer sessions myself in very remote places. You can usually find a secular or christian/mission organization to go with, both of which have pluses and minuses. It is easier to find a place if you are willing to not get paid, or get paid very little. Sometimes they encourage you to raise support from home, others time not.
The following agency is well known in Christian circles, there are many others. Email me if you are interested.
http://www.elic.org
I should add that you often can find positions teaching English in scholarly places/cities, you just may not be considered a scholar yourself. But you might be able to work something out with a local university/monastery to access their collections. Somewhere in the Muslim world or, eastern and south eastern Europe might be ideal for a situation like this.
Thank you for your suggestions, Tom! Yes, without a PhD I certainly would have difficulties in some places. But ESL I suppose is a possible. Must think about it!
I have a lot to do on my website; migrating to a content management system, for example, and finishing several loose ends. If I had six months, I could achieve a lot; I already invested some money, so if I win the lottery next September, you will all see how beautiful my site will be. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait…
Great question, Roger. If you’re single and unmortgaged, I’d think the key challenge would be to find a location that’s cheap but has all the minimum requirements you’d need to get a particular work done. The hardest part of living abroad would be the challenge of developing social & spiritual connections. But for economics alone, were I single and unmortgaged, I could move my whole library to a trailer in the country and live for much longer on the same amount of money. A friend in Mississippi once paid 20 thousand dollars for a lot and a trailer and $25/month for the utility hookup. Luxury! 😉
Ah yes; but once we have arranged the finances suitably… what do we do with the time?
Oh. Well I figured you had reams of stuff on your to do list. So I thought you wanted destinations. Mississippi *is* lovely this time of year. 😉