8 months till our world trip

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Hand writing travel plan in a lined spiral notepad arranged on a map

 

Where are we up to 8 months before our big world trip?

We have told our families and most of our friends about our travelling plan. We have come up with a name for our new website: www.packasmile.co.uk and we have created it. We have been looking into what we could do to earn money while we travel. One option we have looked into is teaching English online.

 

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What does our plan look like at the moment?

We will start our travel in Sri Lanka in the beginning of September 2017 (will buy our one way ticket in January in a few weeks) then get a flight to Jakarta and road trip down to Bali, then fly to Singapore, then road trip up to Cambodia. We will spend 2 weeks in each of the countries we travel to. We would like to go to the Philippines for Christmas and New Years’ Eve and spend a month there with family. We would then go to China and stay there for about a month. After this we would travel either to Taiwan, South Korea or Japan depending on how much money we have. We will then fly to New Zealand and then Australia. This will take us up to Easter, 2018. We are only planning our trip up to this point for now. What happens after Easter will depend on money and on our previous experiences. Our thoughts are that we will either go to Canada and work in a summer camp for 3 months or travel around South America. We might end up going to South Africa and Zimbabwe and see our friend’s wedding there. We are excited to see where God will take us in the second half of the year that we are not going to plan at all.

We don’t just want to go travelling but want to make a difference while we travel and want to share God’s light with others. We would like to follow God’s guidance in all of this. At the moment, we are reflecting on how we can do this the best way. Please let us know if you have any ideas.

8 months is still a long time so things can change and our future might look completely different but we are excited about the journey ahead.

 

Piggy Bank with Dollars

Saving money has been stressful and it has caused a bit of anxiety here and there. £1500 has just gone out of our bank account for Sassi’s citizenship application which we needed to apply for so that our travelling could be less complicated with both of us being British and who knows what happens with Brexit etc.. And the other reason is that this Christmas is going to be the most expensive Christmas for us due to Sassi’s family moving to Germany and not having a home in Hungary meaning that we will have to pay not only for our expenses but Sassi’s brothers and sisters expenses as well while we are in Hungary at Christmas. We also have to visit family in Germany before our world travel. Lets stop the rant about money for now though; we are learning to have faith and to trust that everything is under control. We have been letting our guest room out on airbnb and have had many guests staying with us. This has been a great way of saving some money and meeting people from all over the world. Check out our listing here, we will create a blog in which we will talk more about our hosting airbnb experience later on. And Nick’s parents Christmas gift has also eased our Christmas worries a bit, thank you.

What have we learnt about teaching English online so far

 

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We have applied and started teaching English on a couple of online platforms.

Sassi has a contract with 2 online platforms: DaDaABC and TutorABC. DaDaABC is a platform where teachers teach Chinese children, have a fixed contract and have to teach at least twice a week. It pays well (£13/hr)but teaching children is tiring and you don’t get a lot of rewards (the online staff don’t come across very appreciative) other than that you might get permanent students and get to see them progress. However, you have to be based in one location, therefore this platform will not suit us while we travel, can only give us experience in teaching. Sassi is planning to quit her contract with them at the end of January. TutorABC doesn’t pay very well (£5.60+ bonuses after students leave ratings) but it is a lot more flexible and it has been easier as you are mainly teaching adults. Sassi has taught 30 lessons so far and overall she has been paid about £7/45mins including the bonuses. Initially there were issues with TutorABC and occasionally it can be stressful when the students’ internet or headset doesn’t work or if they don’t use a headset but overall Sassi has found this platform the best so far. It also allows us to travel around but we will need to ensure that we have good internet connection while we travel. Nick has also signed up for it and has just had his training today. Sassi is also registered as an English teacher on Preply as well. There are lots of teachers on there and Preply takes a large cut out of the pay. But it is a good platform for start up teachers and once you work your way up it might become a way of earning some extra income. Since I have started I have 2 regular students through Preply.

Nick will carry on looking into other options for earning money, something that he might enjoy doing and could do while Sassi teaches English.

 

things-to-do-list-clipart-cross-off-the-163-things-that-b3swn0-clipart

  • Pray and prioritize God in all of our planning
  • Buy one way ticket to Sri Lanka
  • Quit DadaABC
  • Try out other Teaching English online platforms
  • Save money
  • Nick to look into other ways of earning money while travelling
  • Get British citizenship and passport
  • Learn languages. Nick: Chinese Sassi: German & Spanish
  • Look into private lettings and other ways we might be able to let our apartment out while we travel

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Ami Wager

    Wow, this sounds so exciting guys and I’m very jealous of your prolonged stay in the Phils! I’m off there in 36 days and am so excited, though sadly only going for a few weeks.
    Praying for you as you make plans, pray and save money!

    Much love, Ami xx

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