Want to move abroad but not sure where to start? Has your planning stalled? Don’t know yet where exactly you want to live?
Here’s something that promises to get you unstuck and help you find the overseas adventure that’s waiting for you.
Next month, Live & Invest Overseas will blow out all the stops and put on a conference for expats and wannabes that will talk about, not one or two, but 20 countries.
In a conference call recently, the company’s publisher, Kathleen Peddicord, promised the conference in Orlando, FL will be the most ambitious she’s ever been involved in during her 25 years as an adviser to expats.
“Our promise is to introduce you to the top 20 country choices worldwide. We’re focusing on three regions — Europe, Asia and the Americas.
“This won’t be a journlistic, theoretical look, it’ll be very real life with lots of how-tos and practical information.”
Last spring I attended the organization’s Live and Invest in Panama conference. I had promised to give you my honest opinion about whether it was worth the price of admission, and I did just that here.
I told you then that I wouldn’t advise ever attending one of these conferences — unless you’re really serious about moving abroad.
Frankly, I can’t wait to find out what their top 20 country picks are, and why. I have some educated guesses, based on the experts they’ve announced.
Here are the countries I think they’ll focus on, by region:
Asia
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Laos
- China
- The Philippines
Europe
- France, specifically the Languedoc and Aquitaine regions
- Spain
- Italy
- Ireland
- Croatia
The Americas
- Panama
- Nicaragua
- Ecuador
- Belize
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Uruguay
- Argentina
Of course, that’s only 19 countries. . . we’ll see if I’m right, and what the missing one is. . .
It’s happening in Orlando, FL on October 14-16, 2011 at Universal Studios. I’m arranging my schedule to be there.
They’ll Address Your Stumbling Block — Whatever It Is
Conference experts will address the most common stumbling blocks to an overseas move, and will answer questions like:
- How much money will I need?
- Should I rent or buy a home? How do I do that?
- What kind of visa is best for me, and how do I get it?
- I still need to earn an income, how do I do that?
- What about taxes?
- Healthcare and Insurance
They’ll hold workshops on each region, with breakout sessions for specific countries. . . You’ll meet other expats and people who are thinking about making their own international move. . . You’ll have the opportunity to talk with experts and get answers to your individual, specific questions. . .
In short, you’ll have a chance to get expert views on where you should think about going, and how to get there.
And, if it’s anything like the Panama conference I attended, you’ll have a lot of fun, too!
Click here for more information, then select “Retire Overseas Conference 2011” from the list at the left.
And if you decide to come to Orlando for the conference, let me know so we can meet up!
What’s your biggest obstacle to moving abroad? Leave a comment. . .
Man, I’d really love to attend this conference; but the $650 price tag (I’m a college student at the moment) and the fact that it takes place right during Fall Break is what breaks this deal for me.
But to answer your question, my biggest obstacle is finding the right ESL/TEFL certificate so I can start working. The university I go to offers one via a study-abroad program in the Czech Republic every summer, but it’s only 100 hours and cost $1600. The CELTA (which is considered THE world standard for English teaching certifications) is over 160 hours and costs about $2000. With money not being an issue (at graduation time next year; not at the present), I want to go for the CELTA, but there’s hardly any teaching centers in the USA…
Ed, it’s great that you’re looking/planning ahead.
While the CELTA is the top certification, is there a less expensive cert. you could get that’s generally accepted in the region where you want to teach? You might consider doing that, teaching for a bit, and then going for the CELTA. . .
There are tons of online certifications that are both from “cowboy” companies and legitimate institutions, but I personally want something where I’m in the classroom actually teaching students instead of doing lesson-based modules on a computer that’s at my own pace. The way the ESL/TEFL/TESOL job boom is going (it’s recession/depression proof!), many employers are looking for people with a certification at the very least. However, this generally applies to people who don’t have a background in education or English language studies.
The university I’m attending actually has an undergraduate degree in ESL/TESOL (although I wouldn’t be able to teach in the USA without a state certification, which I don’t care for anyway), and from what I have heard from different sources on job hunt boards, I actually should not even bother with a certification because my college degree will have much more weight than a teaching certificate. BUT, I was simply wanted to have all of my bases covered when I look for a teaching job abroad because you never know when you might find an employer that demands you have a TEFL certificate even if you have a degree in teaching English as a foreign language.