The International Schools Review Forum

Have been out 17 years. Only planned 10 but opportunities and watching the savings grow changed the plan. Now aging parents are pulling us home. Not only that, it would be nice to enjoy the comforts of home before we are actually retired. I worry that a couple of months later we would regret moving home. Some of the thrill of traveling is gone and the number of countries and schools we would consider have shrunk considerably. We are at a crossroads so appreciate reading the thoughts of others.

You will go home. You will enjoy it. But that bug will keep biting...

enjoy the time with the aging parents and if you have kids, enjoy the time with the three generations together. Make memories while you can!

I love life overseas. I'm pretty sure I could do this forever. Being away from family is not TOO big of an issue for me as there's Skype, I'm able to go home once a year, and some of my family members visit me from time to time too.

Some of you have mentioned being able to invest in the future (retirement) as one of the benefits of teaching abroad. For me, that is the one pitfall. In my home country, I was paying into a pension with each paycheck and a significant chunk of the money I made was also automatically put into retirement savings. I didn't 'net' as much there, but with the deductions taken into account I was technically making just as much or more than I am overseas.
I know that this means I need to be responsible for putting the money away on my own terms, but I think we all know that's easier said than done! So, for me, retirement/future planning is the biggest con of being overseas.

Other than that, I am so happy I made the leap!

I think I will teach abroad for the next 25 years. I may go back to the USA for 2-3 years to add an admin credential to my certificate but as soon as I got it, and it was permanent, I'd head back overseas. When those 25 years are up, if I'm forced out due to age, I will probably retire abroad too.

I've lived and worked overseas for fifteen years and never regretted it for a single moment. In fact, each year away from home has strengthened my resolve to stay abroad and all of this despite the fact that I've been stationed in the Middle East during those fifteen years! I'm about to embark on a new adventure to SE Asia; let the next chapter begin.

Im in IT for life.