Category Archives: Lets Go Go Go – Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures

About Us - Series - Beginnings, Home Schooling, Local Schools, Mission Schools, or International Schools, International Schools, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Outreach Options, Transportation

“Over here we live like kings, but back home we are like everyone else!” – The South African diplomat said to me as we toured their palatial dwelling in Seoul, South Korea

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Somewhere on Lake Annecy, France – You never know where your travels for outreach may take you! 🙂 CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet 🙂

 South African Embassy Friends – Over here we live like kings! …

We were based among the rolling lush green hills and mountains of South Korea. My friend from church  was from South Africa and taught at a local village Hogwon English school while I was teaching at the local university in a nearby city. She said, “Well let’s get on with it … how about skip down with us to Seoul for a visit. We can stay at my friend’s house from the South African Embassy. So my wife and I said sure and off we went. Seoul is a large metropolis of 10 or so million folks. It is an ultra modern city covered with towering glassy apartments that are quite expensive. But our embassy friend, one of zillions we would meet overseas, lived in a sprawling small mansion with a zillion rooms to spare. It was a fun visit. And she said to us, “Over here we live like kings, but back home we live just like everyone else!” I marvelled at the remark, but it pretty much sums up my life over here overseas.

Everyone has a maid, nanny or chef?

Continue reading “Over here we live like kings, but back home we are like everyone else!” – The South African diplomat said to me as we toured their palatial dwelling in Seoul, South Korea →

Financial Independence and Early Retirement, International Jobs, International School Teacher Education, International Schools, Investing Overseas, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Local or International Retirement, Outreach Options, Real Estate - Rent, Buy, or Investment Properties and Where?

Live the dream – Live and work internationally as a teacher – Retire early, become financially independent and/or buy a holiday house – All Over the World

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Chamonix Mont Blanc, France – You never know where your travels may take you for outreach! CPO, From the far side of the planet!

My story – A little

I work as an international school teacher … so I am able to live, work and stay anywhere in the world that I can get a job. I am F.I. (Financially Independent), but not R.E. (Retired Early). In fact I have become a multi-millionaire by living and investing overseas. So I am free to do outreach work as an international expat until I die.

I live in Asia and travel around the world or locally or back to North America as I get 3 months holidays each year. In the past 3 years we have been to Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and China and the like. My homebase is here in Asia  and so I have a green card too.

Thus I am kind of like a dual citizen. I don’t need a Visa …

Where are my colleagues and classmates now or have worked?

International schools are cool! Heck living overseas as an international expat is cool! Who wouldn’t want to travel the world and get paid to do it.

 

Continue reading Live the dream – Live and work internationally as a teacher – Retire early, become financially independent and/or buy a holiday house – All Over the World →

Church, Family, Home Schooling, Local Schools, Mission Schools, or International Schools, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Linguistics and Language Learning, Outreach Options

Local Overseas Schools? Series Part #2 , Your child’s education and what you should do about it? , Local schools for expats and is it right for you? … While in an overseas expat context? Is it worth it? This blog will explore some of these ideas … By CPO, from the far side of the planet! :)

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Somewhere in Semi-Tropical Hong Kong – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

Local Overseas Schools? … By CPO, from the far side of the planet!

One of the choices international expat families choose for their children is local schools. These schools usually come in 2 or 3 different flavours – pure local schools, local schools that cater to foreign expatriate families and variations of the above in the private school sector but are not international schools with a foreign curriculum.

Advantages

The advantages to such local schools is many fold, but namely they boil down to flexibility, culture, languages and saving money.

Flexibility

So why do you say flexibility? The reasons are perhaps obvious and not so obvious. First of all is location, location, location. When it comes to local schools they are everywhere and usually in close proximity to your home. Near our home are a zillion kindergartens, Primary Schools, Middle Schools and High Schools. So if you add local schools to your mix of choices, your options multiply exceedingly. Depending on where you live there will usually be a large range of school options near to your doorstep.

Around Hong Kong Bay – – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

What About The Cultural Bubble World?

Continue reading Local Overseas Schools? Series Part #2 , Your child’s education and what you should do about it? , Local schools for expats and is it right for you? … While in an overseas expat context? Is it worth it? This blog will explore some of these ideas … By CPO, from the far side of the planet! 🙂 →

About Us - Series - Beginnings, Financial Independence and Early Retirement, International Jobs, Investing Overseas, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Local or International Retirement, Real Estate - Rent, Buy, or Investment Properties and Where?

I thought of entitling this blog, “How I became a multi-millionaire?” But Chose Instead – Financial Independence? How to build a nest egg as an international expat living overseas? Frugal necessity helps! By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet

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Climbing Mountains Somewhere In Switzerland – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

I thought of entitling this blog, “How I became a multi-millionaire?” But … :), By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet

I thought of entitling this blog, “How I became a multi-millionaire?” But thought that maybe too precocious? Then thought of a more pragmatic title, “Financial Independence? How to build a nest egg as an international expat living overseas? Frugal necessity helps!” Hmm perhaps both titles are okay seeing there is an element of truth in both headings.

Student Debt – Climbing Out of the Pit

When I first came overseas, I had just finished a Master Degree and had a mountainous student loan. My parents had helped me out with student living costs and I did a lot of side jobs along the way from camp counselor for youths with disabilities to tutoring foreign students learning English, but I still had a sizable debt of around $20,000. I didn’t even have a song to my name …

Penniless in Asia  🙂

Continue reading I thought of entitling this blog, “How I became a multi-millionaire?” But Chose Instead – Financial Independence? How to build a nest egg as an international expat living overseas? Frugal necessity helps! By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet →

International Jobs, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Linguistics and Language Learning, Outreach Options, Uncategorized

Yo ho, ho! A CPO Diplomat’s life for me?  Life as a diplomat ….? By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet

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Around Lake Geneva, Switzerland  – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

A CPO Diplomat’s life for me?  Life as a diplomat ….?

Yo ho, ho  – and a bottle of orange juice?  …. Oops I mean, a CPO Diplomat’s life for me? Hmmm maybe or maybe not? But there are different options… but before we go exploring plan B options let’s also look at how difficult it is to get into the diplomatic core.

I remember my first awakening to this world. We were at a university bible study meeting for the Navigators and a fellow named Scott started chatting with me … I come from a fairly small town along the beaches of the Great Lakes … which I mentioned to him and he said,  “Oh I will be swimming in the Indian Ocean for Christmas.”  I said what? In confusion … looking out at the snow ( … and dreaming of tropical beaches far away) … seeing my small town mind had never come against such a being …. India???? I said??? Ocean??? I said. And he said, “Yes my parents work for the embassy as diplomats and we have lived all over the world” … He said matter of factly, “We were in Russia on our last posting!”  Well it was a world I didn’t even know existed except distantly as the background of some adventure movie.

My imagination was piqued.

Continue reading Yo ho, ho! A CPO Diplomat’s life for me?  Life as a diplomat ….? By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet →

About Us - Series - Beginnings, International Jobs, International Schools, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Outreach Options

Targeted International School Job Searches – A Job Affair? – Your 2 Best Job Finder Friends – Series # 2

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Black Forest, Germany – Apples Free to Pick – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO

(What if I said you could get a ticket to virtually ANY OF THE 195 COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD by becoming a CPO … – … And it  is relatively easy … ??? Well that is what this website endeavors to help you to do.)

***  Clueless in Asia???

By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet! 🙂

Yes that was me when I first arrived on the international scene so many moons ago… I found a job via this new fangled thing called the Internet in the 90’s and have never looked back…. but did wonder how to go forward.

I Remember it Well!!!!?! 🙂

I remember it well …. getting off the plane in a run-down airport, masses of bicycles swarming the streets, meandering dark ally-ed village like ancient streets and housing, maze like labyrinths of convoluted byways with wafting smells and odours from refuse, cooking or outhouses, coal burning heaters and cookers with smokey haze rising … scenting and coating everything with coal dust … strange foods that surprised with delight and street food with food poisoning … it was a different world for me …

The Dark Side????! 🙂

Continue reading Targeted International School Job Searches – A Job Affair? – Your 2 Best Job Finder Friends – Series # 2 →

International Jobs, International Schools, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Outreach Options

Targeted International School Job Searches – By City or Country – Series # 1

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Tokyo, Japan – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO.

(What if I said you could get a ticket to virtually ANY OF THE 195 COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD by becoming a CPO … – … And it  is relatively easy … ??? Well that is what this web site endeavors to help you to do.)

Virtual Tourism? 🙂  … Ooops I mean Job Search – There are many ways to search …..

There are many ways to search the international school job scene. The experienced teacher to the expat world will find this obvious, but for newbies you may find this article useful.

Having said that … maybe some of you old hands may find a few variations here that you have forgotten about too.

A lot of teachers take the shotgun approach, and we will explain more on that in following posts …. but lets look at the question ….

“But what if don’t wanna teach just anywhere?!!!” I have a dream….!!!

Continue reading Targeted International School Job Searches – By City or Country – Series # 1 →

Financial Independence and Early Retirement, In the News, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Local or International Retirement, Outreach Options, Transportation

In the News …. Retirement Options … Full Time Cruise Life vs Assisted Living, By CPO – From the Far Side of the Planet

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Fun Options to Live Internationally, Even in The Twilight Years

Live the Dream?! 🙂 … Have you ever dreamed of living on a cruise ship – FULL TIME? (By CPO, From the Far Side of the Planet) Lake Annecy, France

Live the Dream?! 🙂 … Have you ever dreamed of living on a cruise ship – FULL TIME?

Of course I have heard of and knew some folks lived full time on cruise ships, but it never occurred to me as a possible option for retirement living, let alone for assisted living.

If you have the means to retire … it is surprisingly cheap!

Surprisingly the costs are much the same, around a $100 dollars a day or less with senior discounts.

Oceania Cruises

Continue reading In the News …. Retirement Options … Full Time Cruise Life vs Assisted Living, By CPO – From the Far Side of the Planet →

About Us - Series - Beginnings, Financial Independence and Early Retirement, International Jobs, Lets Go Go Go - Travel and Travel Hacking and Other Adventures, Local or International Retirement, Outreach Options

Christian Professionals Overseas – Series – Part 1 – About Us

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Shanghai – You never know where your travels may take you and what opportunities there are for outreach … :), By CPO.

(What if I said you could get a ticket to virtually ANY OF THE 195 COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD by becoming a CPO … – … And it  is relatively easy … ??? Well that is what this website endeavors to help you to do.)

 

My name is Michael and my wife’s name is Yan.

Continue reading Christian Professionals Overseas – Series – Part 1 – About Us →