Taking my baristaFIRE abroad!!
I have officially reached my number!! I'm able to leave my stressful job and take a more relaxed job teaching English overseas. My plan is one year in Prague, then off to Hong Kong for 4-5 years or so. The ESL pay isn't much, but I'm prepared for that. I was only making $1800 a month teaching English in Japan before we came back to the US. The biggest shake up was going from less than $2k a month to over $10k. Yet, we avoided lifestyle creep by living on only 40% of what we make. Surprisingly, it wasn't too difficult because we live in remote Alaska and there isn't much to spend it on anyway.
Hong Kong pays a lot more, but I need a recent year of classroom teaching to go with my MEd and Prague is where I'll be taking my in person TEFL class to refresh my skills as I haven't taught English since February 2025. Has anyone else looked at baristaFIRE abroad? What made you decide to go and where did you settle down? We won't be returning to the US, I'm already 51 so my husband and I will be leaving Hong Kong and heading straight to the Philippines (which we love) to retire in Baguio. We've been global nomads since we sold everything and moved out of the US in 2022. Coming back was never part of the plan, but I'm glad that we did for this two-year contract. This sub has provided so much great information. Good luck out there!!