How can you quit your shitty job, move to a tropical paradise & get paid to make the world a better place? Here’s how - in less than six weeks!

After reading the title of this blog post, you can be excused for thinking, ‘that’s a long title’ or ‘the timeframe isn’t achievable. I’ll roll over on the long title, but I’m not budging on the timeframe. If you follow the roadmap, your crap job will be a thing of the past. You’ll be in that yet unmentioned tropical paradise, making a decent income that will allow you to save, most probably like never before. Whether you’re a Member of Parliament, a ‘Sparky’ or a Product Synergy Specialist (you work on the drive-through at Maccas), you can be there within six weeks. My ‘pinkies’ are crossed. Are yours?

Roadmap – Step one: ‘Quit your shitty job’    

This will be the easiest or the most challenging phase in our three-step roadmap. It will be easy if you don’t like the people you work with. It will tough if the people around you are besties. Good mates are hard to find, and in your shitty job, you have endured the same horrible experience. If you’re in the ‘shitty job, but bestie’ camp, I expect that some serious bonding occurred in the face of adversity.

Let’s assume that you dislike the people at your workplace. How can you quit with minimal fuss? I’ve gone through this a few times in my working life, and the best approach is a simple letter typed on your desktop or laptop. It should be: 1. dated, 2. addressed to your employer, 3. include the words ‘I want to let you know that I will finish up at (name of company) on (day and date)’, and 4. signed by you. It’s that simple. You’re ‘outta’ there! Bye-bye.

If you like the people at your workplace, quitting is similar, but take steps to keep in touch with your work chums and organise a night out at a local pub to say goodbye. Many employers will cover the bar tab when friends and valued colleagues move on. So, there’s no need to get stressed about quitting. People do it all the time.

Let’s do a time check. Seven days’ notice is often ample when you’re quitting a job. This roadmap provides a total timeframe of ‘A to Z’ within six weeks. We are now at the end of week one.

Roadmap – Step two: ‘Move to a tropical paradise’

I know you’ve been waiting patiently for the name of the tropical paradise to be revealed! The time has come.

You’re heading to the promised land on day 8, 9 or 10 of our ‘roadmap’, depending on your commitments. My version of the ‘promised land’ isn’t Jerusalem, although it’s a lovely place to visit any time of the year. My promised land is Vietnam, specifically Ho Chi Minh City. While all roads may have led to Jerusalem in biblical times, in this post-Covid era, the hot tip from smart people who know about these things is, get to Ho Chi Minh City - and set yourself up as an English teacher. Why Ho Chi Minh City? Why set yourself up as an English teacher? I will answer your questions, but first, let me share a quick story.

In 1852, my great-great grandfather, Henry Goudge, threw caution to the wind (literally, he travelled by sailboat) and moved from St. Teath in Cornwall, England - with his first love - Ms Jane Spear, to Loddon in Victoria, Australia. Why? He was a skilled miner, there was a gold rush in Victoria at that time, and his prospects were bleak. In addition, Henry wanted a better life for himself and his missus. He went on to have 14 children (and two wives) and, by all accounts, lived a productive life.

Now, back to the two questions: 1 ‘why Ho Chi Minh City’? 2. why set yourself up as an English teacher? I will deal with the two questions simultaneously.  

Henry was a skilled miner. He knew his skills were in demand in Loddon. You have ‘half-decent’ English language skills, reading, writing, listening, and speaking, either because you were born in a country where English is the main language or through nothing short of bloody hard work. Either way, your skills are in demand in Ho Chi Minh City. Henry wanted a better life for himself and those around him. Teaching English in Ho Chi Minh City will provide you with an expat lifestyle, a 20-to-25-hour work week and a savings capacity that’s not available in your home country. If there’s a Holy Grail for teaching English abroad, ‘Ho Chi Minh City’ will be prominently etched on it.

Step check and time check time! You’ve quit your horrible job. You’ve moved to a tropical country. Let’s say you’ve been in Ho Chi Minh City for three days. This means you’re now at day 14 (ish), including travel time. “Bring on the next Step”, I hear you say. Just like old Henry Goudge in 1852, you have the wind in your sails!

Roadmap – Step three: ‘Get paid to make the world a better place’  

This is where the serious fun starts, and you reap the rewards of making a conscious decision to repurpose your skills.

Through good luck or serious work, you have the English skills needed to nail down a job as an English language teacher and contribute towards plugging a noticeable service gap. But there’s a problem. Is the problem insurmountable? Should this roadmap be repurposed into confetti? Here’s the problem. You have the English skills that are needed to teach the language, but you don’t have the teaching knowledge, skills and government-regulated certification that are central to carving out an expat lifestyle. The solution … Do the in-class, 27 days (+/-), Australian Government-accredited TESOL programme at AVSE-TESOL in Ho Chi Minh City.

AVSE-TESOL is a one-stop-shop for teaching knowledge, skills, top-shelf certification and, most importantly, as a newcomer to teaching English in Ho Chi Minh City – job placement at a quality school. Complete the Aussie Government-accredited TESOL programme at AVSE-TESOL, and they’ll have you in an ESL teaching job in Ho Chi Minh City within days of completing the course. You’ll be leading an expat lifestyle in a tropical paradise (as promised); you’ll have a 20-to-25-hour work week (as promised); you’ll be making the world a better place (as promised) by shaping the next generation - and you’ll be saving more money than ever before.

Let’s do one last step check and time check. You quit your shitty job – seven to ten days. You moved to a tropical country (day 14ish). You acquired teaching knowledge, skills, and quality TESOL certification – and a paid teaching job with help from AVSE-TESOL in Ho Chi Minh City - add 27 days. Here’s the math: 14 days + 27 days = 41 days = less than six weeks. You did it.  

Conclusion

In 1852, Henry Goudge risked his life by travelling in an overcrowded boat to a place he’d never been before because he thought he could have a better life. Four generations later, there’s ample evidence that Henry contributed to making the world better. I see Ho Chi Minh City in this ‘post’ Covid period mirroring the goldfields that captured Henry’s attention 170 years ago. The only question that remains: What date will you arrive in Ho Chi Minh City?

About the writer: Peter Goudge is the Managing Director (and founder) of AVSE-TESOL in Cairns, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Phnom Penh. For more than 17 years, AVSE-TESOL has been creating pathways for people from around the world to teach English in Vietnam and Cambodia. Check out the AVSE-TESOL website: www.avse.edu.vn