Putting on my school bag for the first time and waving goodbye to my parents or leaving my home to go to work for the first time did not mark the beginning of my life. The biggest change from what was formerly what I called my reality to what is now the actuality I have longed for, occurred when I went to a new country. And I don't mean to visit or sight-see, but to actually get an apartment, a job and settle down - well kind of.
I was 23-years-old, a west coast girl living in New York City. It had taken me seven strenuous months to find a decent job somewhat related to my field - magazine journalism. So I found myself working long hours in a rustic building in Chelsea close to the empire state building. It was a start-up job as a traffic assistant for an ad agency. Don't get me wrong, with clients like DKNY and Ralph Lauren to name a few, it all seemed quite glamorous. But, my life was whittling away with 60 hour work-weeks and it was becoming an industrial-era monotonous ritual of a job peppered with food and sleep. Nothing much else. After a few months of this, I wondered if my degree from a prestigious college had played a trick on me or was this the life I was supposed to accept for the next thirty-plus years.

Browsing frantically online one day at work, I found the TEFL program, short for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. I quickly applied and received an even quicker response. I don't know if being fired from this job a few weeks later was one of my biggest blessings ever, but it certainly made the decision to accept Spain's allure a whole lot easier. I made a conscious decision before I stepped on to that flight - well the second one after I missed the first - that I would make this a four-year learning experience. I would be prancing around Europe and wherever else I happened to land, thus expanding my horizons like no university ever could.

Teaching English at language schools and being a private English tutor in Madrid for one year; followed by a second year in Ljubljana, Slovenia; and a third as a teaching assistant in France and later Thailand, provided both a fascinating experience with both its ups and down-sides and a challenging and respectable way to earn a living abroad. First of all, I present the benefits of teaching English as opposed to obtaining the typical nine-to-fiver in your own country:

1. It is not hard to find a job - if you are a native speaker with collage experience - the world is basically waiting for you to show up at their doorstep.

2. The TEFL program, though it is not free - I spent $1,000 for a one month course and certificate - is a great way of networking and making friends who are also in the same boat and helps prepare you before stepping in front of a class.

3. Teaching others English simultaneously exposes you to the foreign language and helps you pick up some of its similarities and nuances that you wouldn't normally learn on the streets or with a book. It's like a two-in-one class: the student learns the desired language and the teacher learns the student's tongue.

4. It makes you more aware of other cultures and ways of doing things. You become a more flexible and open person because that's what teaching is about and teaching foreign students provides a completely different perspective while challenging your previously-held norms.

5. Money, of course.Depending on the country, you can start with no experience and earn generally equal or more than the average resident.

6. Freedom to travel. Generally the schools are also flexible and hours are low (usually 12-24 hours teaching time per week is plenty to live on) you will find taking time off easier, more holidays in general and of course, the entire summer to exploit your savings to the fullest as I did after nine months in Madrid I could support myself for the entire summer of fun-filled traveling.

Now, for the down-sides of teaching English as opposed to getting a home-grown means of work:

1. It is not as stable. Usually companies simply expect you to stay for one school season and then search for other new candidates that they can pay less.

2. It can sometimes get very tedious. For example, many companies, particularly in Asia require you to sign on for a one year or more contract and you can find out that the company and the country is not for you. I personally advise signing any contracts before going to the school. If they offer free airfare, there may be a good reason for it.

3. The students can sometimes become very trying. If you are stuck with a large class of high-school students who didn't choose to take the course in the first place, your job could become a living nightmare.

4. Sometimes it can feel very isolating. Everyone else has a different first language than you and jokes can become lost on both sides. Unless you are fluent in the other language, it can become a source of embarrassment and even ridicule as you get used to working with it.

5. Sometimes you can feel overwhelmed. It is a more interactive job and requires thinking on your toes and also preparing fresh lesson plans in advance. Of course, as you get used to it, the lesson plans get easier as you realize you can re-use the same ones, tweaking them in a matter of minutes.

6. Money, again. Sometimes classes end sooner than expected or the number of holidays was not properly calculated so you don't end up with as much as you expected. Also, students don't show up for tutor-sessions and a lot of cancellations occur, especially with business classes. It can be hard to fill up your schedule and you may have more down-time than expected.

7. The amount of traveling required. You came for the adventure of seeing new places, but end up spending much of the time transporting back and forth from corporations, houses and schools. Don't expect to be paid for travel time and bring a sandwich with you for when you get caught in a stalled train or an over-crowded bus.

Vesna Bouarab is co-founder of The Granapple, a web-based travel site helping to customize trips and providing many other travel-related services. Her site is http://www.thegranapple.com.