Dear GoMad Nomad:

I’m low on cash but still want to travel, what should I do? Go into further debt and live life in the moment, or do the prudent thing and save up my money?

-Broke In Brooklyn

Dear Broke in Brooklyn:

My first advice is to get the heck out of Brooklyn! You’ll save up more money living in the sticks. But, yeah, yeah, I know you want to be at the epicenter of Hipsterdom.

Anyhow, to answer your question: Don’t go into debt! But…you can still travel on very limited funds. The options are limitless.

Since you don’t have money, I’m assuming you have time.  You can spend that extra time that you normally spend nursing PBRs on Bedford Ave, researching and planning out your travel.

First thing you’ll have to understand about cheap/budget travel is that it happens very slowly. You’ll have to opt for the pueblo bus over the bullet train; and if you’re going to hitch, you’ll have a lot of time to perfect your hacky sack skills while waiting for your free rides. So I’d reserve anywhere from two months to a year for this expedition.

If you just happen to have graduated from college and don’t know what to do, check out this fantastic post over at Almost Fearless.

Since you have the time, I would highly recommend volunteering, “helping,” working, and temporarily residing in the places you plan on visiting. This will allow you to actually experience the place and get to know the people you have traveled so far to visit.

Volunteering

This one is tricky. You want to avoid paying a fee to volunteer. I don’t mind helping others, but I don’t like to have to pay for that privilege, and neither should you. Check out these awesome articles for low-cost or free volunteering opportunities in Nepal, the West Bank, and Spain. Transitions Abroad Magazine is also an incredible resource for volunteering abroad info.

Help Exchange

Before I started teaching English in Madrid, I almost took a gig helping an English couple in Brittany restore an old train station into a B & B. I would have helped them for four hours a day and they would have fed me and given me a room in their home. The rest of the day I could spend working on my writing projects with the help of their wireless internet. I used Help Exchange to connect with these people in need of a helper. But the dream was never realized.

Working

Get to the Caribbean or cross the Atlantic while working aboard a yacht. Skippers in ports far and wide are always looking for a crew that preferably speaks their language and may or may not have sailing experience. Good sites to connect skippers and crew: Crewfinders, Yacht Crew Register, or Dovaston Crew.

Temporarily Residing

A great option is house sitting. I kind of want to make a career out of this, except it doesn’t pay very well. Why not take care of the perritos and water Señora Torres’ garden for the month August while she’s vacationing at her other home on the Canaries? You’ll probably need a good reference before strangers will entrust you with their home and animals. Use Mind My House, House Careers, or House Sit World.

So if you combine a little traveling in between some of these ideas, you’ll have a well-rounded trip.  Use couchsurfing for accommodation read up on hitchhiking before you leave.

-Stephen

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By Jett Thomason

I recently had my first month-long work trip to Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. The trip represented a number of firsts. First time to Africa. First time to be jetting around for quick site visits rather than long-term job assignments. And first time to be representing the US government in the field with the official passport and all.

Rwanda was the first country to visit on my tour. In pre-trip reading up on the country, it was impossible to find a travel narrative that doesn’t wax poetic at the sight of small villages nestled in the misty hills and tilled plots stretching up on all sides of volcanic soil-laden slopes. And for good reason, the place is postcard bucolic beautiful. It was also impossible to find an English-language book that doesn’t also drift into commentary on “the unimaginable horror of the 1994 genocide and the subsequent re-birth of the country in an ethnicity-blind, forward-looking example of an African success story”. More on that later.

My first outing beyond the capital was to western Rwanda. In a steep mountain village several hours off the nearest paved roads, my agency has been financing a cooperative of pineapple growers that are trying to produce and sell juice for the local market. Seeing them for the first time, I marveled at the precision engineering imparted from years of selective planting. The plants rise up straight with a single pineapple resting on a short stalk. The long leaves on the top provide the perfect handle for plucking the fruit. The eyes on the side of the pineapple start to get dry just as it is at its ripest, avoiding any question about the best time to harvest, and when ripe the skin slices off easily enough but prevents birds and other animals from getting to the crop before you do.

So far, the cooperative has been making juice by laboriously slicing pieces of pineapple into small chunks and then hand-squeezing the pieces between two cutting boards. Our grant is financing a proper juicer that should dramatically decrease the amount of time and physical exertion needed for this stage. The cooperative has been incredibly productive even with this strictly manual effort, juicing, pasteurizing, and selling thousands of bottles of juice. When I saw the stockroom, the bottles had slightly misspelled English labels, but were fairly professional in appearance. It took me a minute to realize that the cooperative has recovered empty Heineken bottles for re-use. Since the beer company is one of the few in Rwanda to not recycle, it’s the first choice for a locally sustainable and affordable juice company like our grantee.

I thought that my few years of French would carry me far in Rwanda, but English is the dominant non-native language and has been ever since 1994. The genocide that started then ended when rebels, formerly based in English-speaking Uganda, swept over the country and seized control. While this linguistic heritage has served me conveniently in the capital city, out in the countryside I have to rely on the translations of our staff for communication. The Rwandan groups I have met are invariably warm and welcoming, but the intermediary translation has definitely affected my impressions of their culture.

There is a tendency for Rwandans to make a deep “mmmmm” sound as part of conversation. The sound is not a rising-then-falling “mmmmm” voicing of satisfaction. It’s much more a starts-high-then-goes-low murmur that I have decided is a mix of basic acknowledgement, indication of understanding, polite demonstration of the listener’s attention, and sometimes agreement. I have to admit I was startled the first time when the entire room filled up with this sound at exactly the same time.

“We’re very happy to see your strong progress and improvements to the facility as we begin this grant’s disbursement”, I say.

My colleague translates and then suddenly the room fills with the first “mmmmm”.

“My role in Washington is to compile the financial data and memorandums to help get projects funds to you as quickly as we can.”

Translation in Kinyarwanda, then “MMMMMM”. Increased volumes always coincided with statements related to getting funds out quickly.

photo credit: Shared Interest

I then launch into my carefully crafted statement, likening the grant process to the current preparations for the coming rainy season. They have plowed the fields and readied the grain; we are assisting with outside monies that will, like the rain, allow their work to yield a strong harvest. It is fitting, respectful, and I smugly reflect on how well the metaphor applies to the role of a rich donor country in development.

Once the translator is finished, I’m met with a quiet, fairly polite “mmm”. Not quite the rousing murmur response I had been hoping for. As we discuss some grant paperwork, the translator explains one of the first forms to be signed. A commitment to a drug-free workplace, slightly ridiculous in a country and in a village where subsistence agriculture effectively prices everyone out of a market for recreational drug use, is one of the first standard items we have to cover. It is, after all, US government money being used for the project.

Upon translation, “MMMMMM” breaks out immediately and then strong, enthusiastic clapping to this passage. The country representative and I look at each other in surprise.

“I guess they like that one,” he says.

As mentioned, it is literally impossible to find any books in my public library’s system that both discuss Rwanda but omit mention of the 1994 genocide. To broadly summarize, the majority Hutu people, who had until relatively recently been shut out of power and privilege, took up machetes and butchered nearly a million of their minority Tutsi countrymen. In the immediate wake of the genocide, the Tutsi rebel forces swept down into the country from northern strongholds, drove out the genocidaires, and proclaimed the end of ethnicity and a new beginning for the country. They also quietly re-assumed their traditional dominance of the organs of political and military power.

The new arrangement has largely worked with no breakouts of violence for more than a decade and a strong record of economic growth. That being said, for all the discussion of the genocide in the literature and even a Hollywood movie Hotel Rwanda, I have gotten a sense that any actual discussion of the events is something not suited for polite conversation while actually in Rwanda.

Instead, there are subtle clues and hints as to a person’s ethnicity. Many of the persecuted minority spent years in Tanzania and Uganda as refugees. They learned English, were exposed to more modern economies, and they have assumed many positions in international organizations like ours. There is no mention of the word “Tutsi”, but the term “returnee” seems to be an acceptable code word.

During one moment of a heated meeting with a company director on a different project visit, I caught a glimpse of the issue’s weight on the country or at least on how they want to present themselves to outsiders. I had to negotiate access to the director’s financial records by one of our staff members who the director has claimed is out to smear his reputation. As discussion becomes heated, he blurts out, “Do you know about the genocide? Do you know what happened here?”

I have no idea where this came from, we’re communicating in my slow, rusty French, and I am left slightly speechless. His colleagues struggle to jump in at this point.

“No! It’s something that cut to the heart of Rwanda! I won’t back down! I can’t allow this inspection visit from that staff member!”

Five members of his management team alternately plead in their Kinyarwanda language with him, while trying to anxiously steer the conversation away from the whole issue. My staff’s uncomfortable, I can see the managing director is angry and yet also embarrassed at his own outburst, his nearby wife appears mortified. I am more befuddled, trying to understand where this suddenly came from. Maybe a people beaten and subjected to such violence live with the scars under the surface. Or maybe this simply an irrational businessman who is used to getting his way and when pressed decides to claim victimhood so I will back down. There is a vein of truth running below the cultural surface that I won’t understand on this eight-day visit.

After visiting the pineapple growers’ cooperative, my team and I overnight in a small guesthouse.  Rising early, we drive back to the capital on a Sunday morning. The roads are crowded with people, Hutus in this case, who are making their way to Sunday church service. Shorter, darker skinned, and with broader facial features than my Tutsi staff members, there is no way to really believe that the issue of ethnicity and race is behind this country just yet. Rather than talk about the obvious features, I make a simple comment about how these rural people appear to be quite religious and diligent in their observation.

“One hand with the Bible and one hand with the machete,” says a staff member sitting in the car. “That’s the kind of religion these people have.” I say nothing. The other staff member simply murmurs a soft “mmmmm”.

Jett Thomason is now a program analyst managing small grants projects in Africa. The views expressed are entirely his own opinion and in no way are representative of any government or other institution. Over the past decade his travels and work have taken him throughout the former Soviet Republics and Europe to Afghanistan and Iraq.

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click photo for a Nepal and VEC slide show

By Beau Miller

Volunteering in the Himalayas has never been more accessible, affordable, or important.

“As dew is dried by the morning sun,

So are mankind’s sins at the sight of the Himalayas.”

-         The Puranas

In this world there are mountain people and there are beach people. This one is for the mountain people and for the mountain people who don’t know they’re mountain people. There aren’t a lot of chances to live in an honest-to-God Himalayan village these days. Here’s one: Village Environment Community Gangkharka (VEC), a small NGO with a long name.

Based out of Gangkharka village in Helambu, Nepal, this organization has ten years experience performing healthcare and education projects, as well as sustainable development and heritage preservation. Helambu is a neglected region of Nepal, and VEC is the only NGO working in the area. While much of Nepal’s aid money goes to the Everest region, Helambu twiddles its thumbs. Or at least it has until now.

VEC built a school in Gangkharka last year, in the face of an exodus from Himalayan villages. Its president, Dorjee Netup Sherpa, a former trekking guide, has committed himself to the development of his home region. His commitment shows from the very moment he meets you at the airport in Kathmandu.

photo credit: Anna Tomasdottir

Where is it?

Helambu is located about fifty miles north of Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu. But it takes about ten hours to get there on the windy mountain roads—four-and-a-half by jeep or bus, and the rest on foot. Perched on a Himalayan mountainside is Gangkharka, a tiny village whose extinction in the near future might have been guaranteed if it weren’t for VEC. Now it’s the site of a boarding school with 108 students, ages 4-15, and a full faculty and staff, including a Buddhist lama who teaches the students Tibetan and meditation.

Distressed by the lack of jobs in Kathmandu and unwilling to go abroad, many families originally from the Helambu area are now returning to Gangkharka and nearby Bangdang village, encouraged by VEC’s progress.

Volunteering

Volunteers with VEC can fill any number of roles in Gangkharka, and they can do so without the costly program fees of volunteering with many other organizations in Nepal. For about three dollars a day, volunteers are set up with a host family close to their volunteer placement. They are given Sherpa or Nepali language lessons to help ease communication, and they have the opportunity to leave a very tangible and positive contribution to the lives of the Helambu Sherpa, Tamang, and Yolmo populations.

Volunteers can choose between teaching at the Pasang Memorial Community Boarding School, Gangkharka’s first and only boarding school, working on the village’s organic farm, or serving as a member of a team of medical volunteers. Opportunities abound. Any number of projects could be going on during a volunteer’s stay. VEC currently has funding proposals being reviewed for a new addition at the school as well as for the micro-hydroelectricity installation.

The organization is also working on creating athletic fields for the students at the school, so coaching may also be a possibility. Another project VEC is working on is the Helambu Histories project. Teams of volunteers and VEC staff, as well as some students from the boarding school will be interviewing elders in several Helambu villages to talk about their life experiences. The goal is to gather folk stories and the unique perspectives of Helambu people on crucial events in the region’s history, such as the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the increased contact with the West.

Upon arrival in Nepal, volunteers are met at the airport by Dorjee or a VEC staff member. Housing is coordinated prior to arrival, and a VEC volunteer has the chance to unload and rest before receiving an in-country briefing with VEC staff. Then, early one morning on an agreed upon date, the volunteer(s) and a guide make the trip to Gangkharka. The trek to Gangkharka is not terribly strenuous, but it is recommended that volunteers be in reasonably good physical shape. Gangkharka’s altitude is lower than that of Denver, Colorado, but it is possible to go as high as 14,000 ft. if one takes advantage of the discounted trekking available to long-term volunteers.

There is currently no internet in Gangkharka, but volunteers schedule guided trips to Kathmandu and relative civilization. There is a landline phone at the school where calls can be received, but otherwise volunteers may find themselves without many of the 21^st century comforts they are used to. There are bathing facilities available, if one considers a small shack with a big pot of heated water a bathing facility.

Why Volunteer Here

In Gangkharka, a volunteer’s time is rewarded with spectacular views of the Himalayas and a unique opportunity to live in a community renowned for its hospitality. What little the host families have, they share. Sitting inside a tidy, if more than a little smoky, Sherpa home, there will be plenty of opportunities to acquire a taste for the butter tea for which Himalayan communities are (in)famous. Few people on earth can make a stranger feel more at home than the people of Gangkharka—though a volunteer may find life more difficult to bear during the summer monsoon season.

The development work conducted by VEC may be a last ditch effort to preserve Helambu communities like Gangkharka. The culture is facing its greatest crisis as many parents pursue job opportunities overseas, leaving their children in the care of boarding schools often much less keen to the idea of cultural preservation than the school run by VEC. Instead of the colorful pullover jumpers, smart little ties, and shiny black loafers that constitute many school uniforms in Nepal these days, the students in Gangkharka where traditional Himalayan dress: chubhas for girls and Tibetan-style tunics for the boys.

The potential for sustainable development gives Gangkharka an advantage to ensure this can happen, and international volunteers have the opportunity to contribute to its revitalization and the preservation of a culture that has long captured the imagination of the West.

If You Go:

Website: www.vec.org.np

Recruiter/FAQs: vecvolunteers@gmail.com

There’s a $75 processing fee for VEC (airport pickup, guide, housing coordination, language lessons, etc.). The $3 a day goes directly to the host family.

Beau Miller is a Master’s candidate at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs. He has worked as a volunteer Project Manager for VEC, and his writing has appeared in The New Brewer and Adbusters.

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By Emolyn Liden

an English language summer camp outside Madrid

With job opportunities, decent pay, and a fun atmosphere, Madrid is hard to top for an ESL teacher.

For ESL teachers in Europe, Madrid is an appealing city to base yourself for a year or more and there’s no denying it’s an exciting place to live. Add to this: fantastic weather, friendly locals (known as Madridleños), abundant cultural events, world-class art, and unparalleled nightlife.

But take a moment to think. Take a real moment. The first thing to consider is if Madrid is right for you.

Knowing it is possible

The minute you start speaking about your interest to teach English abroad those hearing you will pipe up, “Oh my friend’s daughter just went to Peru to teach English” or “I know someone who is teaching English in Japan and loves it. She just decided to extend her stay.” The fact is teaching English as a second language is the way to make a living abroad. Once you have chosen your location, like Madrid, you have made the most important decision. Location is key because in essence you can teach virtually anywhere. You may only stay there for a year, a glimpse of time in regard to a lifetime, but this place is going to be your home, a base from which you can travel.

Is a certification necessary?

Language academies will expect teachers to have a TEFL degree or at least a certification. You may have decided to live abroad for the experience and to travel, but academies want to see that you are serious about teaching. They won’t be fooled. Many academies will hire with a few years experience in lieu of a certificate. Keep in mind, organizations may choose someone with a certification first.

EBC International is one of the many programs in Madrid where you can receive proper certification. Like most programs, the EBC course lasts four weeks. Upon completion you will receive a dual certification in TEFL and TESOL, and as an alum will have access to EBC’s lifetime, world-wide career support service. This means that EBC will send your resume to academies and be your primary reference. If later you decide to move to another city, they will provide you with the same service, and get you connected to academies. The dual TEFL and TESOL allows you to teach anywhere worldwide. If you stop teaching and begin again in five years, EBC will connect you with academies wherever you choose.

Another credited program is the Canterbury English TEFL Course which claims to be the most affordable option whereby you work for Canterbury after ending the program as a way to cover some of the cost of the course. They advertise that you are guaranteed a job with Canterbury which is enticing in today’s job market. This arrangement is both liked and disliked by those who have completed the program. Some feel it is a way to begin teaching immediately while paying less to become certified. Others feel it restricts the openness and flexibility of their schedule since the main teaching hours are devoted to the service of the agreement. However, this agreement can be viewed as a trial run for a class. Once the hours have been completed you may be able to keep the class which could lead to other opportunities.

None the less, completing a certification program is a guaranteed way to get experience organizing lesson plans and teaching and is recommended for any one who has no experience teaching.

The interviewing process

Once you acquire a certification, the job hunt begins. EBC and other programs will send out your resume and language schools are quick to call. For this reason it is important to have a cell phone to schedule appointments. Academies rarely schedule through email and you want to avoid just dropping by. English teachers are in high demand and what you may find is that academies are eager to hire. Prepare yourself by doing a number of things prior to the interview.

Think about your rate of pay. Depending on the interviewer, pay may be negotiable. Consider how far you will travel to teach a course. Weigh options of working block-hours as opposed to scattered hours with breaks in between. Do you want to work freelance or sign a contract? The two most important items to bring with you to an interview are: a calendar and a city map. The worst scenario as a new teacher is agreeing to teach a class in the north and another in the south with not enough time allowed for travel in between. You do not want to discover the hard way, by running from the metro to the office door, skidding into the classroom with sweat dripping down your face to greet your new students, that thirty minutes is an unrealistic amount of time to cross the city. Not a good first impression.

If you have numerous academies that call to schedule interviews accept as many as you can fit in. You may feel like you are running around but you will learn so much when able to compare work situations. Observe the atmosphere of the office and imagine yourself working among the rooms, making copies, and preparing lesson plans. Does the academy offer teaching resources? Do they provide a book or curriculum? Pay attention to the mood while the interview ensues. Have them describe a typical class at their academy. Are they large or small? Are the students young business professionals? Children? People learning English out of pure interest? All of these things will influence your work and differ from place to place. It may be the style of the academy to approach you like a bookie, listing class size, location, level, etc. and you may never see your co-workers while other schools create a peaceful work atmosphere where the teachers get to know each other through meetings, outings, and holiday events planned by the academy. Think about what situation works best for you.

Once you agree to teach with an academy

Once you agree on a class with a language school, be sure to get proper information to get you started: size, level, and location. Some hire to teach in their facility and provide block hours. As a new teacher you may not have that luxury. It is very likely you will be traveling to a company or household. Companies offer classes before work or during the lunch hour. Get the address and contact information of your students. Look up the address and if you are at all nervous about finding it, make a trip to the location beforehand to see where you will teach. Some larger companies may require you to have an identification tag and code to enter the building or have you sign in with the receptionist. Keep a time sheet and your own records so you can always double check your time.

The ESL decision

When you decide to become an ESL teacher in Madrid you have two options. Do you want to work for a language academy or teach privately? Working with an academy is the perfect way to learn how you handle the ESL life, manage your schedule, and how to organize your teaching agenda to better fit your life.

After some time you may decide you would rather teach privately. There are a number of ways to advertise your services. You can put up fliers around town, post on websites, or sometimes get the word out by simply telling people what you do. Going to one of the many language exchange nights around the city at pubs and bars is a great way to meet foreigners who may hire you to become their official teacher. Judge these situations carefully. Perhaps the person is acting more optimistic after they’ve had a beer or two. First make sure the prospective student is serious about wanting to learn English. Private students are also more likely to cancel if life gets hectic. If you are working solely for yourself, you do not receive any benefits an academy may offer. Consider this when deciphering your rate. Establish early how you would handle canceling a class or rescheduling. Some teachers make a twenty-four hour cancellation requirement. If the student cancels less than twenty-four hours in advance they must reschedule or pay you for the lost class. This policy goes both ways. If you as the teacher cancel you must hold up your side of the agreement.

ESL calendar in Madrid

Many Madridleños take time off during the summer. Whether they are staying in Madrid or traveling, life slows down during July, August, and the beginning of September. During these months you can find work at day camps in and around Madrid. Organizations based in Madrid will hire and place teachers in camps throughout Spain. Generally these camps last two weeks with the chance for a teacher to work two to four sessions.

Children go back to school in late September and locals return to a regular work schedule. In October, life settles back to the normal pace. Companies and families are usually ready to begin English classes again.

Plan on steady work from January to June and October to the end of December. This provides the ESL teacher ample time to travel during the summer. However, be aware that the numerous holidays and long summer break add up and may put stress on your finances.

Wages and living expenses

Most full time English teachers make between 15 to 25 Euros per hour for private lessons or 1,000 and 1,500 Euros per month with a full-time contract at an academy. Rate depends on how much experience you have, if you work in the heart of the city as opposed to traveling an hour to the outskirts, and if the class is through an academy or a private one-to-one. An average contract at an academy might be 1100 Euros per month for 25 teaching hours per week.

Expect to pay anywhere from 300-500 Euros for a room in a shared flat.

The economic crises

The economic crises of 2008 has had its obvious effect on English teachers. A country-wide increase in unemployment and lower wages means less money for non-essential English lessons. So consequently, the job market has been more competitive since then.

Do I need a work permit?

Most language schools will require you to have work permit. Some schools are willing to do the paperwork for you to get the documents in order. That process usually starts in June, and you must be in your home country. Once the academy or school decides to sponsor you they will fill out their portion of the paperwork which you must present with your portion in your home country. Even without a work permit, it’s still worth arriving to Madrid in early September for the best pick jobs. You might find some academies willing to hire you with plans to help you obtain a work permit in the future.

Volunteer

If you’ve only got a week and still want to check out the English-speaking scene, volunteer at Pueblo Ingles or Vaughan Town. These are unique opportunities to spend a week in the Spanish countryside speaking English with Spaniards. But beware: you might be conversing up to 14 hours per day! Don’t worry; its lots of fun and your room and board is taken care of in exchange for your volunteering.

Resources on the web

Madrid Teacher is the city’s definitive website for the English teacher. Check it out to start the job hunt: read in-depth about Madrid’s countless English Academies and browse job listings.

Once you’ve arrived in Madrid check out the free English monthly, InMadrid. It has more job listings and other helpful social insights.

Emolyn Liden spent 2008 teaching English in Madrid. She has lived abroad in England, Denmark, and Spain. While not traveling she enjoys writing and knitting for emolynknits.blogspot.com.

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