Graduates with wanderlust can still see the world during recession

May, the graduation month, is in full swing. While dismal jobs news is not exactly the present university grads were hoping for, it doesn’t mean they have to crawl back home to Mom and Dad’s. Graduates with wanderlust can actually treat themselves to travel adventures and a paycheck in this recession if they’re willing to seek employment opportunities abroad.

The summer after college graduation is traditionally a prime time for American students to really travel. During college, summers are often used for career-boosting internships or earning spending money for the next year. Seeing the world – or a slice of it far from home – after graduation has long been considered the reward for four years of hard work. It’s also that last bit of freedom before the hard slog of building a career, buying a house, settling down or whatever else adults do for the rest of their lives.

Like virtually every student who read Kerouac’s On the Road, I always planned to travel the country for a few months after I finished college. I dreamed of the open road right up until I was offered an ideal (for me) job that started about a week after graduation. I took the job. I have always been grateful for that opportunity and for the things I learned – but I never did take that cross-country trip. Today, a big journey in th States or abroad requires months of planning to organize and pay for my family of five before we can even leave the house.

So while not having a job offer upon graduation in today’s economic times is scary, not feeling like you have to rush into your career could also be seen as a blessing in disguise. There’s an abundance of jobs overseas for college graduates to teach English in all corners of the world.  It may not be what you want to do for the rest of your life – but it pays better than being unemployed at home and you get to travel and experience life abroad.

A growing number of these teaching positions now require candidates to have an English teaching certification (which can take a few weeks to obtain), but many locations also offer teachers a place to live in addition to their salary.  If I was just getting out of college, I think I would seriously consider a travel-friendly situation abroad to wait out the worst of our jobs market here.

Did you – or are you planning to – travel upon completing college? How far away from home did your travels take you? Would you consider a teaching position abroad as a way to get your post-graduate traveling in? Where in the world would you consider going? Tell us your top three destinations.

If you have worked in a similar situation abroad as a young adult, did you find the jobs provided enough money and time for you to enjoy leisure travel over there? What is your advice for making the most of the travel opportunities living abroad offers?

If you’re older, have lost your job to the economy and can move, would you consider packing your bags for a temporary, but travel-friendly job overseas?