A True "Minimalist" Dream

So once the basic "Plan" was decided (i.e. blow this dear U.S. of A. popsicle stand and move lock, stock 'n barrel to some distant corner of the world to live and teach EFL), 'twas time to "put up or shut up" so to speak. To "swiss-cheese" the many chores and changes needed to get me from Point A (my comfy life here in my beloved Seattle) to Point B (some g-forsaken corner of the globe, as yet to be precisely determined).

For starters, I needed to learn more about just what teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language - teaching English in a foreign land) was all about. So I set about researching the requirements for most countries 'round the globe (some require little but a native English tongue) and determined that I already had a few aces in hand (i.e. the native tongue plus a couple of degrees).

Still... as I don't have a clue HOW to teach my native language, I'm not foolish enough to think I can simply take on a classroom full of eager Asian faces without at least SOME modicum of EFL teaching training. Oh sure, I can blather all right. But explain WHY one says "should have blathered" vs. "will be blathering"? Uh, that's another story altogether.

Random Photo Memory: San Blas Islands Kuna Lass

Christmas: 1999, Panama - on the eve of the 10th anniversary of "Operation Just Cause" (that infamous Noriega lad btw, has recently been extradited to France after spending 17 years in a U.S. prison). Ah, but I digress.

Hopping on a 2 seater (me and the pilot) single-engine plane bound for the San Blas Islands (a pristine necklace of 378 tiny islands off the north coast of Panama), my trusty pilot suddenly lit up a cigarette and nearly gave me a heart attack:   my chin was but 8 inches from the gas tank!

By some miracle we managed to make it to the islands without being blown to kingdom-come over the Caribbean, and I spent an idyllic week among the indigenous Kuna. These gentle people, though technically Panamanian by nationality, have utter autonomy over their lovely archipelago, and tourism (then) was blessedly in its infancy. Sleeping in a sand-floored, thatched hut, by day I witnessed the rituals of their simple day-to-day lives, boated to several of the bitsy islets (only a handful are inhabited), and happily toted home a treasured collection of their unique "Mola" reverse appliqué needlework.

Click on the thumbnail to view enlargement.

Narrowing Down the Expat Options...

Scooting off to explore some distant land for a few weeks is one thing. But when contemplating settling down in one place for a year or more, that's quite another. Suddenly a host of factors need be considered for the long-term, like climate, health care, visa requirements, and of course my own druthers of places and cultures I'd like to get to know better.

Further, if I plan to teach EFL, pay and perks come into play as these can vary greatly from one country to the next.


Yup, a mighty big world of options, but I easily eliminated whole countries - indeed, entire continents right off the bat such as...

Introducing... Random Photo Memory (ta-da!)

About a year ago I finally snagged myself a wizbang slide scanner and have been slowly digitizing my gazillion 35mm photos collected over three decades of travel.  Yep, we're talkin' pre-digital cameras here folks - good ol' Fujichrome Velvia F-I-L-M.

Suffice they're now all safely tucked on "the cloud", and I must say, the review process has been quite a lovely walk-down-memory-lane for me. So I thought I'd initiate a little "Random Photo Memory" corner here at Travel'nLass to feature a few of my favorites.

Click on the thumbnail to view enlargement.

Sheep's Head Anyone?

Then there was the legendary Djemaa el Fna night market in Marrakesh, Morocco.  An astounding array of strange foods.  How I ended up with a plate of chopped sheep's head (we're talking bones, nostrils, eyeballs, younameit, I watched them chop it!) I'll never know.

Oh yeah, with a side of sheep's brain.

Suffice, While I'm a most adventuresome eater, when they served me the plate of noggin vittles, I barely tasted it and had to stop.

But the best part was - the waiter who took away my plate gave the leftovers to a passing beggar.  So at least it didn't go to waste!

Silk Worms Al Dente

In many ways my memories of different places that I've traveled are forged by foods I sampled along the way - special dishes, ghastly or divine that remind me of each country.

Take Thailand for example. My first trip back in the late '90's that included a most special excursion to a small silk weaving village where the little girl that I'd been "fostering" for a few years through the Christian Children's fund lived with her family. One of the most amazing experiences I've enjoyed in my travels - the Children's organization arranged for an interpreter to meet me and we headed out to the tiny village to meet the family bearing gifts of warm jackets for the coming winter (yes, even in Thailand it can get mighty cold in some locales).

As we were sitting around chatting via the interpreter, the grandmother was spinning silk threads on a rustic wooden spinning wheel. The silk cocoons were suspended in a bucket of hot water and the silk threads unraveled as she spun. When the cocoons were all unraveled of course, all that was left in the bucket was the mass of chubby silk worm larvae nicely boiled al dente in the hot water.

These then, were passed around in a flat wicker basket - offered as a special treat - an act of hospitality that simply could not be refused.

Though I hesitated for a heart-thumping moment, I had no choice but to accept a taste of the tiny white (blessedly no longer squirming) delicacies and...  Though I'd hardly put boiled silk worms in a cuisine category with say... chocolate peanut butter truffels.  Nonetheless, they weren't all that bad - tasting a little bit like tofu.

Heck, with a little bit of gravy, they might even be downright tasty!

Where, or where in the World...

...shall I move to?

Let's see, uh... eenie, meenie, miney, mo...

Na, that's not a very grown-up way to decide a major upheaval of one's life.

The truth is, when it first dawned on me that now that I'm more or less retired, I could move most anywhere in the world (indeed, and live far more cheaply than here in the U.S.!), I figured I'd just find a nice little spot under a palm tree, hang a hammock and call it "Home".

But I've never been one to sit around twiddling my thumbs and taking life easy. So I got to thinking... Once I was settled down, I might well need something productive to do - and especially something that would immerse me in the local culture.

So I googled for "EFL" (English as a Foreign Language) and...  suffice that it turns out that (w/ my degrees) I can teach my native tongue most anywhere in the world.  Indeed, save for European countries (where they understandably prefer to employ their own EU passport holders) apparently the World is my oyster and I could easily teach EFL in the Middle East, most any place in South America, Costa Rica, Mexico, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, et al (the latter, offering roundtrip air, housing and most enticing teaching salaries).

Goodness, so how's a girl s'pose to choose from among such a delicious array of distant lands? Nope. Eenie, meenie isn't going to cut it here. Time to get serious and do a little research into the pros and cons of each option.

And so it begins - my greatest travel adventure yet!

After a lifetime of travel...

...as a single Mom backpacking in Mexico w/ a 5 yr. and 8 yr. old followed three years later by an eight month study abroad (likewise w/ my daughters) in France, and Italy w/ side trips to Greece, Switzerland, Amsterdam and London;

...then politely declining a climb up the "career ladder" w/ my Master's degree in HRM - in favor of starting my own adventure tour company to Belize and Costa Rica - back in the 80's when few had even HEARD of Belize;

...losing count of the research trips to most every corner of Central America, guiding small groups of adventuresome souls for weeks on end to jungles, beaches, Mayan ruins and cloud forests - not to mention sweet "fam" trips to China, the Azores, Thailand, etc, over the next 20 years;

...and more recently - at 60, backpacking solo for six weeks across South Africa and Mozambique; plus a handful of independent jaunts to Bali, Morocco, Egypt and Jerusalem.

Suffice - it's now high time I make the leap to MOVING lock, stock 'n barrel to some far away land.