Book Your Flights Early

If you thought the normal New Years was busy enough, the Chinese New Year is the largest human migration of the year with over three billion travellers returning home or joining in on the party. Don’t expect to show up to the train station, airport or bus station to purchase a ticket on the spot as millions of Chinese are way ahead of you, camping out for days waiting for an available method of transport. If you’ve had dealings with Chinese business folk before, you would know that it’s incredibly rude to show up late, therefore make it your mission to avoid getting stuck by booking all flights and transfers far in advance.

Organise Your Hotel In Advance

Much like the chaos at found at transportation centres, hotels are likely to be on the same level of crazy. Especially in the major cities, travellers from all around the world will snatch up those hotel rooms fast. Be prepared and reserve a spot at least six months ahead.

Be Patient in the Crowds

Travelling around any kind of holiday is stressful for everyone, but with the influx of voyagers congregated in the one area, the Chinese New Year is one of the more intense to navigate. Remember to be patient when walking through crowded areas, and if possible, leave to reach your destination earlier than normal to ensure you arrive on time.

There Will Be Limited Business Hours

If meeting with other clients, be mindful that their opening hours will vary during this period. As this is the time when Chinese people make the journey back to their families, some restaurants, shops and offices will be closed.

Reserve Your Client Dinner ASAP

There are always going to be people who cannot be bothered preparing a meal on Chinese New Year so the next best option is to head out on the town to grab a bite to eat. Research places to take your like www.corporatetraveller.com.au/
Have you ever travelled for business over the Chinese New Year? What are your survival tips?

Written by Keryn Thomson

A classic way to earn while you travel is to become an English teacher. Because English is the world’s most important language – the primary language of business and the internet – the demand for people with good English abilities has sky-rocketed in recent years. If you have the right skills to teach the language, you could find yourself getting a job almost anywhere in the world. Some countries will allow you to take short-term jobs on a casual basis, so it’s best to be prepared. Joining a travel club like Destination Vacations 365 is also a good idea, as it will bring you discounts right from the start.

Obviously, being an English teacher isn’t a case of just wandering into the nearest school and speaking English to the class. It’s important to understand that you are taking a job, and so you will need to take it as seriously as you would take working back at home. Also, some countries will require you to have formal qualifications to become an English teacher, so make sure you do your research carefully. It’s often the more isolated and exotic destinations which will be a little more relaxed with their requirements – which is great, since it means you’ll be seeing places you’d never dreamed you’d be able to afford to visit.

If teaching English doesn’t sound like your thing, then don’t worry – there are plenty of other employment opportunities around the world. Again, doing some research before you start applying will bring rewards – for example, many people don’t realize that Australia has a thriving ski industry, so you’re putting yourself one step ahead of the competition simply by knowing that fact. If you prefer somewhere warmer, then how about being a scuba instructor? Of course, you’ll need to prove you have the ability to do it safely – but if you do, can there really be a better way to make money than swimming in idyllic tropical waters?

If the travel bug has really bitten you hard, then you could even think about making your working vacation into a full-time career. The more skills you pick up, the easier it will be for you to get work in the future – and the less hassle you’ll have at immigration. Yes, you will have to work hard, and it won’t be the same as simply lying on the beach getting a tan or snowboarding down glistening slopes every day. But what you lose in that respect, you’ll gain in others. Not just financially, but in terms of life experience and having a truly fulfilling job. The world is waiting for you!

Jobs available in ski resorts

Working for an operator means food and accommodation will be arranged, helping you to last the course and meet new people. Most people don’t realise how tough this work is; it’s not a holiday. Here, you’ll read people’s real stories and find out what’s available. Whatever job your after, check out websites like Season Workers where employers advertise.

Where to find jobs

The two Ls, language and legal, can be frustrating but are the two most important things to satisfy to guarantee you a job.  Friends in the industry are the best way to help you find the answers you’re looking for, but there are other options: operators themselves, recruitment sites (use Google) and newspaper listings. Specialist magazines often carry overseas job listings and include relevant interviews.

Is working a ski season for you?

Many people get interviewed by your chosen firm every season, so make yourself stand out. Make use of any training offered. Week-long residential courses are common, and you’ll usually get more training early in the season – especially regarding more technical matters. All good companies will continue to support you through your employment.

Season stages

Early season is the toughest physically, since you may have to do menial work like clearing snow. Mid-season needs careful handling to keep yourself going, then the end may arrive suddenly.

Working a ski season without advance arrangements

Short-to-medium courses in snowboarding and skiing are offered by companies like Flying Fish and Basecamp. These are aimed at people looking to qualify as instructors or train intensively to improve their skills. You could also use your own business ideas, or just rent a room and take things as they come.

Location Independence: In a Nutshell

When the blogging legions talk about location independence, in actuality they are talking about the ability to telecommute, or work without the physical limitations of an office or space. Location independence, then, and the ability to live and work anywhere in the world, is nothing new (despite all the fanfare and hubbub) – people have been doing it for ages!

Location Independence: What Jobs?

The short answer to this question is just about anything. You can be a location independent working as a designer, a writer, an engineer, a software developer even an artist. Thanks to the Internet – and programs like Skype – you can even make a solid location independent living doing things that traditionally are expected to be more personal or face-to-face (like teaching or consulting). There are no boundaries.

Location Independence: Is it Achievable?

If you want to be location independent and free to travel the world while working you can. Pretty darn easily.

Take the thousands of people already doing it as a case in point. Nothing in their skill-set cannot be learned or refined by you with enough work and patience. You might even have some skill you can begin offering through the Internet right now if you think about it hard enough. The main hurdle is confidence and eradicating the fear of failure.

Location Independence: What Steps Can I Take?

If living this sort of lifestyle is your goal start out simply. Ask others who’ve attained the lifestyle how they got to where they were. Chances are you can do the same.

What ideas do you have to achieve location independence? Share your thoughts below!

Useful Languages to Improve Your Employability Abroad: Spanish

One of the most widely spoken languages in the world, travel abroad with a good handle on Spanish and doors can open for you. Supposedly one of the easier languages for a native English speaker to learn it shouldn’t pose too many problems to advance in either.

Useful Languages to Improve Your Employability Abroad: French

After English, French is the most popular language to learn in the world and it’s not hard to see why. Spoken in large parts of Africa, the Caribbean and Canada, it’s a useful language to add to your travelling armoury and sounds sexy as hell too.

Useful Languages to Improve Your Employability Abroad: Mandarin

Not going to benefit your travels in as wide an experience as say French or Spanish, Mandarin still makes for an incredibly useful language to learn and one that can still enrich your work and travels in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia. Deemed the “language of the future” getting to grips with it now if you have the chance, might just pay off dividends a few years down the line.

Useful Languages to Improve Your Employability Abroad: Arabic

Knowing a bit of Arabic can go a long way to both improving your travel experiences within Africa and the Middle East and can also lead to good employability prospects should you choose to head back to the west. Not as popular with travellers as the former suggestions, learning it might help to differentiate you and lead to cool location independent-style gigs like in emerging markets.

What do you think is the most useful language to improve your employability abroad? Share your thoughts below!

CELTA: CERTIFICATE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING TO ADULTS

The CELTA is a four-week intensive English language teaching course which is both internationally recognised and, short of being a fully qualified teacher, is the highest regarded of the EFL certificates. The course costs around 1500usd and can be taken in reputable language centres around the world. Many schools end up employing their recent graduates so pick your country wisely.

Where to start? Cactus TEFL is great for finding schools that run the CETLA.

OWSI: OPEN WATER SCUBA INSTRUCTOR

The Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) program is one of two distinct components of PADI’s Instructor Development Course (IDC)—the core of PADI Instructor training. The OWSI program is a minimum of four days after which you will be able to conduct the entire range of PADI programs from Discover Scuba Diving up to Divemaster. You may be able to earn college credit for the PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor course. The small island of Koh Tao off the east short of Thailand’s peninsula is a popular destination for trainee instructors due to the affordable rates.

Where to start? The official PADI website has all the detail you need on working up to instructor level.

ISIA: INTERNATIONAL SKI INSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION CERTIFICATE

If you are already an intermediate level skier then picking up a level 1 instructors certificate will qualify you to teach novice and beginners. The BASI, British Association of Snowsport Instructors is one of many bodies which provide certificates. Their five-day Level 1 course allows you to teach on indoor and artificial slopes the world over – guaranteeing you employment all year round. Level 2, goes one step further allowing you to teach in mountain resorts worldwide. Level 3, is governed by ISIA and qualifies you as a full ski instructor.

Where to start? If you live in the UK check out the BASI’s site. Otherwise google to see the ski  instructors governing body in your country.

Regardless of where you are planning to live and work abroad, make sure you get yourself covered with an annual-multi-trip travel insurance, that way you don’t have to worry about any last-minute changes of plan!