Tumon Beach, Guam
It Takes Guts
I made this transition and you can too. I did it long before there were travel websites talking about it and before living overseas was the rage. I knew I was going before it happened. I’d done my homework, researched jobs, downsized my belongings and given up my apartment to rent a room in a friend’s daughter’s home. I knew in my heart my next home would be overseas. Within three months I had an interview in San Diego for a teaching position on the island of Guam. Within a week they offered me a job teaching fifth grade, I accepted immediately. I gave notice at my job, flew to the Midwest to visit my family and within a month I was living overseas, on the island of Guam.
My parents were cautiously supportive. They knew I was a free spirit and that I wanted to live overseas. I’d been talking about it since the sixth grade when I saw a slide show of Germany. My mom was the most open to my overseas life, but even she had concerns. I spent three years on Guam and fell in love with the tropics. Guam was a new cultural experience and was a turning point in my life. Taking that teaching job sight unseen and moving half way around the world gave me a deep seated confidence and enthusiasm to continue my journey of working and living overseas.