this post was submitted on 25 May 2025
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bitofarambler

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Q&A for any and all questions you might have about traveling.

FAQ

are there requirements to be an ESL teacher other than being a fluent English speaker?

nope.

some countries and schools require a TEFL certificate or prefer candidates with an associate's degree depending on the position, but if you want to teach English, all you need is to be a fluent English speaker.

how can you afford to travel long-term?

The cost of living in most countries is around $500 USD a month for transportation, rent, utilities and food altogether; teaching English pays $2000 USD a month with zero qualifications or experience.

every month I taught English, I had a few extra months of my cost of living.

I taught English for about 7 years.

as long as you're making more than 500 USD a month remotely in any job, you can travel long-term.

What's the best country?

Depends on what you're looking for.

For backpacking, Japan. For natural history museums, Ireland. For food, China. For cost of living, Cambodia or India.

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Panama City: great food, green modern city and domesticated raccoons (crazypeople.online)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by bitofarambler@crazypeople.online to c/bitofarambler@crazypeople.online
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very green city, beautiful trees everywhere.

I just got to Panama City, Panama yesterday, buses are a flat $0.25 regardless of distance and the Metro is a flat $0.50 regardless of distance.

took the train for ~8 mi into town to get to my hotel for $0.50.

ate at a Korean BBQ buffet and saw a bunch of mapaches(raccoons) that apparently live along the Pacific Coast here.

with all the fashionable dress, performing arts theaters and bodegas around, it feels a lot like a casual New York City, moreso than any other central city I've been in abroad so far.

it has that "yeah, we're killing it" vibe.

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[–] FrostyTrichs@crazypeople.online 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

For an urban space there's a fair bit of green around. Looks like a beautiful place.

[–] bitofarambler@crazypeople.online 4 points 2 months ago

it really is.

I walked around for hours today constantly surprised by the abundant healthy greenery in the middle of a very modern, built up city.

[–] rauls4@lemm.ee 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Those look more like coatis, but still cute.

[–] bitofarambler@crazypeople.online 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

no long coati claws though, just little raccoon hands.

I also assumed they were a different species since they're so thin, but so far everybody I've talked to says they are mapaches, raccoons, and I can't find any other species online that looks more like these animals than raccoons.

as far as the locals and search engines say, these are sleek Panamanian raccoons.

[–] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

moving forward, you should clarify the NOT florida panama city

[–] bitofarambler@crazypeople.online 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

lots for me to think about here, thanks.

I didn't even know there was a floridian Panama City until yesterday.

I definitely don't know what it's famous for or how culturally relevant it is, do you think anyone outside of US Americans would think of PC Florida before the Panamanian Panama City?

I do mention the Pacific Ocean, which feels like a solid identifier.

you know what, I don't think I like writing the word Panama twice so close to each other, it feels like I'm making a mistake.

since that's a bad reason not to be more clear, I added a Panama in the body paragraph for clarification.

[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I’m an American and well aware of Florida. I knew immediately that you were talking about the city in Panama.

[–] bitofarambler@crazypeople.online 1 points 2 months ago

got it, thanks.

is the one in Florida known for anything in particular?

[–] NotJohnSmith@feddit.uk 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Not sure if the initial poster is joking but "foreigner" here and there's no chance anyone would think of the American version before the original, for that very reason.

Now, if someone said "Boston" I'm in the UK so would think we're referring to the original town in the UK but would assume pretty much every other non-American would think of Boston, Mass.

[–] bitofarambler@crazypeople.online 1 points 2 months ago

thanks, I appreciate your input.

[–] wieson@feddit.org 1 points 2 months ago

Thats a crazy ask