Action-packed TEFL destinations for adventurers
From desert dune hikes to walking on glaciers, skiing in the Alps to surfing along long-lost coastlines, there’s plenty of action to get through in this selection of the best TEFL destinations for adventurers!
Philippines
A real chart-topper among TEFL destinations for adventurers is the Philippines. Vast and covering a nigh-on ridiculous 7,641 islands, it spreads over a great dash of sea and land between Southeast Asia and the great Pacific blue. Cities like Manila draw plenty of teachers, but it’s also possible to go to more off-the-beaten-track places like Siargao – considered the up-coming surfer mecca of the whole region – and Palawan – a land of long-lost snorkeling lagoons, scuba hotspots, and catamaran boats. Of course, wherever you’re plying the TEFL trade in the Philippines, you can rest assured that a Robinson Crusoe beach and a volcano trek or two are never too far away.
Italy
A set of hardy walking boots, those new skis, a saddle for the horse, and a big appetite are all needed for English-teaching adventures in this jewel of Europe. Yes, you can spend your weekends lazing by the poolside in a Tuscan hillside or munching on mozzarella in old Rome. But you could also hop on high-speed trains straight into the Italian Alps, where glimmering lakes like Garda and Como come surrounded by walls of peaks, each dressed in via ferrata climbs and topped with shimmering limestone summits. Come winter, that area transforms into a ski haven, with Dolimiti’s great domain clocking up 1000s of kilometers of piste. Of course, that’s not even mentioning the southern side of Italy, where lagoons meet grottoes meet sailing hotspots and more.
Oman
Not only can you expect salaries as high-flying as $3,900 a month in Oman but there’s also plenty of opportunity to go off-piste with an adventure in this corner of the Middle East. Start in the Al Hajar Mountains. They carve along the edge of the country in a medley of ochre-tinted peaks and sinewy summits, all ripe for those who like their trekking trails touched only by local goat herders. Then, drop down to the Wahiba Sands, where heart-thumping jaunts over sun-scorched dunes unfold. Then, head deeper into the country, where the famous Khareef monsoon dresses the landscapes in lush greenery, steep cliffs lurch into the ocean, and wild beaches like Mughsayl are home to wandering camels. There’s loads to get through in this largely unknown of TEFL destinations for adventurers.
Morocco
Anyone with a BA and a 120-hour TEFL cert will be able to apply for a position in Morocco. That’s great news for those with their heart set on hitting the camel caravan trails of old, wiggling up into the rock-ribbed High Atlas Mountains, and dropping down to where the undulating sand sea of the Sahara Desert runs out to the horizon. Yep, adventures here tend to be the romantic, One Thousand and One Nights sort. They involve high-altitude treks to Toubkal peak, wave-frothing surf sessions beneath mud-brick medina towns, octane jeep journeys over the steep sand dunes and wadis – the list goes on.
Argentina
Home to a fabled wonderland of glaciers and dagger-like peaks, hoodoo-spiked deserts and cacti-spouting wastelands along the Gran Chaco plains, Argentina really is an adventurer’s dream come true. You won’t have to be stuck in the concrete jungle of Buenos Aires while teaching English here, either. There are towns and cities dotted all over that give access to the wilds. You could hit the south, where Patagonia’s grassy hillocks and ice-carved mountains are a hiking, cross-country skiing, and whale watching mecca. Going to the tropical jungles that converge on the border with Brazil brings the roaring Iguazu Falls into reach, along with trekking through misty forests with rare creatures. And then there are the ski pistes and glimmering lakes of Bariloche, the gateway to something like South America’s answer to the Alps.
Of course, this is just a small pick of top-quality TEFL destinations for adventurers. If you can think of any more, we’d love to hear about them below. Or, maybe you’re sold on one of the above and need to bag that TEFL qualification before heading off? For that – we’re here to help!