I guess I was contemplating this again when I found an interesting post on Reddit that I will share with you later. There's a lot of fear and uncertainty when moving anywhere even if you have a job lined up. And there's inertia which isn't trying to get you anywhere. Anyways first up oh wait I could have named this post, has anyone ever moved to a new city country with no job lined up?
So far after a bit of reflection I've done this around 9 or 10 times not including returns to NH where I grew up or places I went to college. It all started in the states and then other countries.
Aside from my birth state of Ne Hampsha, I've lived in Brevard, NC, Flagstaff, AZ, Mt Hood, OR, Missoula, Montana, Sante Fe, NM, a couple small towns in Idaho, and San Fran, CA. The first two cities mentioned are where I went to college, but as far as the others go in only one place in Idaho did I have a job lined up before I went there. I didn't have gobs of cash either. I think normally I had around $2000 saved up.
Some of you might have done it too. And the topic of this blog usually revolves around teaching English and life in Asia. So well I lived and taught in Taichung & Tainan Taiwan, Busan and Changwon, South Korea, Shanghai, China, and Fukuoka, Japan. That was a total of 8 years.
In Taiwan and Korea I went there without any job lined up. That is more common in Taiwan and more common in Korea is to set a job up in advance, but I didn't do that. When I moved from Busan to Changwon I did have a job lined up. Actually the first one fell through. It was near Changwon in a small town but it was through a recruiter who was kinda dodgy and then he changed his mind and wanted me to go to Changwon for whatever reason. Desperate for a job and near broke at the time I did it.
In Japan I didn't teach and just worked online then, but it's always possible to find a job.
So in the majority of places that I've lived in I went there with no job lined up. So it is possible. I had some tough starts though.
Speaking of tough starts
I remember in 2004 Taichung, Taiwan was a very tough start. I had never taught English or been to Asia before. And I started off doing some subbing and eventually found a job, but it took many months maybe like 3+ or so and many monthly visa runs back and forth to Hong Kong before I landed a job that gave me the visa. I stayed in run down old motels since there were no hostels there at the time and rented this cheap room in an apartment with a dirty roomate for a few months before getting my own place.
Me on my scooter in Tainan
After my yearly contract finished in Taichung I moved to Tainan. Tainan wasn't so bad I believe I stayed with an old college friend who was living there at first. But I was all over TW then looking for a new home and almost took a job in Hsinchu, but eventually got a job teaching in Alian, TW and a scooter to boot. Also found a room to rent in an apartment with some other foreigners and Taiwanese. Started training Kung fu too.
If I was to do Taiwan again I would go to the beautiful east coast.
Haeundae beach in Busan, SK
Busan, SK went much smoother. I remember it took about a month to find a job and then I went to Japan to change my tourist visa to a work visa. I didn't have a job lined up but stayed in a hostel till I did and found a close to full time job working 2 or 3-8pm. And I got a real nice studio, apartment with a loft.
I was there for a year and then hung around Busan in jimjibans and eventually got that job in Changwon which was a stressful start as I actually moved into a house in a nearby city and started that job too and then after a week or so my recruiter said I have to move to Changwon. Perhaps the kids didn't like me or something IDK. So I moved to Changwon. I never liked recruiters and I'd say if given the choice avoid them because they are middle men. They don't work for any specific school. Some people have better experiences but I'd say deal directly with the school.
Shanghai, China was where I went after Korea. It was kinda short lived I was there for only 6 months and only briefly had a job. IDK if the visa situation has changed but that was a hassle and complicated and if you are an American (US citizen) you had to pay for every visa like $150. So I had to do some visa runs and the job I had didn't work out cause they said they had trouble getting an official work visa so I bailed and returned back to the states.
After China there was a move to SF, CA for 6 years and again we had no job lined up and this time we took it onto ourselves to do it with a mix of street performing and work on ESLinsider. Then around 2019 I moved to Japan just living of my website and practicing judo on a cultural visa until covid hit and that wasn't working so well.
When there is a will there is a way
Be Will Way. That's who I want to be.
So I think if you really want to be somewhere you can probably make it happen. On ther hand if you aren't were you want to be then you're likely to have less luck which is kinda what I got now. Anyways I remember when I first went to Taichung and I met this foreigner in a coffee shop eating his meal and drinking his beverage that I couldn't afford at the time since my pockets were near empty telling me about his story coming to Taiwan. And he said he showed up with only $500. So it's possible.
I had a few schools pay me cash up front when I needed it which I think I did in most jobs in Asia at first. If you do subbing they will usually pay you the same day unless you do many days.
Should you stay or should you go?
I don't know about your situation, but at the moment I am a bit conflicted with staying here to work on my step van and going to Chile for the summer/winter to snowboard and hopefully get a job at the mountain. If I go to Chile I won't be able to work on my van for 2-3 months. There is also no guarantee that I will find a work there or a work to stay situation. And the whole point of going to Chile is to snowboard. Worst case scenario if I have to buy a season pass to the mountain then that's 6-$900. A place to stay that's maybe $5-750 a month, food $2-300 a month and a plane ticket there maybe $1100+. That's potentially $3000 in my first month.
So a lot of expenses. And if things don't go well then I'll come back here with my pockets flat and my van not ready to go for next season. Yet on the other hand my van is going to cost money to fix up at the mechanic, buy wood, solar, batteries, etc. But I've been looking for a job around here since the mountain closed and no luck. Is it because I am so burned out on NH? The universe doesn't want me here?
I am not that excited to be here in good ol' NH living with my parents. So no excitement to be here in NH but a draw to Chile for the last 3 or 4 years.
I guess it's what I value more - the experience or the van. And that's where I am conflicted. If I want to get stuff done then it makes sense to stay here and work on it, but I'll still need a job at some point.
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