Nice to meet you!

Hello! This is Towanna & Shania and we are a mother-daughter duo with a love for traveling. We are from the United States, however, we have been living abroad for around 11 years now. One day we were living in Clarksville, Tennessee and I was working a 9-5 job while Shania was attending school. We were in the living room when I got a life changing idea and asked, "Do you want to go abroad?" And the rest is history!

Hi everyone! I decided to create this blog with the help of my daughter in order to inspire people to get out there and see what the world has to offer. It was definitely scary for me to take the leap to go abroad, especially since it was just me and Shania, however, it was the best decision we could have ever made. I quit my 9-5 job and was able to pursue my passion for teaching which I wasn't able to do in the United States because of how low the salary is for teachers. As you go along on your new adventure, I would love for you to keep the "Curly Hair Nomads" blog as your travel guide as we will tell you the truth about things and not just our positive experiences. Let's pack a suitcase and go!

-Towanna

Hey! I'm Shania and I help my mom maintain this blog. When we first started traveling I was 8 and it was something that I immediately knew I wanted to do. I was so excited for something new and to see the world through my own eyes instead of pictures that I found on Google. Over the years, I have gone to international schools, home schooled, or attended school online. Now that I have graduated high school, I know that I wanted to make time to continue exploring the world since it's something I love to do. This is why I made the decision to complete my bachelor's degree online through a reputable university in the United States. This means I can still travel, attend university for 4 years, and get the same bachelor's degree that I could earn if I was on campus; with this flexibility, our adventures continue. :)

-Shania

Questions we get asked the most

1. How did you start traveling?

When Shania and I made the decision to start traveling, I knew that I needed some sort of income that would be sufficient as a single mother. The current job that I had while we were living in Clarksville made it where we lived from check-to-check. By taking the leap to go overseas, I knew this was a new beginning for us and my goal was to get a job that would allow us to be comfortable and enjoy the nice things in life. Before quitting my job, I researched to see what job and country would be the best for us. At the time, Dave's ESL Cafe was very popular which lead me to find an English Training Center that were hiring teachers to educate students who want to learn the English language in China. Of course I had to do lots of extra searching to make sure it was a legit school and they conducted an interview along with a background check. They also gave me a tour of the school. Once everything was complete with the interviewing and signing the contract, we packed our bags and went to Jinan, China.

🧳

2. How did your child adapt?

This was something that I was very nervous about. I had a very long conversation with Shania about going abroad and how we will be away from family, how she may have to do school online, and how the country we are going to (China) has a whole different culture along with a language that we didn't understand. My daughter listened fully and completely understood everything that I was explaining to her and she couldn't have been more excited. We looked at YouTube videos of people who have gone there before and read blogs to ensure that we would be welcomed with open arms. Once we got to Jinan, China, the school accommodated us with free housing and a welcome dinner (which is very common in China). Everyone was so friendly and loved teaching us about their culture. My daughter even attended a traditional Chinese school for a few months which she enjoyed a lot before she transitioned to homeschooling.

3. What type of education do you need to teach abroad?

This depends on what type of school you want to become a teacher at. For English Training Centers, usually only a high school diploma and an ESL Certificate is needed, however, there are some where a bachelor's degree is needed . They usually specify this on their websites or on the job advertisement. Along with these centers, there are also international schools abroad that are always hiring teachers. For these schools, a bachelor's degree will most likely be asked and a few of them even ask for the teacher to show their teacher's license that they have from the country where they are a resident. Lastly, there is another option that has become increasingly more popular for travelers and that is teaching online through different platforms as a tutor or English tutor which allows you to still travel and work remotely.

4. How did you find the schools you taught at?

How I find teaching jobs has changed over the years. As I mentioned before, in the first few years of us traveling I used Dave's ESL Cafe which was a very good source to find schools. As time passed, I started teaching at international schools instead and I was able to find their job postings on their official websites. So, I just search up "international schools in...." and put what country I want to live in. After that, you go to their website and see if there are any openings. Usually they ask for your CV/Resume, recommendation letters, and background check.

Note: Make sure you thoroughly check which schools you apply for because it's possible that some of them are fake and a way to scam you or put you in danger. We ran across this once and I knew something wasn't right when they didn't want to interview me with the camera on. Remember safety is number 1 priority!