borebags

Becoming a yes man is part of a series of posts that will take a look at some of the things that we have said ‘YES’ to that we would normally have said ‘NO’.
I’ve always been the adventurous type and usually pride myself on trying new things. This is especially true when it comes to the fun stuff like sky diving, scuba diving and anything provides a bit of an adrenaline rush.
It’s easy saying yes to things that you want to do or enjoy, but what about the things you …

….to getting a job in Saigon.
No, I’ve not gone all Glenn Close on the Vietnamese employers but believe me, a bit of assertion and dedication is needed to get a teaching english job in this town.
Before we started looking for an actual job, we were told
A) “It’s really easy  to get a teaching job in S.E Asia”
B) “You don’t really even need a TEFL qualification I’ve only a degree and I’m getting paid $20 an hour”
C) “It took me a week to find a job and I wasn’t really looking”
My …

4 weeks today and we’ll be setting off on our trip.  The last time I posted here it was 11 weeks to go.  I’m at a loss to know what the hell I’ve been doing over the past 7 weeks.  Time has seriously flown in.
The excitement about the trip has now turned into nerves (hopefully short-lived).  Its really started to hit home now that I in a few weeks time I’ll be leaving my job and jetting off around the world.  They really started to kick in when my job …

Time is flying by at the minute.  I think it must be down to being so busy in work with conferences (8 in 8 weeks and counting), countless brochures, Northern Ireland Yearbook, re-branding, white van man and general technical ‘go to’ guy.  Never a dull moment.  I don’t mind so much because I know that come the 16th January I will be starting the RTW adventure.
The planning and preparation has taken a bit of a lull lately as I’ve been struggling on with the TEFL course.  I’ve finally got  through …

If you’ve been reading through blog you’ll have notice that we were considering doing a TEFL course and teaching English in South-East Asia to bring in some extra cash during the RTW.  After some intense debate in Starbucks we have decided to plow on with this idea and, as a result, we have now embarked on a 120 hour online TEFL course by i-to-i.  It’s not proving to be a walk in the park though, as I’ll now explain.
As you may already know, its been quite a few years since …

My absence from the blogging world has been way too long.
Lots of updates since I last graced the site with my words of wisdom. Just a little update in terms of timescale to highlight how long since I blogged…
The X Factor has actually surpassed the auditions, boot camp and first live final 12 show, Claire Hudson has been in Liverpool for nearly 2 months and we’re into double figures on the aul countdown til Jan 16th.
All in all it’s been a busy few weeks with the preparation for going away. As …

During out initial planning stages for the trip we always had in mind that we would either work in Australia or New Zealand, with New Zealand being first preference for both Donna and myself.
As you are probably all probably more than aware of, the global economy is in a bit of a poor state.  We’ve been hearing reports left, right and centre that backpackers in Australia and New Zealand are finding it difficult to find work at the minute.  The main reason for this being that jobs which were usually …