As a language teacher, I make it a priority to take small, frequent steps to make my classroom more global. I will routinely share some of those very ideas here, and this post focuses on one of my favorites. The concept is this: as an adult, if I want to go global, a key component is to experience the globe.
“But I don’t make enough money to travel!” is a common teacher complaint. I get it…totally get it. I took roughly a $17k pay cut to move from Minnesota to Colorado, and the cost of living in Colorado is significantly higher! Teachers are nothing if not resourceful though. If travel is a necessity, I told myself, then I have to learn how to make it work. Long story short, I became a travel hacker.
TRAVEL HACKING
There are a multitude of ways to travel hack, and there are great websites and groups that teach you how. One of my favorites, however, is Scott’s Cheap Flights, which I learned about in episode 51 of the podcast Side Hustle School*. Scott even has a guide for finding cheap flights on your own, but he’s so good at it, why bother?
In 2013, Scott Keyes found a steal of a fare from NYC to Milan, and he started getting requests from friends to help them find cheap flights. The list grew and grew, and eventually he started a business. Yes, there is literally a guy named Scott (and his team) who search for cheap flights, flash sales, and mistake fares ALL. DAY. LONG.
YOUR CHOICES
You have two choices with Scott’s Cheap Flights: a free membership or a premium membership. With each, you will receive weekly emails (sometimes up to 4 per week) with deals that Scott & Co. have found. The premium membership (a steal at $39/year with a 30-day moneyback guarantee!) includes mistake fares, more destinations, and the ability to customize your departure airport.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH SCOTT
Scott is pretty bad-a**, and so are his deals. I most recently scored round-trip airfare to Lugano, Switzerland, for Spring Break, 2019. Last year, it was to Paris, France, and both destinations were under $500. My best deal was a $390 round-trip, direct, flight from Denver to Reykjavik, Iceland. (The Iceland deal was crucial because once you get there, prices are awful.) Those deals were all from the FREE membership with Scott’s Cheap Flights.
SPRING BREAK IS COMING–GET READY!
There’s nothing to lose by signing up for a free membership, so start looking at Spring Break flights today! And what about after you score that crazy good deal? There are also plenty of sites that can help bring the cost down once you get abroad, and there are many programs (such as the NEA Foundation’s Global Learning Fellowship) to help teachers get abroad at deeply discounted or free rates.
BON VOYAGE!
*Side Hustle School is the podcast of Chris Guillebeau, NYT bestselling author of The Art of Non-Conformity. My Teachers Pay Teachers “side hustle” was featured on episode 142 and re-capped in episode 722 of the podcast if you’re interested in starting a store yourself and are looking for tips!
