I’m going to be brutally honest here for a moment. The one thing I really hated about living overseas was trying to find work. There was nothing else that made me quite as discouraged as trying to find a way to make some money! Before I finally found a steady source of income, I probably submitted around 40 applications to a variety of companies, some of which turned out to be scams.
Fortunately, you don’t have to go through the same painful process. Not only have things changed a lot in the past three years, but you’ve stumbled across a list of fantastic expat job resources! Take it from an expat (well, a former expat)…. these websites will be a whole lot better than wandering aimlessly around in the interwebs, hoping to stumble across a good job posting.
Getting a job abroad is now easier than ever before. Whether you’d like to find a job in Sydney or at a fashion store in Paris, France, international job hunting sites can help you achieve your goal. Here are a few tips and advice on finding expat jobs online.
Indeed Worldwide is very similar to the local job search engine bearing the same name. The only difference is that it allows you to search for jobs in more than 60 countries. You’ll find many job descriptions written in the local language, but that’s what Google Translate is for! Nonetheless, chances are you’ll have to know the local language in order to qualify for these jobs.
Jooble is one of the most popular websites for people seeking for jobs abroad. It is particularly helpful for finding job opportunities in developing countries.
This international job search engine will fetch you job offers in various locations or industries. It also boasts over 60 country websites. If you’re looking to work abroad then here is some good advice for travellers.
Go Abroad is an excellent resource of expert advice and information on various cultural programs for global travelers. They also post some interesting job offers, so make sure you check out their job board.
Going Global keeps you updated with the latest trends in the international employment and HR industry. Check out their “Country Profiles” section to see their latest job opportunities, as well as information on work permits, visa applications, and region-specific CV tips and advice.
TEFL is more than an online English teaching certification program. It is also a modern job board with lots of filtering options and features. You can use it to find pre-approved schools currently seeking for English teachers. Read more about their programs and opportunities here.
Good luck with your job hunting! If you end up getting a job on one of these websites, let me know. Post your success in the comments to help other expats find a good job, too.
This post contains sponsored content and guest posting
Well, I’m probably over-posting on Facebook about Hurricane Irma and the devastation it caused in Saint Martin. I have an awful lot to say about it, though, especially as new updates keep coming through. I figure if you want to know what I have to say about the situation, you’ll read this. And look– here you are!
Med Students are OK
After a semi-sleepless night a couple days ago and plenty of tears, I finally started hearing from friends who had been out of contact for a day after the storm.
The people who sheltered in American University of the Caribbean are safe, and not only that, anyone with any medical training (even first semester med students) are volunteering in a makeshift clinic! They even delivered a baby! What a birth story.
Many of the students, spouses and kids were able to evacuate to Puerto Rico. Many others, mostly students, stayed behind.
Tom and Lisa are OK
If you follow me on social media, you probably know a bit about Tom and Lisa Burnett, who ran Player Development Program in Sint Maarten.
I used to go there most days to tutor and mentor the kids. Player Development blew away and the pieces are yet to be found.
But Tom and Lisa (plus their four dogs) are safe! I could breathe easier after I found that out. Their neighborhood was hit very hard.
They survived the storm huddled on a mattress under their table, both of them plus of the four dogs. They stayed there all day, through the storm and even after their roof was ripped off. I am shaking right now just thinking about it.
Still Waiting to Hear from Local Friends
I started following more SXM residents on social media to keep up with videos and photos. Many people seem to be OK and in shelter, but strictly rationing food and water, and in perhaps in pain.
The need help but it is hard to know what to do. Samaritan’s Purse has a fund now, and I they are delivering much needed help! If you want to help, give to them. But I haven’t heard much else, although a friend of mine with a Canadian Rotary Club is planning to try to ship down supplies and suggested that I call my local airport to see which airlines are willing to ship relief supplies down.
I haven’t heard from too many people since the main cell tower was taken out by the storm, and the power company as well, I believe.
I just keep thinking about how bad I’ve been at communication lately. My life is so out of control right now and I put everyone else on the back burner. I guess you don’t realize you’re doing that until your friends are in a life-threatening situation and you remember that the last thing you said was some stupid thing about doughnuts or worse, nothing at all for the past few weeks.
There’s nothing like the fear that you might have lost someone to make you think of all the stuff you wish you said to them last week.
I’m Grieving
I think I’m going through the stages of grief. I’m partially in denial, because how can those photos be real when they don’t match my memories? That flooded street covered in debris was a sunlit lane when I walked down it just a few months ago.
I can close my eyes and go back to the way it was. I can see and hear and feel and smell every part of the island.
I can hear the way it sounds to knock on the door of one of my baseball kid’s house. In my mind it is still there.
I can feel the gravel at player development under my feet and see the books and toys and everything.
I can see the view from my old balcony like I am standing there again. Pretty sure that balcony blew away.
I can taste the shawarmas at Little Jerusalem and hear the “clink, clink” of Abe and Cathy chopping up meat on the grill.
But then there are those photos of the destruction, the videos of the looting. It’s hard to reconcile.
I Should Be There
And there is this overwhelming sense of guilt, because somehow I feel like I am supposed to be there.
Maybe I wouldn’t be saying this if I’d actually gone through it, but I’d rather have stuck out the day in AUC, where the hurricane shelter was strong and safe, than be here wondering and waiting and watching from afar.
I’d rather be out dragging palm fronds off the street right now. Or something else useful. Maybe that sounds dumb, and maybe it is dumb.
It’s stupid to want to be stuck on an island when so many people are suffering and desperately awaiting help and wanting to leave.
I feel stupid. And useless.
People reading this are probably going to think I’m trying to be some kind of weird martyr or something, but I think I’m just really emotional and stressed out.
I actually called Jet Blue yesterday to find out if I can fly down and when, but I couldn’t get through because they’re too busy handling the crisis.
I don’t even know what I would do if I did go. It’s not like they need more people to use up rations, anyway.
So anyway, now we’re both depressed, you’re welcome. Maybe I should go back to journaling instead of blogging.
That’s what things look like from my perspective.
Now just waiting for Irma to hit Florida, and I can’t wait until that is done and the power is back and I can hear from everyone.
St. Barth’s is the French Caribbean’s premier vacation destination. It’s so fancy (you already know)! The world’s rich and famous flock to its white sand beaches all year round! When I had the chance to visit with my friend Emily, however, I was more excited about the historic forts than the upscale resorts. Are you a history buff, too? Read on to see the stunning views from St. Barth’s Fort Karl!
Fort Karl is located in the town of Gustavia. It’s pretty easy to find. St. Barth’s is only about nine square miles, and Gustavia is the port city where just about everybody arrives. A quick ATV ride or brisk walk will bring you to the foot of the stairs. Take the brief climb up the stairs, and you’ll be on top of the world! Well, on top of the island, at least.
Fort Karl has been around for quite some time! It was built in 1789, when the island belonged to Sweden. Since then, it has become rather overgrown with bushes, cacti, and scrubby trees. In recent decades, the island has made the ruins of the fort a popular tourist attraction, creating paths through the fort and signage to interpret the history and nature of the area.
Although the fort is no longer necessary for island defense, it is an excellent vantage point for sightseeing! You get great views of the town, and apparently it’s also a popular place for whale-watching. We didn’t see any whales, much to our sadness, but we did see a bunch of boats arriving for the annual St. Barth’s regatta.
The view from the top really put the tiny size of Gustavia in perspective! It’s incredible how tiny and old this charming historic town is. They’ve really kept it nice through all these years. It’s a tiny place with a whole lot of history! I wonder what it was like to live here during the era when it was all but forgotten by Europe?
From the top, we could also see our next destination: Shell Beach! This beach is entirely carpeted by tiny shells. We could hardly wait to get down and zoom over to this beautiful beach! St. Barth’s has so much to see.
Stay tuned for a photo-filled post about beautiful Shell Beach! You don’t want to miss a taste of this stunning Caribbean destination. Like and follow for more posts on St. Barth’s and the Caribbean! Until next time.
When Ben’s cousins, Craig, Bonnie, and Wally, visited us a month ago, they spoiled me. And I mean really spoiled me! One of the fun excursions they treated me to during their trip to Sint Maarten was a day on Anguilla at the Four Seasons Resort.
I’d been to Anguilla several times before, but I’d certainly never been to the Four Seasons! Actually, I’d never been to a hotel nearly as ritzy as this place. I’ve always wondered why the rich and famous want to spend their entire vacations in the Caribbean at a resort. Now I get it.
Oh my word. That pool, that view! Anguilla is known for being beautiful, but the combination of wild natural beauty and manicured perfection was just gorgeous.
Wally and Craig went right to the ping-pong table. You know it’s a good place when there’s table tennis. I hadn’t seen such nice grass in months, and I almost felt like I needed to take my shoes off to walk on it.
Rooms at Four Seasons Anguilla run several thousand a night – a NIGHT! – so you can imagine how nice this place is. I felt privileged to get to spend the day there.
Bonnie and I enjoyed the infinity pool. It was a great view of the beautiful, powdery white beach below. All of Anguilla’s beaches are fantastic (or so I’ve heard; I’ve only been to three of them), but Mead’s Bay Beach is one of the best.
Talk about a lot of sand! This beach seemed endless, and it was not crowded at all. That’s the wonderful thing about Anguilla. It’s small, but it’s quiet and offers enough space for everyone.
I saw a few people trying to surf along the edge of the beach, which was freaking me out a little. It was so shallow and close to the rocks! I’m not sure what the appeal was, because they were only getting very short rides. Maybe it’s better on other days.
While we were at the Four Seasons in Anguilla, we got to eat at the restaurant there. Did I mention that Craig and Bonnie also spoiled me with food? I don’t think I cooked a single time while they were staying with us!
The food at the Four Season was to die for. Ben often says that the only think I love more than hummus is him. It might possibly be true. I do judge a restaurant by it’s hummus. And this was some of the best hummus I’ve ever had. I may or may not have eaten it with a spoon once the pitas ran out.
They say that time flies when you’re having fun, and it certainly is true. I was surprised when our day was over and it was time to take the ferry back home.
If you want a luxe vacation in Anguilla, the Four Seasons is the place to go. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to stay there, and I’m OK with that, but it sure was a blast to experience the celebrity life for a day!
If you’ve been missing the Caribbean adventures posts, you’ll be glad to know I got access to my photos again! We have them all stored on an external drive that was making scary clicking sounds. Ben backed it up today, so we’re good to go once again! So stay tuned.
The bad news: it took 24 hours and about half my remaining sanity.
If you’ve ever moved internationally, you know it’s not exactly a piece of cake. Actually, it’s pretty tough, emotionally and logistically. It’s like I was being ripped in half, because I was so sad to leave St. Maarten, but at the same time so excited to see my family and my hometown. And while I was trying to deal with those emotions, I had to be getting rid of all my stuff and cramming the few things I was keeping into our suitcases.
Fact: You can only drag so many pieces of luggage through the airport.
Also fact: Suitcases hold less than you expect them to.
As we were going through all our stuff, I was wondering where the heck all that crap came from. We only lived in St. Maarten for a couple of years, and I was intentionally trying not to amass copious amounts of things. So even after selling, donating, giving away and throwing out the large majority of what was in our apartment, we still had three suitcases, two gigantic backpacks, and a couple of small backpacks. Plus the dog. And by the way, getting the dog back was incredibly stressful. But I don’t want to even think about that right now. She’s here, and that’s all that matters.
The first thing that happened when we got to the airport, as we were struggling to get our luggage to the counter, was a cranky security guard stopping us and demanding to see our paperwork for the dog. Not only was it bad timing, but she actually has no authority over whether or not a dog goes on the plane. We have to show it to the lady at the baggage counter and the people a customs. I took this total waste of time as a bad sign about the way the trip would go, and boy, was that accurate.
Kenny driving us to the airport
Kito was thoroughly freaking out by the time we made it through customs, but the hour wait to get on the plane calmed her down. We planned to get on the place last of all, so that Kito wouldn’t get in anyone’s way, but they actually let us get on the plane first. That was really nice, and it gave us a chance to get settled. Kito was so worn out that she lay down at my feet and fell asleep.
As soon as the engine started, she shot straight up in the air and landed on our laps! Ben comforted her while I watched my beautiful St. Martin disappear beneath the clouds. I had thought I would cry at this moment, but I was already too exhausted for any tears. The last thing I saw was Pond Island growing smaller and smaller beneath us. It was strange to think that my Little League team was practicing right then and I was not there to help.
Kito literally shook with terror for the entire three hour flight to Miami. Poor dog! The good news was that she was so quiet that I don’t think anyone noticed her.
We had booked a flight with a 1.75 hour layover so that it would be easier on the dog. Here’s a piece of advice: never book a short layover when going through customs in Miami. We had intended to use the really cool new customs app (Guys, it’s really cool. You have to use it next time you fly internationally!) but it doesn’t work if you have an “x” on your customs form. Kito is technically an imported animal, so we still had to wait in the long line.
After the long line, we were taken to another special customs area for people who are importing stuff. We were the only ones waiting in the room, and we waited for fifteen minutes while the staff slowly stacked papers, watched basketball on TV, had a conversation about illegally imported mangoes, and complained about having to multitask when they finally decided to get around to seeing us.
Even through we were slowly watching our chances of catching our connection slip away, I was more concerned about Kito’s rabies shot. I had called my vet to set up Kito’s health certificate appointment, and she told me not to worry about making a separate, earlier appointment for the rabies shot. So I got it a week early, along with the health certificate. St. Maarten is a rabies-free country, so it technically doesn’t matter, according to the CDC. A lot of my dog-savvy friends, however, told me that I might not get Kito through customs if her shot was less than a month old. So I was really worried about that. As it turned out, though, the customs people looked the shot record over, smiled, and handed it back without a comment. Of course, seeing that they didn’t appear to take their job very seriously, I wouldn’t count on that being the norm.
We left customs and realized that we had just missed our flight. We were directed to customer service, where we waited in another long line to get a new flight. When we finally got to the front, the representative told us that the next flight was at 7 AM– twelve hours after we had landed in Miami. Since the delay was not the airline’s fault, we didn’t get a room or even a meal voucher. I could tell that the manager felt bad, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Another woman who was on our flight was MAD. She was incredibly mad, and she really wanted us to be as mad as she was. Honestly, though, we weren’t that upset. Maybe it’s because we were too exhausted to feel anything other than tired, but I think it was because we were just thankful to be through customs and in Florida. There’s nothing like getting your newly-stamped passport back and hearing, “Welcome to the United States.”
The airport wouldn’t let us through security a “day early,” and when we got our new tickets it was 11:00 PM. So we had to wait an hour just inside the door and get overpriced Pizza Hut, which was all that was open. Boy, did that Pizza Hut taste good just then. At midnight, we went through security. It was actually nice to be doing the TSA thing so early, when there were only five people in line ahead of us. We just had to slide on through, and we were done in ten minutes. Phew. We still had six and a half hours before boarding, so we found a quiet terminal and tried to sleep.
We actually did manage to sleep a little bit. It’s amazing how easy it is to fall asleep in odd places when you’re so exhausted! Even the dog just dropped off to sleep, all curled up on an airport chair.
Of course, we couldn’t sleep the whole time. I was worried about Kito peeing on the carpet, so we took to her to the special doggy bathroom a few times to make sure to avoid a mess. Thank goodness for the doggie bathroom!
Also, Ben made a new friend named Leo. Leo works at the airport, and he didn’t have any assigned duties for a couple hours during the especially slow parts of the night, so he talked to Ben for a while and found out our predicament. He helped us get seats together on the plane, and then drove us an all our stuff to our terminal on his cart.
When it was finally time to get on the plane, I was surprised at how quickly the night had gone. The plane ride didn’t seem so short. I slept for a while, and tried to do a crossword puzzle with my fuzzy sleep-deprived brain. Mostly, I held Kito, who was really not enjoying the whole experience. The upside to the early morning plane ride was that my parents didn’t have to pick us up at midnight, which I was happy about.
Finally, we touched down in dusty Phoenix! I have never been so happy to see the familiar outline of Camelback Mountain. We were so excited to see my family, and Kito was excited about the new kennel they bought her. Seriously– I have never seen a dog who loved a kennel so much. How wonderful to be a dog and have a grassy yard for the first time ever, and a cozy kennel to sleep in at night!
After the whole experience, I can safely say I will never fly with a dog again. At least not for that long of a flight! It was the worst flight experience I’ve ever had, but we got through it with pretty good attitudes and made it home just fine. Now that we’ve recovered a bit, I’m looking forward to seeing family and friends and re-integrating into the United States. This is just the first chapter of a whole new life.
Hi everyone! It’s been about a week since I posted, but I haven’t been twiddling my thumbs. This week is a bittersweet week for Ben and I as we pack our bags (all three of them) and get ready to move back to the States. And yes, I am losing my frickin’ mind in the process, thanks for checking. If you find my brain anywhere, let me know so I can toss it in my carry-on before we fly out.
If you’re loving the Saint Martin adventure posts, never fear! I still have a lifetime’s worth of post material and photos. So you should see a new mix of Arizona adventures and Saint Martin adventures each week.
Rather than give you another hike or beach post today, I thought I’d update and share my Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten Travel Guide. This is a great resource to help you plan you trip to (Saint Martin or your next weekend, for you islanders and expats). Sometimes, getting out and doing something feels pretty uninspired if you feel like you have been everywhere already. So check out the list and see if there’s anything new you can do! Here it is: Saint Martin Travel Guide.
Before I sign off, here’s a sneak peek of the next few Saint Martin posts I’ll be writing, so stick around (and subscribe or follow) to see them when they come out.
Five Reasons to Snorkel Baie Rouge
The History of Saint Martin’s Forts
How Not to Get to Fort Willem
Four Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do at Mullet Bay Beach
St. Barth’s for Under $100
Why $230 is Totally Worth 5 Hours on Saba
Also… look out for a slew of new Arizona posts! Saint Martin peeps, you’re going to want to come visit after seeing how cool the desert can be. I know you can’t imagine life without the beach, but you have to see what we desert rats do for fun. This is where I’ll be in two days. See you on the other side!
