You said you'd likely be getting a job that starts off with 6 weeks vacation/year. I was saying there is close to zero chance that someone with a high school diploma is going to be getting 6 weeks paid vacation 1 year out of HS.

Also, the word is 'accruing'. You are accruing college hours, at an accredited high school/community college.

No. No. No. The world is awash in "English Teachers" that are incompetent and doing more harm than good. If you want to teach English, get a college degree and a teaching certificate.

The ones who did the teach abroad did a great job.


OP, please do not listen to the nay sayers.


You have a dream, follow it. You are young and this is the time to do it.

Not to sure why you continue to think that going on one trip a year spending less than $5k on each (probably not even close to that) will break the bank. Just do a bit of research and you would see that Radar Repair is one of the more selective jobs in the army (ASVAP score wise) and I've already been told by lots of people that I could get a well paying job almost instantly from returning from AIT.

I respect everyone's opinion, but I still think you're missing the point that I will have $20k saved up. Not I will be making $20k a year and having to buy everyday things with that money.

I'll be sure to make a blog with the travel and post it here first :)

I think the operative question is where that $20k is coming from. Do you have any estimates on how much money you'll be able to put away into savings in high school? Otherwise, it seems like it'll be pretty difficult to save $20k during BCT/AIT--less than that should be much easier.

Teach Abroad requires a college degree. Nearly every country on the planet requires some type of teaching certificate if you are going to teach *legally* in their country.

Yes, I agree, follow your dream. Just don't damage the dreams of others while you're doing it. Including the dreams some people have of learning English.

You literally pay for almost nothing at both. I've already done estimations and I've had multiple people tell me I'll have $20k saved up if not more. When I did the math is came out around $21k. I was talking to a girl at RSP that just got back and she saved $18k and her job training wasn't nearly as long as mine.

good on you kid. Travel your butt off

Have you already found some leads on where you could be employed on the civilian side? I ask this because I did a stint working with army recruiters, and they spouted lots of lovely stuff about how the training you get makes you so employable outside of the army. What they failed to mention is that a) there would be lots of people in the immediate geographic area competing for the same positions with the same or more experience, b) that the military qualification side is only a small part of what employers want - just as with many other jobs, if an employer can get someone with army qualifications alone (aka the basic requirements for the job), or the army qualifications + 5/10 years experience + college degree + + +, it is fairly clear which option they would pick.

I had a quick look at jobs relating to 'radar repair' in a random US state (since I don't know where you are). The jobs wanted 5-8 years experience, some wanted a BSC in engineering / science / mathematics, some seemed much broader in their scope than just radar - many wanted full service electrical repair of which radar was only a very small component. Make sure the jobs really do exist, with only the qualifications you will have, and pay / give the benefits / vacation etc. that you think they do with your own leg work, rather than believing others (especially anyone with any connection to recruiting - they are salesmen, nothing more).

The other problem with the army (and this goes for armies across the world) is that they will train the proverbial out of you - on their systems. Which are often very different in design and function to systems used in the civilian world. I don't know anything about radar, but a friend was part of the Signals Corp, and had years of experience with the telecommunications side of things, yet when he left the army he struggled finding anything he was 'turnkey' ready to do in the same industry, because the tech was so different.

In general, I hate "zombie threads" that rise from the dead but I would really love to know the outcome of Shane's travel and savings plan. It is almost 4 years later. Paging Shane...