ITP - 138: Student Travel, Teaching Abroad, and Life After Teaching

JP: Welcome to another episode of the International Teacher Podcast. My name is Jacqueline from JP Mint Consulting, and I am joined here today with Greg the Single Guy. Hello, Greg.

Greg: Hi everybody. I'm eating cheese. It's been a long day. Elementary school.

JP: He's just having some cheese. And we are joined today with Nick and Joy Owens, joining us from somewhere in the United States. We're going to find out their stories right now. Hello, Nick and Joy.

Greg: Hey buddy.

Nick: Hello. Hi, thanks for having us.

JP: Where are you guys?

Nick: We are currently in Ringgold, Georgia. That’s our home now, for the last year.

JP: Georgia. I was going to say Georgia, Ontario, Georgia USA — somewhere near Atlanta by any chance?

Nick: Closer to Chattanooga.

JP: I like that name, Chattanooga. So Nick and Joy, can you tell us a little bit about your international journey? What brought you overseas, and then we’ll talk about what brought you back home.

Greg: Choo-choo!

Nick: Yeah, well, we both have an international story. I’ll take a little bit of time and then she can take some time. We also met through our international journey, so we’ll get into that as well.

Nick: My international story really started in high school. That’s when I first started traveling overseas and got excited about it.

Greg: We have time.

JP: We have time. Woo.

Nick: As a teacher, I graduated from college and got my first teaching job in the United States. Then during the 2008–2009 financial recession, I found myself unemployed in the middle of December due to a reduction in force.

Nick: I was trying to figure out what to do mid-year. I was talking with a former colleague, and they said, “Have you ever thought about teaching internationally?” I said no, but it sounded interesting.

Nick: He connected me with someone in Taiwan who was looking for American teachers. They wanted American accents, and the job was essentially an English immersion program.

Nick: It was like a residential summer camp, but year-round. Students from fifth grade across the Taipei area would come in Monday through Friday.

Nick: Everything was done in English. We taught all subjects in English and created a full immersion environment.

JP: All year long.

Greg: That’s a long summer camp.

Nick: It really was. By the end of the year, I was exhausted. It was like doing summer camp every day for an entire year.

Nick: But it was a great experience. We built strong relationships with students and had a really good time, even though it was exhausting.

Nick: After that, I realized I liked being there. I liked Taiwan, the people, and the work. I wanted to stay.

Nick: I connected with some expats in Taipei, and they told me about a science teaching position opening at their school.

JP: I was going to presume.

Nick: Yeah, I’m a science teacher. So I contacted the principal, and they hired me.

Nick: I stayed there for four years as the head science teacher. It was a unique school. Many international schools there could only enroll students with foreign passports.

Nick: But we operated under a different license, called a buxiban, which is basically an English cram school. We built an American-style curriculum and were able to enroll both Taiwanese and international students.

Greg: That sounds like fun.

JP: Buxiban.

Greg: That sounds like fun.

Nick: I’m not sure how legal it all was, but we weren’t running it. We had about 160 to 170 high school students, so it was a good size.

Greg: Even if it was illegal, that doesn’t count as your police story.

JP: Yeah.

Nick: That’s how I got into Taiwan. I was there for about five years total.

JP: So one year in the immersion program and then four years as a science teacher.

Nick: Yeah, and I even started AP science classes there. I also led student trips internationally, which was a big part of the experience.

Nick: That’s actually how we met at that school.

Nick: And now she can take over her story.

Joy: So I actually grew up in Zambia and went to high school in Kenya. When I came back to the States, I did my undergrad in public relations.

Joy: I remember going to a job fair and meeting someone who said they had studied public relations but were now a teacher. I thought that was strange.

Joy: But about two years later, that’s exactly what I was doing. I had been in the States for about a year and was feeling bored and wanted to travel again.

Joy: A friend of mine was going to work at a bilingual school in Honduras, so I sent in my resume. They initially said they were full, but two weeks before school started, they called and said they needed me.

Joy: So I moved to Comayagua, Honduras with no teaching experience.

Greg: I was in San Pedro Sula for three years.

JP: Yeah, Greg was in Honduras too.

Joy: The first semester was really hard. I thought, this is awful. The students were loud and I didn’t know what I was doing.

Joy: Then I learned classroom management, and everything changed. My teaching improved, and my students improved too.

Joy: I had one student go from a 20 percent to an 85 percent by the end of the year.

JP: Nice.

Joy: That’s when I realized I actually enjoyed teaching. I decided to get my master’s in ESL.

Joy: After that, I moved to Taiwan, which is where we met.

Joy: I was there for two years.

JP: And then you went to Alaska?

Joy: Yes. When he got a job in Alaska, we moved there.

Joy: That was a major culture shock. We went from working with affluent students in Taiwan to students in Alaska who were often unmotivated.

Greg: It’s too cold up there.

Joy: A lot of students didn’t feel they needed school because they could go into trades or work in the oil fields without a degree.

JP: Wow.

Joy: I worked in a public school and he worked in a private school. It was a very different experience, but still valuable.

JP: And how long were you in Alaska?

Joy: Eight years.

Greg: Wow.

JP: And then you ended up in Georgia. Did you go back overseas after that?

Joy: No. When we had our second child, we decided to move somewhere warmer, so we moved to Arizona.

Greg: From Alaska to Arizona.

JP: From polar bears to cacti.

Joy: Exactly. After COVID, things in the classroom changed a lot. He was coming home every day with headaches.

Joy: We still loved education, but we knew we needed a change.

Joy: Around that time, we heard that a friend was selling their travel agency. We love travel, so we decided to buy it.

Joy: The business focuses on helping schools and organizations plan group travel and educational trips.

Greg: That’s great, because a lot of teachers wonder what comes after teaching.

JP: Absolutely.

Nick: Well, I actually had a story I wanted to tell you guys about why we chose a travel agency in the first place.

Nick: One of our first experiences together, before we were even dating, was taking a group of students on a study tour.

Nick: We took students from Taiwan to Zambia, where she had grown up. It was about a month-long study tour.

Nick: We started in Lusaka and spent time on a farm where students learned about culture and agriculture.

Nick: Then we went to Victoria Falls. The students did rafting on the Zambezi River and visited wildlife areas.

Nick: We also went to places where students could interact with animals, including walking with cheetahs and seeing lions.

Nick: The academic side included environmental science. Students learned about ecology, animal tracking, and conservation.

Greg: You had me at poop.

JP: Identifying poop.

Nick: Yes, they learned to identify animal tracks and even animal droppings. They also made plaster casts of footprints.

Nick: They earned a science credit, and I also taught creative writing. We read African authors and had students write about their experiences.

Nick: We also did walking safaris. One moment that stood out was when our guide suddenly became very alert.

Nick: We asked what happened, and he pointed out fresh Cape buffalo droppings. That was a sign of danger.

Nick: He told us a story about being attacked by a buffalo before. It had gored his arm, and he had to hold onto the horns to survive.

Nick: That really changed how we saw the environment.

Greg: The International Teacher Podcast, brought to you by poop in Africa.

JP: When I was on a game drive in Tanzania, my guide told me to watch for herbivores. If you see them, it means there are no carnivores nearby.

JP: So if I needed to stop, I would look for animals like impalas to feel safe.

Nick: That trip really showed us how powerful experiential learning can be.

Nick: We later helped organize another trip to Peru for a Spanish program, which also included immersion experiences.

Nick: That’s what led us into this business. We wanted to help create meaningful, customized travel experiences for students.

JP: So now how do you go about helping schools and teachers plan trips?

Nick: We offer all-inclusive tours. Teachers often don’t want a cookie-cutter experience, so we customize trips based on their goals.

Nick: We also include everything in one price—flights, food, accommodation—so there are no surprises for parents.

JP: Do you offer homestays as well as hotels?

Nick: Yes, depending on the trip. For example, in Peru, students stayed with host families for a week to practice language skills.

Nick: Other trips, like Washington DC, are hotel-based.

Greg: That’s a lot of work on your end.

Nick: It is, but we enjoy it. Trips can be short, like a week, or longer depending on the school.

Nick: Even international schools can benefit from trips. Students still want cultural experiences outside their host country.

JP: I took a group to Paris and Rennes with homestays, and the impact on students was huge.

Nick: Exactly. Students come back more engaged and motivated.

Nick: Studies show that students who travel have higher grades, higher graduation rates, and more engagement.

JP: So now how do teachers get in touch with you?

Nick: Our company is Butler Travel. You can visit butlertravel.com or email us directly.

Nick: We also have a planning guide available for teachers who want to start organizing trips.

Nick: It walks them through the steps, whether they use us or not.

JP: That’s great.

Greg: Any final thoughts?

Nick: We just want to help students experience the world. It’s incredibly valuable for their growth.

JP: Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Nick: Thank you for having us.

Greg: Thanks everyone for listening.

JP: Bye everyone.

Greg: Don’t be angry, but when I leave, I’m going to leave Kent.

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