ITP - 34: Nomadic Teachers Free Tool for International Jobs

Greg: So I'd like to welcome our next guest, and this is going to be an exciting interview. We have Elliot on with us from Hong Kong, and we're here to talk a little bit about recruiting websites—his website especially—and other parts of the world. So welcome to Elliot. Welcome to our show.

Elliot: Thanks, Greg. Thanks so much for inviting me.

Greg: Sorry that Matt's not here. Matt the Family Guy is definitely family-guiding it this weekend, and Kent the Cat Guy is doing something with his—I don't know what his cats are doing this weekend—but he's learning tennis or learning flute or something right now. So they can't reach out to talk to you. I'm sorry about that.

Elliot: All good.

Greg: I know that you've listened to our podcast before because we had a little talk about that, and you have a police story ready for us. We're not going to start with that, but you have one ready to go—thanks to Andrew Hallam, who we have to plug again for being on our millionaire show. That was fantastic.

Greg: So Elliot, we need to get more listeners than that podcast. That's what we've got to do.

Elliot: Let's do it.

Greg: Awesome. So tell me a little bit about—like we do with our other guests—can you give us the nutshell version, the elevator version, of how you got into international teaching and how you got to Hong Kong?

Elliot: I studied in Budapest, and my very first night of the semester abroad changed my entire life. I went to business school for my undergrad, and before I got to Budapest, I took two weeks and traveled through Italy—my first time ever leaving the US—and it changed everything.

Elliot: I remember the first night having dinner on a cobblestone street in downtown Rome, like in a plaza. This really little boutique café, the old-school lights were out—they were kind of yellow—and then around the corner I heard this violin playing. I thought to myself, that's got to be a recording.

Elliot: When I finished the pizza that I was eating—of course, the first thing an American would do in Rome is get pizza—I walked back toward my hotel, and there was just a guy playing violin beautifully. And I thought, oh, this is Europe. This was so easy for me to get here, and it's so different, and I love it.

Elliot: Ever since then, I just wanted to spend time around the world.

Greg: Okay, so did you go back and get your teaching degree and then head overseas for good?

Elliot: After I studied, I actually graduated abroad. Then I found out about teaching through my first job. I moved to San Francisco after college, and I would just stare at this globe for like an hour during lunch every single day—just obsessed with globes and locations.

Elliot: My supervisor said, “Elliot, have you ever considered teaching abroad?” My eyes just lit up. I had been trying to figure out another way to get abroad. I knew you could study, but eventually you need a job.

Elliot: She said you could get an English teaching job abroad. The next fall, I was in Prague getting my CELTA certificate to teach English as a second language. I did that for a month.

Elliot: While I was there, my family is originally from Lithuania, so I was traveling there. My teacher from Prague said, “Have you found a teaching job yet?” I said no, I was just backpacking.

Elliot: He said his friend managed a big English school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At the time I said no way—I just wanted to stay in Europe. But then I looked up Vietnam online and was fascinated.

Elliot: Thirty-two days later, I was teaching in Ho Chi Minh City. I did that for a year, loved it, and my eyes were opened to Asia and everything it offers.

Elliot: I wanted to stay in Asia but leave Vietnam. I wanted to learn a language that felt useful long-term, so I went to China. I got a job in Shanghai, taught there for three years, and studied Mandarin.

Elliot: After that, I went to Seoul, South Korea, and taught there for a year. Then I thought, teaching is really cool, but I want more—I want paid holidays, and I want to be credentialed.

Elliot: I found out about international schools. I was fascinated that there’s a network of schools around the world where you can move from place to place every few years.

Elliot: So I went back to San Francisco, did graduate school in education, got my teaching credential, and taught fourth grade full-time while studying full-time.

Elliot: Then my professor recommended me to a principal at an American school in Hong Kong. I didn’t even need to apply—just sent my credentials—and now I’m here.

Greg: I don’t even know what to say to that. You covered so much. You hit both paths—teaching English abroad and going the international school route.

Greg: You’re right—you can teach English for years and support yourself, but it’s different from being a certified teacher in international schools.

Greg: And you hit the number one rule too—it’s who you know. You didn’t even have to read my book, Finding the Right Fit.

Greg: You bypassed the recruiting fairs because you knew someone, and boom—you got a contract.

Greg: If you look around your school, how many teachers have taught in other countries?

Elliot: That’s a great question. I teach third grade, and one of my coworkers taught in the US first, then came here—she’s been here seven years. Another taught in Egypt before this.

Elliot: You’re right—it’s a network. I specifically chose a school in San Francisco because I knew it would help me get into that network.

Greg: You’re going to find out quickly how small this world is. It’s like six degrees of separation.

Elliot: One hundred percent—that’s a great way to put it.

Greg: I remember going to the University of Northern Iowa job fair—900 teachers, 100 schools, all from around the world. It’s surreal.

Greg: All right, let’s get into it. You’ve taken it a step further. Tell me how you’re helping others get into international teaching.

Elliot: The website I built is called nomadicteachers.com. It's essentially my answer to all the research I did to design the perfect place for me to teach. I knew every place has advantages and disadvantages, and I wanted something very specific.

Elliot: I'm a member of Search Associates, but what I didn't like was that it's expensive and once I got a job, they canceled my membership—even though I still wanted access to the database.

Elliot: I just like looking at international schools around the world, but they cut me off. So I thought, if I ever build something, it's going to be something where if you're a member, you're a member.

Elliot: The second thing was that these services help you find available jobs, not the right job for you. I wanted something more personalized.

Elliot: For example, I speak Mandarin, I love skateboarding, I like warm weather, and I care about tax rates because of personal finance. So I built a massive spreadsheet with things like climate, tax rates, happiness ratings, healthcare quality, and cost of living.

Elliot: I wanted to filter everything and find the perfect place that matched my lifestyle and teaching career. Based on all that, Hong Kong came out as the best option for me.

Elliot: I can practice Mandarin, skateboard year-round, pay low taxes, and save a lot of money—even though rent is high, I found ways to keep it low.

Elliot: So I built a website that helps others do the same thing.

Greg: You made the website you wanted to have. I did the same thing with my book—I wrote the book I wish I had when I started.

Greg: Back when I started, I didn’t know anything about job fairs. Someone just told me to go to Iowa, and that’s how I learned.

Greg: You’re doing something really different here. On your website, you’ve got filters—happiness, cost of living, all of it—and it’s super simple to use.

Greg: Tell me about the happiness filter.

Elliot: Great question. Everything on the site is based on data. It’s not subjective—it’s all based on statistics that I’ve combined into a calculator for international teachers.

Greg: How long did this take you to build?

Elliot: I built the spreadsheet in San Francisco for myself, but I built the website about two months ago in my free time.

Greg: That’s impressive. It’s simple, clean, and easy to use. I love it.

Greg: I haven’t seen anything like it. I think this is going to grow fast once more people find it.

Greg: Back in 2002, a friend and I tried to build something similar, but it failed because we relied on users to input too much data.

Greg: You’re giving people the information upfront, which is why this will work.

Greg: I love it. Nomadicteachers.com—everyone should check it out.

Greg: Let’s shift gears a bit. You live overseas—tell me something fun. Any stories?

Elliot: Yeah, I love skateboarding. I’ve been doing it since I was four. My stepdad gave me a skateboard instead of a baseball.

Elliot: During COVID, I bought my first real computer and started learning about technology and web design. I built my first website in quarantine, and now I’m really into it.

Elliot: My skateboarding background connects to design, so now I’m blending that with tech.

Greg: What kind of skateboarder are you? Are you doing tricks, rails, all that stuff?

Elliot: Yeah, I’m more of a street skater—handrails, stairs, tricks. That’s my style.

Greg: Living in Hong Kong, do you have places to skate?

Elliot: Yeah, there are parks and urban spots. The city environment is perfect for it, and there’s a cool mix of expats and locals in the skate community.

Greg: That’s great. For me, it’s music—I play saxophone in a jazz band. It’s one of those things that keeps you sane overseas.

Greg: What’s your living situation like?

Elliot: I live in a low-rise building—five floors, no elevator. It’s a bit of a workout getting up there.

Elliot: A lot of teachers live outside the city, but I like being in the middle of everything. I walk outside and I’m right in the action.

Greg: Let’s talk transportation. How do you get around?

Elliot: Public transportation is amazing—subways, buses, ferries. It’s cheap and efficient.

Elliot: I bike to work on an old-school bike with a basket. It takes about 15–20 minutes.

Greg: That sounds perfect. Let’s talk travel—where have you been?

Elliot: I’ve been to Indonesia, Cambodia, Japan. One of my favorite trips was taking a ferry from Shanghai to Osaka—it took two and a half days.

Elliot: No Wi-Fi, just a notebook and the ocean. Watching the land slowly appear as you approach Japan—it was incredible.

Greg: That’s what this lifestyle is all about.

Greg: Do you journal?

Elliot: Yeah, all the time. I’ve been journaling since I was a teenager. I’ve got tons of journals back home.

Greg: Be careful—my mom read mine once. That was not good.

Greg: You should write a book someday.

Greg: Let’s talk Vietnam—do you remember the coffee?

Elliot: Oh yeah, the coffee in Vietnam is amazing. I actually drink tea more often, but when I was there, I had coffee every single day because it was so good.

Greg: I remember that condensed milk at the bottom and the drip filter on top. They bring you the hot water and it slowly filters through. It’s incredible.

Elliot: Yeah, exactly like that. The stainless steel filter, and it drips down into the condensed milk. It’s so good.

Greg: I’m going to go back just for that.

Greg: All right, let me tell you my Vietnam story. My friend Mario and I went from Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City. Then we went to Dalat for a strawberry festival—which was not great.

Greg: Then we went to Nha Trang to go diving. I didn’t have any gear, so I found a dive shop. The instructor was this Australian woman, and I was immediately like, okay, I’m going diving.

Greg: She told me it was a holiday, so all the dive sites were full. But I could rent a private boat, so I did.

Greg: We went out, started diving, and suddenly she signals me to look up. There are two boats above us.

Greg: We surface, and it turns out it’s the police. They tied their boat to ours and told me I was diving in a restricted area.

Greg: They tried to give me a ticket. Basically, they just wanted money. Luckily, the captain talked them out of it.

Greg: We finished our dive somewhere else, but that was my first time getting pulled over by the police underwater.

Greg: All right, Elliot—your turn. Give me a police story.

Elliot: Okay, so this is from Shanghai. I was skateboarding with some friends, filming for a video. We went to this embassy area—it had perfect marble ground and a big gap that I wanted to jump.

Elliot: We got there early in the morning, around 7:30, to avoid crowds. I was warming up, and a police officer came over and told us we couldn’t be there.

Elliot: We tried to explain what we were doing. He asked what I wanted to do, and I told him I wanted to jump this gap.

Elliot: He said, “If you can do it, I’ll let you do it.”

Elliot: So we got everything set up, and I went for it—and landed it on the first try.

Elliot: He was blown away. We ended up taking a photo together, arms around each other. It turned into a really cool moment.

Greg: That’s awesome. You’ve got the photo with the cop too?

Elliot: Yeah, I’ve got the video, the photo of the trick, and a photo with the police officer.

Greg: Send me that. I’ll include it with the podcast.

Greg: That’s one of those moments where things start tense and then turn into something great.

Greg: All right, let’s start wrapping this up. Is there anything else you want listeners to know?

Elliot: Yeah—go to nomadicteachers.com. It’s a tool to help you find the right place for you. Join the community, explore, and reach out if you have questions.

Greg: How can people contact you?

Elliot: You can email me at [hello@nomadicteachers.com](mailto:hello@nomadicteachers.com).

Greg: Awesome. Elliot, thank you so much for being on the show. This was great—talking about your journey, your website, and your experiences.

Greg: We’ll definitely stay in touch. Thanks again for joining us.

Elliot: Thanks so much, Greg. Appreciate it.