It’s a classic story: you travel or study abroad in college, have a massive desire to continue traveling afterward, and vow to make a big trip happen once graduation rolls around.
However, expectations from parents, peers, and professors may suggest otherwise, like settling down to a “normal” routine and climbing the ladder in the corporate world instead of traveling out in the world.
As someone who didn’t travel internationally growing up, I had every idea that I’d take the typical route of going to college and getting a corporate job after, and that I’d probably stay in for a decade or so. Well, that was the case until about a month before graduation rolled around, and that aching wanderlust and memories from my six-week study abroad in Italy were enticing me to take a more non-traditional route.
After scrapping dozens of half-completed 9-5 job applications, I turned my focus to working abroad. All I could think about was working for a cool company that allowed me to travel since I didn’t have the money to go backpacking. After plenty of research and hard work, I ended up landing an opportunity as a social media manager and tour guide for a company based in Italy!
For six months I was based in Florence (where I had studied a few years prior) and worked for a company that had weekend trips for study abroad students in places all over Europe. Our staff was awesome, which was great because the company paid for a shared apartment that we lived together. And I got valuable work experience in a number of areas like marketing, sales, events, leadership, and travel operations, and got to TRAVEL for my job!
Since how to go about landing this type of work + travel opportunity is one of my most frequently asked questions, I’ve put together a brief guide to the pros and cons of being an international tour guide, plus some skills to highlight when you are applying to such an opportunity....
>>> Hop on over to WE ARE TRAVEL GIRLS to read the entire post for more tips on landing this type of job, plus the benefits/drawbacks of being an international tour guide in Europe!