Just a Small Town Boy | Josh — ExpatsEverywhere

About me...

My name is Josh and I’m a serial expat who is a lead contributor for ExpatsEverywhere. Although I didn’t move abroad from the US until I was 25, my story really began in college. This is my story of how I got started and why I can’t stop. In 2001, I enrolled at King College (now King University) to study and play collegiate soccer. King University is situated in Bristol, TN, which is right across the border from my hometown, Bristol, VA. Maybe you’ve seen the famous State Street road plaque or slogan sign that lets you know which side of the street is which state. King College wasn’t your average soccer program at the time. Normally, university soccer programs had international recruits from a cluster of countries. Ours had them from literally everywhere (well, except Asia).

Parks Field (King College, Bristol, TN) [old photo]

Culture in College

I entered the team, having just turned 18 a few days before training camp started my freshman year. There were players from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Ireland, Cayman Islands, Eritrea, The Gambia, and Norway. More than this, the King basketball team had foreign players and they liked soccer, so we all got along as well. I became influenced by people from, Belerus, Serbia, and Bosnia. This was just my first year. A kid from a small American town of 10,000-20,000 people, meeting people from about as far away as he could imagine. This was my new reality. Throughout this period, even more nationalities came into my life.

In 2003, my business professor, who is a travel lover himself, asked me if I would be interested in studying abroad. At this point, I had only traveled abroad once and didn’t need a passport then. I hadn’t seen many states in the US, I didn’t have a passport, and I had never traveled without my family. But, I swallowed my fear, got a passport, and threw down a huge some of money to take this six week summer trip. It indeed was the real turning point.

Study Abroad in Italy

The summer of 2004, I headed off to Italy for a six week summer course. The original plan had been to mirror the school’s trip the year before, which was more of a European tour. However, due to some logistical issues, my trip was switched to keep us in Italy the whole time. In hindsight, I think this was important because the previous year they moved around a lot. My cohort stayed in places for weeks at a time. Things started to feel like life.

Our first “home” was a convent on a hill between Montepulciano and Chianciano in the ridiculously beautiful Tuscan countryside. Life was slow-paced. The food was incredible and the wine, oh the wine, it flowed like water. Mornings were crisp and cool. The shower was so cold and awkward due to size, you’d rather go dirty. All of the new experiences had my mind firing…firing about the possibilities in life. I was probably five days in before I remembered to call my parents.

Will I Be Homesick?

There was no Skype, no FaceTime. There was one phone at this convent that we could use if we had an international phone card. Remember those? My phone credit melted away as quickly as my soul did under the Tuscan sun. After that phone conversation with both my mom and my dad, I realized something. I missed them, I love them, but I don’t miss them that much. I was having the time of my life and as the weeks passed, there was no sign of homesickness.

That was something so many people had warned me of before I left. I never suffer homesickness. My trick? Well, I don’t know if it’s a trick at all, but I just live in the moment. While in Italy, I didn’t reflect on the past or think about what people “back home” were doing. I was living my life and being engaged with the experiences in the moment.

That was my “ah ha” moment. I loved hearing different languages, seeing different sights, meeting “foreigners”, and trying new food. I could live abroad as an expat, I could travel the Earth, and I wanted to do both. The next step wasn’t so easy. I needed a way to fund it. That’s where the story has another ripple.

Post College

After finishing undergrad college, I pursued soccer both in a playing and coaching capacity. I soon realized that it wasn’t going to work out from a financial or feasibility standpoint. In the summer of 2008, I went on a mission’s trip with my church to Slovakia. Our intent was to run a summer camp that taught English, played sports, and did activities while presenting the Gospel. The teaching aspect was the thing that had me most nervous. I don’t know how to teach! I wasn’t wrong, but as the days passed by, teaching became more natural to me. After the tripped finished, I had the second to last piece of the puzzle...the “how”. I was going to be an ESL teacher.

The ESL Debate

At this point, if you’re a veteran of the game, you’re either scoffing at me or empathizing. If you’re new, you’re probably thinking what’s ESL? Great question! It’s very much debated but I’ll just leave you with the acronym. ESL is English as a Second Language.

Some expat veterans hate the ESL professions, because for the most part in a lot of countries, it’s like the wild west where foreigners flock to a new country for a paycheck and a party. It’s hard to find true professionals because most true professionals end up as international school teachers or climbing to the top of the ESL ranks where newbies never see them or only hear about them making double or triple their salary in things of legend or folklore.

The other half of veteran expats either got their start as an ESL teacher or don’t work in education, therefore they don’t have much reason to hate. Wherever you fall, hear me out.

The final component to my master plan to become an expat, globe-trotting nomad was start-up capital. I needed some money to get started. So, I spent the next year saving up from my bartending and service jobs. I wanted to have $5,000 before moving. That was my target, and my deadline was January of 2009.

Trying to Hype the Life Abroad

I was really excited and I tried to get others excited about it. I talked to my closest friends at the time and a couple of them were with me on that trip to Slovakia. Enthusiastically, I spoke about the awesomeness we experienced and how teaching wasn’t so bad. At this point, I should tell you that I hadn’t studied Education at all. My major was in Business and in 2006, I completed my Master’s in Business Administration.

I was ready to forget my degrees and pursue a life abroad. That was the most important thing to me at the time. In my heart, I always knew that the draw of doing business would be great. I would want to get into business in the future, but I would want it to be business abroad.

Back to me trying to convince friends...I failed on all of them except for one. There was a singular friend that was considering moving abroad and doing this with me. I was scared to take the leap myself, however, with this other person, I knew I could. We traveled well together so I was confident it would work.

Travel Companion

Sparing you the drama, my friend had backed out around the time I had started a new relationship. This new girl had an interest in the international life, had plenty of travel experience from her childhood, and zero plan after college. Our friendship was growing. She had a plan for what to do for work abroad (au pair) and a drive to make it happen. I absolutely didn’t want to wait to move, but I caved. I waited. My new target date was the summer of 2009. So it came to be.

What next?

This year marks ten years of living abroad, living in four countries outside of the US (Spain, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore). I’m married to that same amazing woman I first moved abroad with and we have a child on the way. I have started three businesses. Lastly, I have found a deep love for the expat community and serving this weirdly fantastic niche of people.

ExpatsEverywhere: Expat Contributor

Obviously there’s more to this story about how I became an expat contributor with ExpatsEverywhere. There is a ten year gap that has been my expat experience...but that my friends, fellow expats, and travelers alike, is for another time.

Just a Small Town Boy | Josh