Looking for help on travel/living abroad. Possibly Spain.

nigelll · 05-21-2012

Hello all!

My wife is wanting to do some traveling and living abroad. She would work teaching English as a second language and I would have to find work in other ways. I could do photography in a few ways but would have a language barrier. I have been accepted to a few stock agencies. I have wedding and event experience, commercial, portraits, etc...

It looks like the top pick for countries right now is Spain, is there anyone in Spain that could help me out with some ideas or possibly some photographers that could use assistants? Or anyone that has done/is doing something similar?

Really any advice at all would be great even if its not Spain related!

We are just starting the planning process and have a lot to learn still. Especially regarding work visas, etc.

So thanks in advance everyone!

I have never been steered wrong on this forum and I really respect most peoples opinions on here!

135format · 05-22-2012

Not specifically photography related but do you realise that Spain is undergoing a masssive depresssion. I think you will find it very difficult to find work there right now, especially if you aren't fluent in Spanish and can't integrate into the local community very quickly. Spain is one of the other countries that is in danger of falling out of the EU monetary system (like Greece) if the economy doesn't pick up or if they get dragged down further when Greece falls out.

Roger Hicks · 05-22-2012

Could you perhaps explain why Spain is top of your list? It's a relatively low-wage country to begin with, and as already pointed out, it's in trouble at the moment. You'd need to be in a big city to get much work (= expensive). Health insurance will also be fun. You need to get yourself into the Spanish system FAST (and FAST doesn't always happen in Spain) and until then you'll need private insurance. I know about this stuff because my wife is American and we first considered moviing to France around 20 years ago: we finally moved here 10 years ago.

Have you considered Eastern Europe? Or the Far East? Look for somewhere they REALLY want to learn English. No matter what you do, it's going to be a struggle, though almost certainly a worth-while and enjoyable struggle. TEFL/TESL is a wonderfully portable skill but doesn't pay all that well (though my nephew spent several years in Vietnam doing just that), and I just don't know about photography opportunities. Have you considered getting a TEFL/TESL qualification yourself? After all, it doesn't have to be full time and you can fit it around whatever else you do. My daughter has one and has found it very useful.

Cheers,

R.