Does the thought of just being able to get on a plane and go somewhere - anywhere - appeal to you? Do you have the travel bug, or are you perhaps actually dreaming of taking flight and settling down completely in a brand new location overseas?

It seems that increasingly in this day and age with relatively cheap air travel available, (not including the carbon cost of flying around the world of course), and many websites, TV programmes and magazines committed to extolling the delights, virtues, sites and attractions of nations all around the world, that more and more of us want to see the world for ourselves up close and personally!

Taking a vacation for a couple of weeks every year is no longer sufficient for us and even the baby boomer generation are getting in on the act and planning their retirement years abroad!

The one thing we all have in common though is having to find a way to finance our travel and exploration plans. So, while the baby boomers can sell their homes and cash in their pensions maybe, what about the rest of us who actually have to still work for a living to make ends meet – is there a way to live abroad or travel the world and work and earn an income sufficient enough to keep us in the manner to which we have become accustomed?

The simple answer is yes – here and three ways how you can earn an income and travel or live overseas…

1) Learn to teach English – one of the most popular ways that many native English speakers find to fund their exploration abroad is to learn how to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) to young learners and adults.

With a well accredited course and high pass marks under your belt you can take the skills you learn overseas with you and teach and spend after school time, at weekends and in the holiday periods using the money you earn to travel round the country in which you’re working for example.

International House TEFL courses and any course accredited by the Cambridge Examination Board in the UK are worth considering and TEFL is a truly flexible qualification and skill to have.

2) Learn to teach a recreational sport like diving – if you become a dive master or instructor for example you can spend time in exotic places teaching tourists how to dive!

The money isn’t always incredible unless you run your own dive school, but the wage will be enough to allow you to live abroad in a fun location. Diving is just an example of a recreational pursuit you could teach – think about the location you’d like to live in and what skills may be required there – gain those skills and go teach!

3) Start your own business overseas – the UK has an exhibition in November specifically for all those people who want to live abroad who are not yet in a position to retire and who would ultimately love to sack their boss. The Business Startup Overseas exhibition tells people how to find a niche, how to explore profitable avenues, how exactly to get all the paperwork in order and ultimately, how to start your own business abroad.

These are just three simple ways that you could begin to consider and explore further if you really do want to spend a lot of time living and travelling abroad. Other options include becoming a yacht master and crewing yachts for wealthy people and effectively sailing yourself around the world, working as crew on cruise ships or airlines or possibly taking a skill you have such as singing or playing a musical instrument and busking your way around the world!

Just think outside of the corporate world, 9 – 5 existence and think about the skills and talents you have, the skills and talents you could acquire and what opportunities there are or which opportunities you could create for yourself in a given location overseas.

If you truly want to live abroad or travel overseas, commit yourself to the dream and you will find a way of making it an affordable reality.

Rhiannon Williamson writes about living and working abroad so if you’re thinking of going to live or work overseas then her resource www.ShelterOffshore.com has all the information you could possibly need.