Great post. You mention something that worries a lot of teachers. I'd say this is just part of a larger trend of middle class people losing ground. The same problems exist in the USA. Costs of healthcare, housing, and university are skyrocketing, but salaries are not even keeping up with inflation. Europe has the same problems, plus no jobs. People are increasingly willing to leave their home country, and globalization is only going to increase this trend. The golden days are over and it is more and more competitive for teachers. School heads have told me as much.

I have been overseas for nearly 10 years and have done well financially. I would not have been able to come close back in the USA. International teaching may not be as good as it used to be, but at a decent school it is still a great gig. Ride it out as long as you are enjoying the lifestyle. There are some great places to live in the USA too, but as a teacher you will be poor and never able to own a home.

An infant in the lap costs a maximum of 10% the price of a seat, and you generally get some extra checked and carry on luggage.

Since you are leaving the school anyway there is no harm in asking for an extra seat. The policy is vague because the school still has to buy a ticket for a lap infant and therefore they are providing airfare even without a seat.

I was in this position twice at a good non-profit school and I did not ask for a ticket for the infant. They did not have a clear policy, but at that age you will generally end up with a bulkhead seat and maybe even a bassinet for the baby if you lie about the weight of the baby. You will have expedited boarding and if the flight is not full you will likely get an extra seat. Sure you can ask, but if it is several thousand dollars for the flight then maybe you are being a bit of a princess. When the kid is 22 months old it will be much more difficult to have them on your lap.

SEARCH is very worth it for those of us who have used them for years and have a bunch of confidential references with them. That is where you get trapped into using them. Schools like to see those references. Plus it is only $250 dollars to set up an account. That is a really tiny price to pay for a possible leg-up in the recruiting process.

They may be declining, but they are still bigger than their competition (Schroll, and ISS).

The international teaching world is small enough that those with ambition in the field are going to want to build up a good reputation and a lot of contacts. That golden reputation and those contact are going to earn you far more in life than a credit card scam. As someone already said, when the school learned of your scam they would leak the juicy gossip to your former colleagues and notify your new place of employment. You might actually be more likely to get more sympathy with acts that are morally worse, but everyone despises a petty thief and loves to see them suffer.

@chilagringa
Some sleepy places in Africa are ideal for very young children, but not so great for older ones. I lived in a huge house with hardwood floors, lots of French doors opening into a beautiful garden with fruit trees. We had an excellent cook who did all the shopping, two bilingual nannies (one with a college education), stress free positions at a good paying job (couple save about 45k a year). Excellent personal trainer, excellent French teacher who would come to my house. Diplomatic plates, non Malaria zone.
But...outside of outdoor activities, dinner parties etc there was not much going on in terms of culture. These kinds of posts are great for very young children because with little kids you end up at home a lot anyway. There is no time to go to the symphony or catch a movie at the theatre. Play dates in the garden are ideal. But as the kids get older you want to go out and do stuff as a family and many African cities are not pleasant places for a stroll in the park.

My experience is that older children are less safe in a dangerous location because they are out and about in society much more than very young children. The US State Department feels this way as there are posts that only allow children under 5 year old.

Now I live in a first world country and I spend a lot of time shopping, cooking, washing clothes, doing dishes. I have no time for a personal trainer or a French teacher, and I often miss the colonial style life.

One can post opinions, but they are pretty useless. People come on the forum for hard to get information. No sense in posting "I don't like Africa etc etc etc." This is boring. Add some recent details about expat life, specific locations, good schools etc. Generalizing about all of Africa is also juvenile. Gaborone is different than DRC or Morocco.

@Joe30

What schools in Africa have you actually visited? Do you even have a family? I notice you are the most prolific poster on these Africa threads, but you seem to be terrified of the entire continent. Not everyone is so fearful.

I would avoid any county with serious Malaria near where you would be living. There are going to be good doctors in most places, but serious trauma care may be lacking.

Some places to consider with kids. (I've known families that liked these posts)
Botswana
Rawanda
Zambia (families seem to love this post)
Morocco
Tunisia
Madagascar
Addis Ababba
Zimbabwe
Uganda
Dakar

My experience is that most international schools students are not choosing a university in Europe just to save some money. For many professions the degree from Europe is not going to be the same as an American degree. My children are dual citizens, but I will only send them to university on the continent in which they want to work.

@mamava

With kids I agree it that it is ideal to have a home base. Children might have fond memories of the home base, but all those summer vacations traveling around would just blur together.

I know several people who keep a home in the South of France, and that would be great for those who don't mind cutting ties with their home country.

I'm in the situation of splitting my time between Washington DC and San Francisco to see both my family and the in-laws. These areas are so expensive right now that it would be crazy to keep a place just for the summers.

Just wondering what people do for the summers? Do you own a place that you leave empty the rest of the year? I have thought about doing this, but it doesn't make economic sense to own a house and leave it empty most of the year. I do know a few people who do this though.

How many confidential references did you give? I know some directors put a lot of stock in these references, certain things on your resume etc. We all know people who can talk the talk but are actually lazy teachers.

Do you think you are a good catch? Maybe you should be impressed with how clever these guys are for snatching you up so quickly. I was recently participating in interviews and within five minutes I felt like I had a pretty good feel for candidates. Not that anyone was offered a contract right away though.

And there is always that X factor where the director really likes something specific and unique on your resume and you are a shoe-in.

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I've had a lot of friends who liked living in Saudi too. It seems to me that some people fall in love with African culture, languages, landscapes, wildlife etc. I am thinking of people I've known and stars like Prince Harry, Jessica Alba etc. People I know seem to like the life in Saudi, but I can't say they have had an abiding passion for Saudi people, society, or the landscape.