I have always wanted to travel and I need to finish my college degree. Why not kill two birds with one stone?! I have one more year to go until I get my degree and figured that as long as there is an internet connection, I can complete my online classes while living in different countries. I am starting in sunny Singapore for my summer semester, since I will be there anyway for my brothers graduation, and plan on visiting other south-east Asian countries nearby when I get ahead in my assignments. He leaves Singapore in June, so then I’ll be completely on my own (scary or exciting? To be determined). As for the fall semester, I have no idea. I guess as the time gets closer, I will get some supernatural hunch of where I should go, and then that’s where I’ll move!
It’s a bootleg study abroad because I could have went through the school and signed up for a study abroad program, but it’s MUCH cheaper if I just take the online classes and just move to where I want to live. If I get sick of a place, I can just pack up my suitcase and move along. Plus, I feel like I am too old (27 at the moment) to be living in some campus dorm room or some family homestay, which is where they stick you when you sign up for study abroad.
I call it my “due time”. I have been looking for a way to quit my job for a long time. It’s not a horrible place, but me and office work don’t mix, and my job was not fulfilling at all. Then, last year when I went to Singapore, Thailand, and Cambodia, I realized how cheap it was to travel if you didn’t stay in fancy hotels. I got the idea that if I worked hard for a year and saved my money, I could go travelling for a long long time and finish my college degree in the process. For some reason me and my brother starting calling it my “Due Time”. You gotta say the “D” in “due time” real hard though. You know…like the Indian guy at the gas station says it. I don’t know why I say it that way…don’t ask.
So far, my idea is working out. I handed in my resignation and am counting down the days until my “due time” starts.
Let’s see how it goes!
My Due Time 
Great blog! Very inspiring to know you decided and found a way to complete your degree and travel the world at the same time. Can I ask though, how do you pay for all this travel and online classes. I might be interested in doing the same in the near future. Looking forward to reading more interesting stories from your travels. By the way I loved the ayumi hamasaki concert blog. I am so jealous! – Joseph
Hello Joseph!
I was able to pay for all of this because I had a full time job. I saved up for about a year and half. I lived with my mom. When I got into an accident with my car (no injuries, just totalled the car) I decided to just take the bus, instead of buying a new one. I was able to save money by not paying for gas or the upkeep of the car. So, having a full time job, barely any rent, and no car note or gas expenses, I was able to save up most of my money. Oh yeah, I forgot about having new clothes, I just wore the same old stuff. It kind of sucked, not having a car in the suburbs and living with my mom at such an old age BUT I knew what I wanted to do. I would rather walk around in Cambodia wearing US $5 shorts (I did) than drive a car in Virginia Beach wearing nice clothes. I also searched around for accredited universities whose online program was not that expensive. Usually, if the school has a main campus with just a few online degree programs, it will be cheaper than a university with only online programs (my classes are less than US $200 per credit). I got loans to pay for the online classes and use the money I saved up for travel and rent money.
The Ayumi Hamasaki concert was the best day of my freaking life! If she has another concert, you had better go!
Such a bold move. I admire your pursuit of things you dreamed in life!!!