The Travelling Yoga Teacher: the magic and myths of teaching while travelling. 

Fantasized about teaching and travelling? Take a peek at the lived experience of a travelling teacher to explore some of the motivations and realities of bringing your teaching practice on the road. 

I grew up moving a lot. It’s one of the reasons that I wanted to  become a Yoga teacher. I wanted a profession and passion that could traverse the world with me and find relevance in any country or community I found myself in. The idealism was great motivation, one that saw me through to the end of teacher training and afterwards sparked my daily search for teaching positions abroad. Since then, I’ve taught on over three continents in a fair few capacities: online, in person, for free, for a lot of money, in studio, as a private freelancer, as a substitute teacher, and as a work-trade volunteer. You can probably guess from that list that my experience as a travelling teacher has been at times both desperate and deeply satisfying. Here are some of the reassurances and awakenings I’ve collected along the way: 

Yoga is always there. In the places I’ve travelled there has consistently been a community of practicing yogis. They vary from the niche culture of expats to the oversaturated areas where everyone is either a yogi or a teacher or a healer or someone else practicing in the health and wellness sphere. Wherever you go, there will usually be some yoga community. This is both a reassuring fact and also a dangerous one, as teaching abroad has shown me just how many types of yoga communities there can be, some of them more resonant than others. 

Work trades are plentiful and easier to find than you think!  Work trades are chances to experience a new setting with guaranteed space to teach yoga. With a quick Google search, one can find a spread of opportunities from ultra-luxurious resorts and hotels to well-loved hostels or charity programs. I participated in two work trades: one in a hostel and the other in a summer program that I attended in exchange for yoga offerings. They were opportunities both found on the internet and provided housing. I taught a few times a week, up to twice a day, and used weekends to explore the new location and be a nerdy tourist. Some of the people I met are to this day dear friends! So if you’ve dreamed of teaching a beachside class, or in the humid vibrant forest setting, or just taking a break somewhere different but staying close to your teaching practice,  it's definitely possible. So why don’t more people do it? 

You will be challenged in unexpected ways. While both my work-trade experiences were unforgettable, they definitely introduced new struggles that forced me to put on the brave face and be resourceful. From having unpredictable and concerning yogis in my classes to dealing with language barriers to being housed in a place that majorly fired up my allergies, I learned an equal number of people and life skills in addition to yoga skills. BUT, there are a few ways to prepare for those struggles, both in work trade scenarios and just generally trying to teaching while on the road. 

Connect with past teachers. Other yoga teachers, surf instructors, or even just regular volunteers can give valuable insight into what the day-to-day experience is. I was lucky to overlap with another yoga work-trade teacher on one of my experiences, and their insight was invaluable to help me craft yoga classes that felt appropriate for the time and space. If connecting with these people beforehand is possible, I would highly recommend it. 

Set up clear expectations. Whoever you are offering your teaching to, be clear with expectations. In work trade scenarios, the more specific you can be, the more prepared you are to be confronted with some rude awakenings on arrival. Where you are sleeping, what days you are expected to work, who makes your schedule, if board is included, what kinds of classes, etc. all seem like obvious details, but easily lost in the excitement of traveling.If traveling without a work trade situation, it still helps to know as much as you can before you teach: if there is money involved (especially on the legal side of things), if there are language differences, and what kind of yoga they are looking for. 

And what if you are a frequent traveler already and want to integrate a teaching practice? In my more experimental chapter of being a yoga teacher (and by experimental I mean truly desperate for teaching opportunities, almost out of savings, and generally feeling pretty low), I really came to see just how many versions of teaching while travelling could be possible. 

Simplicity goes a long way for an online presence. There is always a demand for online yoga classes. Even without what you think is an influencer-ready voice, body, and unique selling point, a simple 30-minute class with clear audio and reasonably clear video quality will find an audience. For a while I started posting online classes as little as once per month, 45 minutes. This slow-burning method was mostly just to keep my practice up, but after a year I noticed that many virtual yogis continued to take my classes and revisit past recordings when I slacked on production. Ultimately, I grew tired of practicing without anyone else in the room, but the experience showed me that if you put enough care and time into online offerings, even just a little every week, it will pay off. 

Patience can pay off, literally. When new friends and acquaintances find out you are a yoga teacher and open to work, the information will stay with them and maybe pop up when it seems appropriate. You never know what opportunities can come up unexpectedly, and since yoga really is in most places, it doesn’t hurt to share what you do. Just don’t let your teaching interest eclipse your connection to any real live human being you’re talking to. 

Join the groups, visit the studios, and be a little yoga nerd. Join the online teacher communities. Believe it or not, online teaching communities can be exactly the right space to get connected to teach in a new spot. While on the road I frantically joined a “Yoga teachers of ______” group on Facebook, and within two weeks I was filling in for a corporate yoga session in the city center. That isn’t to say it’s the most consistent way of getting teaching gigs, but being a part of these groups doesn’t hurt. I’ve also sent off countless emails and had many post-class chats with teachers saying that I’d love to sub if they needed.

I don’t travel as I once did. Nowadays I even just take a full-on break from yoga if I am traveling. But then there are the times that I really crave that chance to teach in a new place. Once a year I take a longer trip to visit my family who have now stopped moving around and  finally settled on a home location. I often attend classes at local studios and have asked around about joining any sub-lists. I know it’s unlikely that any studio will immediately be gung-ho to have me jump in to their well-founded community, but there is always the chance, however slight it may be. And in the end, if I don’t find a place to teach at, the student in me will have learned something all the same.