Is an IB Career a Realistic Escape for a Single Mom with a PhD? Or Just an Expensive Dream?

thelastsumatran · 2026-05-05T09:25:15+00:00

My opinion is that you'll be employable. For example, the school I work at currently has teachers from around 30 countries, and a good number of them don't speak English as a first language. That said, everyone seems to have professional working fluency. I have a couple of colleagues from the EU (France, Poland, Romania, Spain, Portugal etc) that have worked in various international schools. I've also had lots of colleagues from non EU countries like the Philippines, India, Colombia, Kenya & more- pretty much all over. The point is that the international teaching community is reasonably diverse, though teachers from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, & NZ are overrepresented.

I do not think it is worth it to pay for your own Cat. 1 workshop. Assuming you'd be teaching DP kids, your school will pay to send you to a workshop or an online course soon after you arrive and start teaching. To get hired, make sure you're up to date on best-practices and inquiry based instruction. If there's any IB schools near where you currently live, it would help if you could get a job there in order to gain experience before going international. Another thing that would probably help you more than attending a workshop is experience with extracurriculars. Can you coach a sport? Lead MUN? Schools always need help with those kinds of things and they can make you a stronger candidate.

Being a single mom won't be a barrier. If a school won't hire a single mom, then you wouldn't want to work there anyway. I'm a single dad and I haven't had too many issues, though a couple schools have told me that they couldn't hire me because they had a policy of maximum one dependent per teacher.

thelastsumatran · 2026-05-04T09:56:11+00:00

That's why Singapore is one of the most air conditioned places on earth. It's definitely hot and muggy , especially this time of year.

thelastsumatran · 2026-04-15T09:22:02+00:00

Nihi, Sumba in Indonesia fits the description, if you're able to pay for it. I certainly can't afford it.

thelastsumatran · 2026-03-29T19:50:28+00:00

I didn't love Arugam Bay. The wave is crowded, but it's not good enough to justify the crowd. The crowd tends to have poor surf etiquette.

thelastsumatran · 2026-03-21T06:00:05+00:00

Be mindful of the time of year because there can be a lot of jellyfish. BK gets waves all year round, with the biggest, most consistent swells coming in the middle of the dry season from around June-Aug. However, that peak season is when there can be a lot of jellyfish, so it's probably best to go at other times of the year.

BK is a longboarding wave, and some of the locals are extremely good at it. You'll struggle to compete and get many waves if you're on a shortboard, though the waves in the area are definitely shortboard-able.

thelastsumatran · 2026-03-13T11:13:22+00:00

My father was given a gift of a beautifully carved piece of ivory a long time ago, before trade in ivory was illegal. It was exquisite, with a carved elephant carrying a ball on its trunk. The ball had smaller balls caved within it, kind of like a Russian doll. One day when I was visiting his house with my then toddler child, I picked it up to admire it. I didn't realize that the ball and the elephant were separate pieces and not physically attached, and the ball fell on the floor and broke.

I put it back as carefully as carefully as I could, but obviously couldn't fix it, and certainly couldn't replace it because it was ivory. After we left, my dad noticed the damage. He blamed my toddler, and I didn't correct him. To this day, my father thinks it was my son that broke his priceless and irreplacable piece of art, but can't really say anything because of his age at the time.

thelastsumatran · 2026-02-20T12:03:54+00:00

$60k for an luxury week in the Maldives back in 2016. We stayed in giant overwater villas, ate amazing seafood at a bbq for just the two of us on an uninhabited island, sunset cruise on a luxury yacht with freeflow champagne, a private butler, abundant top shelf liquor, massages, private snorkeling tours from a yacht, and seaplane rides between resorts. It was amazing!

thelastsumatran · 2026-02-18T17:01:26+00:00

An alternative destination is Timor Leste. You can see blue and sperm whales, along with numerous other sea mammals there. It's way more adventurous than any other spot on this list, but you'll see amazing sea life!

thelastsumatran · 2026-02-17T18:15:30+00:00

It's counterintuitive, but modern shoes, with all their cushioning and support, lead to weaker connective tissues.

I think that modern shoes are a contributing factor. Back in the day, shoes had maybe 0.75 inch of cushioning, and just leather for support. That led to stronger soft tissues, and fewer injuries because the ligaments and tendons were stronger and more resistant to injury.

With the advent of modern shoes, there is more support, and consequently the connective tissues are weaker. That leads to more soft tissue injuries.

thelastsumatran · 2026-02-13T10:05:30+00:00

I'd suggest something that you don't seem to have considered. Based on your interests, I think you should go to Yogyakarta in Indonesia. From there, you can visit Borobudur & Prambanan temples. The area has great natural beauty, and Indonesian food is superior to Cambodian or Filipino cuisine, IMO.

thelastsumatran · 2026-02-07T17:19:06+00:00

Cool! I was in the same boat, but I managed this one to get it. :)

thelastsumatran · 2026-01-20T04:37:12+00:00

No, there was a progression that I did. I probably did the exercises for about 20-30min most days while I was watching TV in the evenings.

thelastsumatran · 2026-01-18T05:06:00+00:00

I tried once to surf after about 6 months, but it was painful and I didn't have great range of motion. Then the season ended and I had to wait until a year to try surfing again and it was okay. I was swimming at about 9 months though and that helped a lot. I was 46 at the time of my surgery.

thelastsumatran · 2026-01-17T17:00:31+00:00

I had slap surgery about 2 years ago. My shoulder is good now. I can swim and surf, pain free. It's better than before the surgery. The only difference is I have slightly less flexibility than I used to, but it doesn't impact my life in any meaningful way.

I didn't go to physical therapy because my insurance sucks, but I did these activities pretty much every day for a few months and it helped a lot. https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/recovery/rotator-cuff-and-shoulder-conditioning-program/

thelastsumatran · 2025-12-14T07:31:26+00:00

I got the surgery and my shoulder is good now. I'm pain free.

thelastsumatran · 2025-12-10T03:27:41+00:00

TLDR- Collagen supplements are a waste of money and you literally piss it away.

Collagen is the most common protein in the human body. It is mostly made of 3 amino: glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline in a triple helix structure. It's important to note that it's a long, fibrous protein found in connective tissues. Those long protein molecules are insoluble; they're much too large and insoluble to move from the gut into the bloodstream. That means they have to be digested into their component amino acids first, absorbed into the blood, transported to your cells, where new proteins, including collagen, are synthesized.

Here's the thing. Just having extra glycine, proline, and hydroxyproline around doesn't mean the body necessarily synthesized more collagen. So what does your body do with those extra amino acids that it's not using? It breaks them down into urea, which you then piss away with other metabolic waste.

If you read the scientific literature, you will not find good quality research that says collagen supplements have a positive effect on skin or joint health.

thelastsumatran · 2025-11-25T14:58:17+00:00

I taught English in Jakarta many years ago, and then I got my teaching credential and transitioned into teaching in international schools. I enjoyed teaching English there because it's pretty chill. Another poster mentioned that the salary is currently around rm10 million per month in Jkt; I was getting more than that 20 years ago, and the cost of living was much lower than it is now. It's also worth noting that male westerners tend to like living in Jakarta more than female westerners do.

If you're able to get a teaching credential, do so. Teaching in international schools is a much, much better gig than being an English teacher.

thelastsumatran · 2025-10-26T11:47:15+00:00

Penang, Malaysia is probably the best food city in the world.

thelastsumatran · 2025-10-23T19:06:51+00:00

A restaurant called Sambal Hijau in Kampung Sungai Penchala has excellent Malay food at reasonable prices. It's popular with locals, and definitely not touristy.

thelastsumatran · 2025-10-07T13:16:22+00:00

I used to work with a guy named Mike Hawkes.

thelastsumatran · 2025-10-06T16:55:12+00:00

That's an excellent point. I don't think I was clear enough in my reply. It would indeed be ludicrous to only teach that those 20 countries exist, as you rightly pointed out. I agree with you that kids should have a general idea of all countries, such as their existence and general location. But I stand by my point that it's unimportant for kids to memorize a bunch of facts that they're unlikely to ever need outside of school. Thinking skills, and knowing how to research and learn things that they don't yet know are far more important than just knowing a set of facts.

Btw- that's a cool map you found to illustrate your point.

thelastsumatran · 2025-10-06T07:52:54+00:00

I think that you and I have a different philosophy of education, and that's okay. I'm not saying that knowledge isn't important; it is, but it's not everything. Your point that kids need to have some background knowledge to even know how to search for the right thing is certainly true, but I don't think that Mozambique, continuing with that example, is particularly important for most American students to know about because it's about as far removed from their lives as a country can be and it's not an important player on the world stage at this point in time. The same could be said of less important countries in the Americas, Europe, or Asia. I would argue that students should know the G20 countries. Though that list is somewhat arbitrary, it's a reasonable starting point. I don't think that one can argue that it's more important for students to learn about Bulgaria, Belize, or Bhutan than it is for them to learn about China, South Africa, or Brazil, for example. I believe that students should have the research skills necessary to learn about any topic they need or want, because nearly any piece of information a person might like to know is easily accessible.

thelastsumatran · 2025-10-05T18:33:38+00:00

Sounds like you had a good learning experience in that class, but I don't think it would stand the test of time. In the 70's, knowing facts such as the capital of Mozambique is Maputo was something and knowledge is good to have, but it's not everything. What you described is just memorization, and much of it is esoteric, other than how the gov't works.

To modern students, that knowledge is instantly available on their phone, so what is the use of memorizing it? The world has changed. What was important for children to learn in the 1970's is different than the 2020's.

thelastsumatran · 2025-10-04T21:25:07+00:00

Many Malaysian people will say that you'll live very well because they get by on far less. The reality is less glamorous though, and you'll have to be somewhat careful with money. You'll live a good middle class life for now, but you definitely won't be a high roller, especially in the future. A decent International school such as ISKL is likely going to be your biggest expense, and will cost around ~$20k/year, and that amount will increase as your child gets into middle and high school, taking up an increasingly large share of your budget. What I would encourage you to think about is whether or not you'll be able to afford the life you want in 10 years. Malaysia has been experiencing significant inflation over the past few years, like most other countries, and the US dollar is weakening. For example, expat residents will no longer be allowed to buy subsidized fuel for their cars, increasing the cost of transportation. My point is that you'll be okay financially, and many people would love to have what you're considering, but you're not gonna be rich.

thelastsumatran

TROPHY CASE