Teach abroad in the summer and get paid to travel on your break. Here’s how it works, what it pays, and how it can lead to a full year abroad.
Get Paid to Travel In the Summer
Every June I get some version of the same message: “What do I do with my summer if I want to travel?” Here’s my answer — teach abroad in the summer. You use the break you already have, you get a paycheck (even a modest one), and instead of squeezing a country into one rushed week of vacation, you get eight to ten weeks to live there.
That’s the real draw. It’s not the money — the pay is decent, not life-changing. It’s that you wake up in a place, get to know your neighborhood, figure out the best market stall or coffee spot, and then use your weekends and days off to explore everywhere within a train ride or a cheap flight. A regular vacation gives you one city for a week. A summer program gives you a home base for two months and a whole region to explore.
So this post is the practical version: which programs hire seasonal teachers, what the pay realistically looks like, which locations set you up for the best travel, and — if it turns out you love it — how a summer like this can turn into a full year abroad.
Teach abroad in the summer, and you get more than a paycheck — you get a whole new place to explore.
What “Teaching Abroad in the Summer” Means
Summer teaching abroad means a short contract — usually 4 to 10 weeks — that fits inside your U.S. school’s summer break. Think English-language summer camps, intensive language schools, or short TEFL placements. You fly out when your school year ends, and you’re back before the next one starts.
This is different from committing to a full school year overseas, which means resigning or taking approved leave. Summer programs exist because language schools across Europe, Asia, and Latin America see a real spike every summer from students who want intensive English while they’re also out of school — the demand lines up on both ends, which is exactly why the hiring window opens up for you.
Where These Programs Hire (and What’s Around Them)
Spain, the Czech Republic, and China run the largest volume of summer English camps for foreign teachers, and Spain alone staffs thousands of seasonal camp positions every June through August. Where you land matters as much for the travel as it does for the paycheck.
- Spain — Camp operators like TECS Summer Camps and Canterbury English’s Summer in Spain program hire seasonal English teachers for day camps and residential camps, usually 2–8 week placements, and a Spain contract puts you on a cheap flight from Portugal, France, and Italy on your off days.
- Czech Republic — Day camps in Prague, like those run by Jazykovka.info, typically pay 400–420 CZK per hour, while programs like English Camps DESCARTES hire native speakers for conversation-based sessions with kids and teens. Base yourself in Prague, and you’re a train ride from Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, and Kraków — I map out my favorites in my guide to teaching English in Prague.
- China — Camp season runs June through August, with agencies placing teachers in 3–8 week university-based or private camp contracts, often near enough to weekend in Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong depending on placement.
- South Korea — Public school EPIK doesn’t run summer contracts, but private hagwons and university camps pick up short-term summer staff, with easy weekend access to Seoul, Busan, or a quick flight to Japan.
- Costa Rica and the rest of Latin America — Smaller immersion camps hire native English speakers for 4–6 week stints, often with homestay housing built in, which makes weekend beach trips an easy, built-in add-on.
Quick vocabulary check, because it trips people up: a “camp” placement is usually activity-based English practice — games, songs, projects. An “intensive” at a language school looks a lot more like the structured lessons you already teach.
However you slice it — CZK, RMB, or euros — it’s a stipend worth understanding before you sign anything.
What You’ll Earn Teaching Abroad in the Summer
Let’s talk money, because it matters even if it’s not the main event. It’s worth being upfront here: recruitment agencies and TEFL course providers publish most of what’s out there about camp pay, and they have an incentive to make the numbers look good, so treat these as a starting point for interview questions, not a guarantee. Spain’s summer camp roles usually come as a package—salary plus room and board—rather than a flat monthly number, according to the independent Spain-focused site SpainExpat’s breakdown of summer camp pay.
What that pay actually buys you depends a lot on whether housing is included. Residential camps tend to pay less in cash but save you more day to day, since room and board are baked in. Day camps usually pay by the hour and leave you covering your own rent.
| Region | Typical Pay (full summer contract) | Housing Included? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain (day/hourly camps) | ~$570–$1,480/month | Rarely | SpainExpat (independent) |
| Spain (residential/coordinator roles) | ~$800–$1,200/month + accommodation | Yes | SpainExpat (independent) |
| China (standard summer camp) | ~1,000 RMB/week (~$560/month) minimum, often more | Usually | New Times China (recruitment agency — verify in interview) |
| China (higher-tier ESL/university camps) | ~$1,500–$2,900/month equivalent | Often | Teach Away (recruitment agency — verify in interview) |
| Czech Republic | 400–420 CZK/hour (~$18–19/hour); residential/volunteer camps often trade lower cash pay for free housing and meals | Sometimes | Jazykovka.info, Workaway, TEFL Institute, English Camps DESCARTES |
| Costa Rica | $500–$1,000 (program-reported, not independently verified) | Often (homestay) | — |
Even at the low end, that’s a paycheck for a summer you were going to take off anyway — and it covers a lot more of the travel than paying for the whole trip out of pocket would. Housing covered by the program is money you get to spend on trains, flights, and long weekends instead of rent.
Using Your Time Off to Travel While Teaching Abroad
The teaching part is usually 15 to 25 hours a week. That leaves real time — evenings, weekends, and often a few days between when your contract ends and your flight home — and that’s the part worth planning for before you even leave.
A few ways teachers I know have made the most of it: booking one weekend trip per week you’re there instead of trying to see everything at once, picking a program location near a train hub so day trips don’t eat a whole day in transit, and tacking on 5–7 extra days at the end of the contract to travel without any teaching obligations at all. If you’re in Prague, that’s exactly what I did — Vienna and Český Krumlov were both easy weekend trips once my teaching hours wrapped up.
How to Find a Legitimate Summer Teaching Program Abroad
Summer hiring moves fast — people apply in a hurry and skip the vetting they’d normally do for a year-long contract. I’ve written a full breakdown of the warning signs in my guide to teaching abroad scams and red flags, but here’s the short version for summer specifically:
- A legitimate camp doesn’t charge you a placement fee beyond a background check or visa processing cost. If the fee feels like it’s funding the camp itself, walk away.
- Ask for two teacher references from the last two summers — not just testimonials pulled from the program’s own marketing.
- Confirm the visa situation in writing… The destination country issues work visas, not the U.S., so check requirements directly with that country’s embassy or consulate before you commit.
- Search the company name with “review” and “reddit” before you sign a single form.
Do You Actually Need a TEFL Certificate?
Not always. Most camp-style positions just want a native or fluent English speaker who’s comfortable with kids — no certificate required. Intensive language-school placements almost always ask for TEFL.
If you’re already a licensed classroom teacher, you’re already ahead of most applicants either way. Camps love hiring real teachers because you already know how to manage a group of kids, and language schools generally treat a teaching license as equal to or better than a TEFL cert. I got mine in person in Prague one summer, which turned out to be a great way to spend a few weeks exploring a city while also picking up the certification — more on that in my in-person TEFL experience in Prague.
Will This Mess With Your License or Your Job Back Home?
No. Since the whole thing happens inside a break you already have, there’s no leave-of-absence paperwork, no district approval process, and no gap in your years of service.
One thing worth checking ahead of time: if your state requires continuing education hours over the summer, ask your district whether international teaching counts toward that. Some do; most won’t automatically credit it, so it’s worth a five-minute email before you book anything. I dig into the license side more (for longer-term teaching abroad) in my post about keeping your teaching license active while abroad.
Getting your timeline right matters — apply early, and build in a few buffer days before you fly.
Fitting a Program Into 6–8 Weeks
Most summer teaching timelines look roughly like this: apply January through March, interview March through April, fly out in June, teach 4–8 weeks, and land back home by early/mid-August. Spain and the Czech Republic tend to post their positions earliest; China and Latin America programs often hire closer to the actual start date.
One thing I’d tell any teacher doing this for the first time: build in 3–5 days of buffer on either end, and don’t fill every free weekend with camp duties if you can help it. Half the point of doing this in the summer is having time to actually explore—don’t let logistics eat into it.
Loved It? Here’s What a Full Year Abroad Looks Like
If your summer goes well, you don’t have to stop there. Many teachers use a summer program as a trial run, then come home and apply for an official leave of absence (LOA) to teach abroad for a full school year instead of just a summer the following year.
An LOA is a different process from what you just did — you’re asking your district for approved time away rather than using a break you already had, and it usually means applying months in advance and getting it approved in writing before you commit to anything overseas. It’s more paperwork, but it also means a full year of income, a real classroom of your own, and none of the “am I cut out for this” guessing, because you’ll already know.
If a summer program convinces you this is worth doing longer, my Teach in Europe Guide walks through exactly how to request an LOA, pick a country, and get a full year abroad off the ground.
FAQs: Teaching Abroad in the Summer
Q: Can I teach abroad in the summer without a TEFL certificate? A: Yes, for most camp-style positions. TEFL is usually required only for more structured language-school intensives, not for activity-based summer camps.
Q: How much does it cost to teach abroad for a summer? A: Flights, visa fees if you need one, and spending money typically run $500 to $1,500 depending on destination — though a lot of that gets offset by included housing and a stipend.
Q: Is it safe to do this solo? A: Most programs house teachers together or provide staff housing, and the reputable agencies vet their placements carefully. Vetting the program itself matters far more than whether you’re traveling alone.
Q: Will this affect my U.S. teaching license? A: No — it happens during a break you already have, so there’s no leave paperwork and no license impact. Some districts will count it toward professional development if you ask ahead of time.
Q: Can a summer program turn into a full year abroad? A: Yes. Many teachers use a summer program to test it out, then apply for a leave of absence (LOA) to teach a full school year abroad the following year, once they know they want more than a summer.
The Bottom Line
A summer teaching program won’t replace your salary, and it isn’t trying to. What it gives you is a paycheck for a summer you were taking off anyway, a home base instead of a rushed itinerary, and a real answer to whether teaching abroad is something you actually want more of. Worst case, you come home with a great summer behind you. Best case, you come home already planning your next summer break and possibly a future leave of absence.