HELLO
Did you have a lovely bank holiday weekend? Nice weather for a change. And hooray, it's only a 4-day week!
Today we've got tons of lovely things for you, from new special volunteer projects for the over-30s, heaps of free stuff, tips and blog posts, and of course, our fab competition where you could win a trip to Thailand!
So minimise that dull Excel spreadsheet you were working on, kick your shoes off, and enjoy a nice read.
FEATURED CAREER BREAKS - NEW PROJECTS FOR THE OVER-3OS
Kaya Responsible Travel has two exciting new projects in South Africa for over-30’s only. The idea is that children and disadvantaged adults can benefit from volunteers with more life experience, specific skills and maturity that people like you have in spades!
The first project is a rural education and communty project on a game reserve, working with Zulu communities in need of skills such as CV writing and HIV awareness. The second project is an education placement in picturesque Cape Town where you will work in child development, including teaching and a feeding programme.
You can volunteer for a couple of weeks or a few months, and start dates are every few weeks, year round. Click here for Kaya's website, where you can find out more and apply. Like all our partners, Kaya is vetted and approved by us.
FREE STUFF ROUND-UP
Free photography e-book - we haven't got this so we can't vouch for its quality, but hey, free is free.
Free guide to Bangkok - another ebook.
Free cardboard template for letters, large letters and parcels - this will be useful for the people you're leaving at home for when you want them to send you stuff. (Put 'N/A' in the company name field, or just make up something amusing).
Free week of telly - you have to like Expat Telly on Facebook to get this. It's for people living abroad who can't live without their weekly fix of Britain's Got Talent (we'd sneer, only we are those people too).
Free report - "How to work effectively with people you just don't get" (you have to submit your email address to get this)
CAREER BREAKS STARTING NEXT MONTH
A list of all career breaks starting in June.
PHOTO CORNER - YOUR MONTHLY DOSE OF INSPIRATION
A round-up of unusual architecture around the world.
NEW ON THE SITE
We ditched the pagination on all our listings pages. Pagination, in case you didn't know, is that thing at the bottom which says 'click next' or 'next page' or whatever. Getting rid of it means that all the projects will now display on one page. Should make it easier for you to browse through stuff, especially if you're looking for something you've seen before.
We also added Green Dicks Lane to our funny British street names page.
COMPETITION
You could win an amazing 2-week volunteering trip to Thailand! You choose your project and you will be volunteering alongside a local. This is literally a prize that money can't buy as the competition is organised by the Thai government. You could also win $5,000 for your chosen project, a $1,000 Apple gift card for yourself, and a $500 hotel voucher.
There are 10 places up for grabs so you're really in with a chance. Click here for all the info - and good luck!
ON THE BLOG
One amazing fact about job interviews - that could get you the job! This is essential reading if you've got (or are hoping for) a job interview soon.
Our light-hearted post this month is 10 questions you'll never ask a fellow traveller (even though you really want to). Let us know if you've actually come out with any of these!
A more personal post tells how our site founder has (and hasn't) changed since her career break. Hopefully it'll inspire you if you haven't made the leap yet!
And our guest post is from the excellent Jonathan Bright of Kenwood Travel who lists the best beaches in the world (that aren't real) - complete with some great pictures. Some of them are pretty impressive!
All these, and the rest of our blog posts, can be found here: http://www.thecareerbreaksite.com/blog. We've just changed our commenting system so please do comment away as we'd love to hear your thoughts. :)
TIP OF THE MONTH
Today's tip comes from the excellent Diverse Traveler on Twitter. She says: "My guilty travel tip: I always use bus tours on my first days in a city, as I can't read a map to save my life."
If you have a tip for us, email info@thecareerbreaksite.com - we will credit you unless you want to stay anonymous.
NEW SECTION - FUN THING
This travel quiz made by Career Break Site approved partner Projects Abroad asks what type of traveller are you? We had a go and the result was surprisingly accurate! (We're not telling you what it is though). Have a go yourself!
CAREER BREAK & TRAVEL NEWS ROUND-UP
The more astute of our regular readers will have noticed that this section mysteriously vanished a few issues ago. The truth is, we're spending a lot of time on Twitter these days and we can't do that, make this news section every month, and maintain our current drinking habits as well. You can follow us on Twitter for your fix of news and updates, or you can subscribe to our daily paper if you prefer. We also have a Twylah page which organises our nicest tweets into an easy-to-read format. (Yeah, we're also still on Facebook if you are too).
If that doesn't satisfy your need for career break news, then nothing will.
JOKE
A doctor, an engineer, and a consultant were arguing about what was the oldest profession in the world. The doctor said, "In the Bible, it says that God created Eve by taking a rib out of Adam. That obviously required surgery, so mine is the oldest profession in the world."
The engineer said, "But even earlier in the Bible, it says God created heaven and earth from chaos. That was clearly a job for an engineer, so mine is the oldest job in the world."
The consultant leaned back in his chair and said "Ah, but who do you think created the chaos?"
FINALLY
We can't think of anything for this section today. Sorry. Why not email us and tell us something interesting about yourself and/or your career break plans? We like hearing from you!
Have a lovely rest of May and we'll see you again in June.
Love,
The Career Break Site
xxx