VIPKid Teacher Story: Teacher Nate

Recently we caught up with Teacher Nate, who for the last 2 years has been traveling the globe with his wife and 2 cats. We learned about his global travel adventures and how VIPKid played a large role in allowing him the freedom to see the world. 

Before living the travel life, Nate Goodluck-Johnson owned an urban habitat restoration company in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. His wife Cassandra Goodluck-Johnson works in film and television as an actress, video editor, and documentary filmmaker. Inspired by a podcast called Zero to Travel, the couple took a trip to Tulum in 2018 and explored the Yucatan peninsula. After returning home, the couple examined their lives and began to feel less attached to many of the material items they once considered important or essential. That’s when they decided if they were going to travel, now was the time.

It was then that they formed a plan and began preparing for a life of travel. Nate and Cassandra purchased Shannon O’Donnel’s book about volunteering called The Volunteer Traveler’s Handbook to understand more about the ethical and long-term responsibilities for volunteering while traveling. They knew that they wanted to travel with financial sustainability while committing to improving the communities they traveled to.

They began selling their possessions and saving their money so that within a year they felt ready to begin their journey. The couple landed in Mexico and began volunteering with the local community in the town of Merida. However, since they had no source of income, they found themselves running out of their savings within the first year. 

“VIPKID has led to massive success in covering our expenses while living abroad”

To keep what savings the couple had left, Nate began teaching with VIPKid and found that the income allowed the couple to cover their expenses while living abroad. After Teacher Nate began forming bonds with his students and their parents he now says he’s “hooked on being a teacher with VIPKid.” Since he’s started teaching Nate has taught from many places around the world including an ICU in Bali, a hotel that had lost all power in Bangkok, overlooking 16th-century churches in Mexico, and even the middle of a rainforest with a single light that was on a motion sensor timer (thankfully Nate moves around while he teaches).

So where have Teacher Nate and Cassandra traveled to? They’ve been lucky to see a large part of Mexico (which he says could be explored over two lifetimes and still not see everything) as well as Morocco, India, Italy, France, Sweden, Norway, Bali, Indonesia, and Thailand. Nate and Cassandra have explored all over the US as well, with their travels taking them to California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, New York, Hawaii, and more. They’ve camped in Kauai, Hawaii, swimming with turtles and jumping into cenotes around Tulum and Akumal Quintana Roo, and hiked inside the valley of Yosemite among giant rock-faced mountains and towering redwood trees.

We’re overjoyed to hear how VIPKid has played a part in Nate and Cassandra’s journey, and excited to be along for the ride. Want to share your VIPKid travel story with us? Reach out to us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter and you could have your story featured here!