Jobs Abroad for Guides

The lure of the open road - and open ocean - is strong for tour directors, especially if the open road - or docking cruise ship - is located in China, or South Africa, or Patagonia.

Having a job as a tour director literally can take you around the world. One tour director had the job of working on a small expedition ship that took groups of 100 or so people on tours up the Amazon River, and to Antarctica, and in the Arctic Ocean north of Europe.

The cruise changed by the season, as the ship circled the globe to find endless summer. This assignment went on for years, and the tour director called the boat his home. Another tour director has in recent years, spent entire summers in Europe repeating the river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. Not a bad life, no?

Or is it too much of a good thing? Perhaps for some people. Yet the possibilities are endless, if you connect with the right tour operators. Foreign-based tour operators will hire U.S. tour directors who speak their language to show guests the wonders of America's national parks and cities.

U.S. based-tour operators send tours and tour directors everywhere you can think of. Some hire native-speaking tour guides and directors, some rely on U.S. and Canadian guides.

All of them provide opportunities to see the world.

Care to join them?