Jet Set Zero // How to Find Work Abroad
A few weeks ago I met a woman named Jenna who is from Los Angeles and in town for three months working for an online tv show about living and working in Quito with her three roomates. The Show, Jet Set Zero, has had five other seasons in , Seattle,USA , Saigon, Vietnam (I), Tokyo, Japan, Seoul, South Korea, Istanbul, Turkey, and Saigon,Vietnam(II).
Jenna found out about the program form an airline magazine and decided that despite having a good life in the States, her passion for travel had reared it´s head and it was time for a new chapter in her life. Enter Quito and the more than ample challenges that face people living and working here.
I´ve found that when travelling there are moments that just fall into place and you find yourself experiencing new opurtunities and meeting the right people that are doing things that you are passionate about and have a common interest and character that immediately turns to a new friendship. This blog is about those people and the
amazing things that they are doing. Jenna is no exception!
She contacted me through couchsurfing, which I am very active on and the week before foud someone a place to live and job when She needed to relocate from Peru.
Jenna was looking for information about Ecuador and saw that I have a very close network of friends and contacts here in Ecuador from living and working here for over two years. Through my jobs at The Secret Garden Hostel and a few travellers bars and restaurants I have made friends that have worked and lived here for years in the travel field. I have used these contacts to point people looking for adventure towards the best options I know that have proven themselves to be reliable and trustworthy.
After She contacted me, we arranged to meet at a restaurant called Uncle Ho´s in the Mariscal, where I have been involved in hosting weekly travellers meetings on Monday nights that coincides with a weekly movie night. She was friendly and relaxed despite just arriving here and in the space of an hour had made friends with the usual group of local ex-pats sitting at the bar talking to the Irishman who owns the joint.
Having made an impression and needing to get home for an interview as a magiciasn´s assistant for the tv program, We exchanged contact information and called it a night.
Jet Set Zero // Arrested kinda via kwoutet
Since then the show has been eventlful! The crews camaera got stolen on the way back from Banos, a few of the people participating have had the beginner travelers luck of finding themselves relieved of phones or hasstled by some of the not so friendly minority that livesw in Quito, and one of the Jet Set Zero cast was temporaily put in a rolling immagration jail when he forgot to bring copies of his passport when exploring Old town.
Despite these setbacks the cast and show are making an appearance and finding thier way to the sought out destinations that can be reached within a few hours of Quito.
As for Jenna, She made an imoression on the owner of Uncle Ho´s and has forgone the assistant job and oppurtunities to teach English for a job working in the restaurant talking to locals and travllers about how they spend thier time while in this widely diverse country. Keep your eyes on the Jet Set Zero site and this blog for further develoments.
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