Paid Teaching & TEFL Program in South Korea with TravelBud

It's taken 5 months since escaping the South Korea placement for me to be able to write this review. I'd rather forget about this awful experience but I feel I owe it to anyone considering this option.

Your first call with Travel Bud will be great with them promising to honour your preferences and to support you through your whole experience. I was quite nervous about working at a Hagwon considering all the horror stories you see online (which are all 100% valid) and Travel Bud reassured me that I would be supported. I'd taught for 7 years at this point and had previously lived in China, so naively I assumed I would be fine on this 'programme' and I was optimistic.

After you've paid your first deposit to Travel Bud, you'll be passed onto another company which they paint as their close partner but I found out that there are a number of companies including Travel Bud who pass on their clients to this other company. The other company seems to be completely overwhelmed and you are treated as such. In total, on this 'Travel Bud programme' you'll work with 4 different companies being passed on and passed on with seemingly no communication between them.

I was told to keep communication with Travel Bud because the only way problems arise is if you don't keep open communication. One of the companies that you are passed onto after the 2nd company is completely hostile and they are the ones responsible for where you're actually placed, your contract, and your preferences. Turned out the preferences couldn't be honoured at all. I felt stuck at this point because I'd already invested money into the programme and had quit my job, so I continued and hoped things would get better.

Travel Bud had assured me it would be simple to have my fiancé and I placed together in the same school and apartment. In reality, we were placed a 20 minute subway ride away in different schools and apartments with conflicting schedules. We agreed to this in the end under pressure and for the reasons I mentioned above. However, it got worse and my school told me they'd be moving me to a different campus and division once my quarantine was over, a 50 minute bus ride away from my fiancé. I got in contact with Travel Bud and the other companies but Travel Bud didn't reply. I had no choice in the matter and was sent away. I never received my quarantine food box from the government with essentials, I informed Travel Bud, again nothing. At the school, they told me to sign a new contract now that I was in Korea. Massive red flag, I'd already agreed and signed a contract prior to leaving the UK. Again I contacted Travel Bud, and they didn't step in. I was made to sign the new contract.

Travel Bud claims they have a trusted network of schools but they are not the company that places the clients. My school was awful, there was bullying, emotional abuse, gaslighting, and all the teachers were under chronic stress. The previous teacher had done a midnight run after her health became so bad she kept fainting in the classroom. One had to be put on an IV drip because of the stress. My fiancé was placed in a school that hadn't had a foreign teacher in 2 years. My friend was placed in a school which had been reported by two previous teachers and she was still sent there.

I soon realised that I was on my own and Travel Bud appeared to have no say in what happens to their clients. Even now and then I'd get a random message from Travel Bud saying things like you're quiet, must be living your best life! which just rubbed salt in the wound. In fact, I had never been so unwell in my life.

Thankfully, the school gave teachers 5 days off for winter holidays so I was able to organise an escape without alerting anyone. I returned to the UK with terrible physical and mental health. I went out to Korea a confident and excited young person and came back with PTSD, involuntary gagging and sickness, disordered eating, chronic abdominal pain, panic attacks, tinnitus, and a foot injury. Only now after 5 months back home am I able to write about my awful experience. I stayed for the 5 months because the children I taught had such chronically stressful lives at the age of 5 years old that I felt like I wanted them to have at least some respite from it all in my classroom.

I urge you to reconsider this option if you are thinking about doing so. For a time I was even afraid to write a review because of the potential backlash but I have a right to voice my horrendous experience with this company.

Travel Bud was very helpful but as of now I’m a bit underwhelmed with the Daejeon experience. However, I love how safe it is and my job is pretty stable.

I applied with Travelbud to go and teach English as a foreign language in South Korea right as the pandemic started at the end of 2019. So I've stayed with them and they with me literally through thick and thin! The team understood my frustrations and continued to work to find employment for me. At no point did anyone make me feel or believe I should give up or my chances of getting employment were diminishing. They continuously encouraged me to keep trying.

Kim Le Roux understood me from the beginning! When it comes to finances to me, every cent, EVERY penny COUNTS! Especially during the ups and downs of covid-19 and the financial repercussions thereof. So she's a good listener and empathetic. She made feel like she was going to help me reach my goal but without undermining my financial concerns and stayed mindful of them! I'm forever appreciative of that!

She also made herself available as much as possible especially when I was about to leave for South Korea in February of 2022. And in my first week here in South Korea in quarantine. Thank you Kim, from the bottom of my heart!

From just enquiring about the program to enquiries after coming abroad and teaching, no query has gone unanswered. The team provides extensive support even 5 months into the contract they helped me secure. Because of Covid-19 there were many set backs, such as not being allowed entry into South Korea from my home country (South Africa) which delayed my placement, to rushing my visa number so that I could make the contract start date. However, the team worked overtime to ensure that I completed all the necessary documents and I made it on time. If at any point, throughout my journey, I felt unsure, I could count on Travelbud's amazing team to clarify or help me.

My experience with Travelbud, and Kim especially, was an overall positive one. They were available to answer all my questions from day one and made this process a very easy one. It could have been more daunting than it was, but they made it very simple and put my mind (as well as my mother's) at ease, especially as a first-time solo traveller going overseas. I was kept in constant communication from the day I applied to the day that I flew to South Korea. The follow up was excellent and they come highly recommended.

With TravelBud I knew that the most important thing I was getting was security. Obviously, there's a lot of uncertainty going around these days, and there were several moments where I seriously considered turning my future plans in another direction. But, the guarantee and job offer safety that I found with TravelBud eased that uncertainty, and now I'm in Korea and having an amazing time.

Doing research on which agency or program is right for you is a nightmare. People's experiences on the Internet are always going to vary widely. What I can say is that for TravelBud, if you're looking for a secure way to guarantee yourself a job, and future security for any other placement you might be looking for later, TravelBud does it best.

Additionally, the people who you talk to and who help you sort everything out to get to Korea are helpful, responsive and real with you, keeping you well-updated on anything that happens. The person who was assigned to me still talks to me and reaches out, even after my job has commenced. It's a very reassuring presence to have.

I would choose TravelBud again for the support and security alone. Those were my two biggest requirements, and those are the two things they do best, in my view.

I decided to teach in South Korea in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. Naturally, the logistics of such a big move were a nightmare, and I was glad that I had experienced coordinators that were able to help me figure out the application and moving processes. Everyone helped me with interviews, finding my preferences, collecting documents, and everything I needed to prepare. I really appreciated all of the guidance and support that received prior to and during my journey to South Korea.

Not only am I happy with my placement, I am very happy with travel bud especially with my coordinator Kim who has made everything so easy. I was hesitant to come to my placement at first as I never heard of the city but I became ver happy as time went on. As for travel bud, from getting my acceptance to packing my bags and moving to Korea, the experience with travel bud has been nothing but amazing, even through a pandemic. As soon as I was in the country I still was getting a lot of support from everyone to make sure my quarantine was going well.