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Being a professional fitness instructor may not always pay exceptionally well, but there are perks that come with the territory such as gym memberships. There is one perk, however, that far exceeds any others. The most amazing perk I have come across is the chance to teach fitness classes abroad in exchange for an all-inclusive stay at a resort with a guest.

In 1999 I was reading job postings in the back of an industry journal, and I saw an ad for teaching vacations in Jamaica. I followed up on it and found out that for a few hundred dollars and an airplane ticket, I could stay on a resort with my spouse and all I had to do was teach two or three classes per day. I was ecstatic to find such an opportunity, especially when I looked into how much it could actually cost as regular paying guests.

All-inclusive resorts can run anywhere from $200 to $500 per person per day depending on the resort, time of year and the room that is booked. All inclusive means room/board, alcohol, entertainment, fitness classes and often sports like water skiing. What this results in is a vacation that’s worth $2,800 to $7,000 per week for two people. Spa services, scuba diving, golf and activities away from the resort will cost extra, but since there is so much to do that is included, you can literally spend very little money once you’re at the resort and you don’t have to think about keeping cash with you.

I booked my first trip for January 1, 2000. Yes, my husband and I flew in an airplane on Y2K and…

…it didn’t drop out of the sky as was predicted, but it did drop us onto the island of Jamaica to have an incredible two-week adventure. That was the first of many trips in the last 11 years and I recently returned from trip number eight. I wanted to tell you about this great opportunity so that some of you in the Spinning® community might take advantage of this service, too.

There are two agencies that send fitness instructors and personal trainers to resorts. Fitness Pros [Fit Bodies, Inc.], owned by Suzelle Snowden, has placement both in the Caribbean as well as Mexico. They categorize instructors by their specialties: step, kickboxing, Zumba®, Spinning, yoga/Pilates, aquatic, personal trainer, or tennis pro. They have an extensive Web site which explains their programs and one must create an account prior to being able to search on their website. Though the basic account is free, one may upgrade to receive more features and benefits. If you are interested in teaching Spinning classes, there are four resorts in Jamaica that offer indoor cycling, so you can do a search for those and see when they are available. If you can teach other modalities, then it is really wide open for you. Once you book a trip, you will be assigned a go-to person and there are webinars to watch that answer all the possible questions that can arise when traveling out of the country and bartering for a vacation. For more information about traveling with this company, visit www.fitnessprotravel.com.

See the remainder of this article at http://www.spinning.com/spinning-instructor-news/2011-3-1.asp

Related articles

• Travel Smarter (fitprobiz.com)
• Fitness in Dominican Republic Resorts (fitprobiz.com)

Fitness Industry Community and a Rockin Travel Program

It is 10 minutes well spent and I add it here for you to see those benefits personally.

In addition to the financial, professional, and personal rewards that come with using the teaching vacation program you have the opportunity to communicate within the Fitness Pro Travel community to even better arm yourself with insight from the thousands of fitness pros who have gone down this path in the past.

Remember to watch the video all the way to the end. Suzelle always adds some type of relevant discount to encourage you to schedule your own teaching vacation, as well as encourage others to try it as well…

In addition to the travel discount offered at the end of the video, I’ll offer you a bit more
to help with those referrals that we very much appreciate.  Watch the video and continued to scroll down for the next bonus.

With holidays approaching, I want you to be able to provide not only the gift of the Fit Bodies teaching vacation opportunity, but also a gift of a reduced membership as well.

Yes, free membership is still an option, but I have no problem providing a Guarantee that anyone who jumps to at least the base level “Travel Account” will have ample opportunity and will save and/or earn that fee back.

1. So, ensure you’re account is a “Premium Account” (login first)
2. Then, encourage your friends and colleagues to do the same… send them to the site using your “tell a friend” tool in the affiliate section.
3. (Discount Ended) Finally, you may use or you can provide to your referral a discount code for their account type purchase. — hyFBdis — This code can be used during account creation or upgrade for 30% discount (not good for travel).  This offer is available to all on the site until Nov. 11th, but you may provide it to your referrals until 12/31 at midnight.