by Leo Wiles
25 November 2015
My partner has just been offered the job of a lifetime in Hong Kong. I’m going and quite excited about it but also quietly freaking out about leaving my successful freelance career behind. Am I mad to think I could bring it with me and get the same amount / kind of work even if I’m no longer local? Kate
Having started over more times than your average Phoenix, exciting times are ahead for you. When I headed back to Australia from 12 years in the UK, I knew no-one and it was a case of networking madly and doing stints in house to get known. However, that was over a decade ago and things have changed dramatically.
Now days people don’t have time for regular catch-ups and in-office meetings, let alone lunches to get to know freelance staff better. Also with the death of the launch and other PR-motivated events there’s not the expectation that you will be on the scene. So my question would be, do you even need to let people know that you’ve relocated? If you’re writing for Beautiful Homes like I did, then sure – chances are it’s time to say goodbye as you’ll no longer be available to do at-homes and conduct face-to-face interviews with the homeowner and possibly the architect.
But if you’re mainly Skyping or doing phoners, apart from the pool bar in the background there is no reason for them to know that you are living the expat lifestyle. The other major plus I found when I moved to Hong Kong with my first husband is that the expat community is incredibly close-knit. (It was a similar situation when I did a stint living in Vanuatu with partner number 3 – who was building an earth station on Efate).
My biggest bugbear in both expat communities was losing my identity and being introduced as so-and-so’s wife. I found the best way to establish myself as a person in my own right was to land a job locally so that people knew and respected me as an individual. The other thing to consider is that you probably won’t earn the same amount and for me, that caused a power shift in the relationship. In Vanuatu, it motivated me to launch a career as a travel writer and start island-hopping – a job that I loved and sorely missed when I left the wonderful archipelago. That’s the great thing about being in an exotic, unfamiliar location – it piques your interest in new things and may open up new income streams, too.
So I guess the short answer though is that in this day and age, as long as you have an internet connection and a trusty laptop you’re in business. And let’s face it: the things we regret in life are those we do not do and not those we fail at. I would much prefer to launch myself into the world and see if I could fly than have my wings clipped. So good luck to you, I hope it goes well!
Have you worked overseas and managed to keep your clients? We’d love to hear from you.
I started freelancing in order to travel while I work – as long as your clients aren’t too demanding it’s absolutely fine. You might need to lay some ground rules about when they can expect replies to emails but as Leo says, aside from necessarily in-person gigs, it’s fairly manageable. Asia is good too because the time difference isn’t too radical. There’s also the possibility to get subcontractors and build yourself a small business. Go for it!
Hi Viv,
Once of the beauties of being on location is the authenticity it brings to your articles. I know as a travel writer – a job I took on while living OS and travelling the 72 islands I was a part of – I had the best of both worlds. Able to play tourist in my new home I had wonderful access to things expats living there would never have had.
Interesting article, Leo, and best wishes to Kate. I have lived overseas as well but now live in remote north west WA (Broome). As far as freelance work, I might as well be overseas. The publishing industry is very east-coast centric so I find it a lot easier to get work in the US, UK and even Europe more so than here in Australia. I still think we (Australia) have a long way to go to catch up to the rest of the “virtual world”. Most people I meet can’t get their heads around the fact I might be editing for an author in New York or a publisher in London. It’s a big, wonderful world out there. Enjoy!
Hi Vicky,
Thanks for the insight into moving remotely – I think your spot on re the east coast centric, living as I do up in Queensland.
It hasn’t stopped me working interstate however. Recently I was working for a client in Melbourne and Sydney without once leaving home.
Thanks to Sykpe, calls and our regular emails none of us ever met face to face and the job still job completed successfully.
There are plenty of freelance opportunities in Hong Kong. One great place to start is Expat Living Hong Kong (www.expatliving.hk). It’s a bi-monthly lifestyle magazine for expats covering travel, food & wine, interiors, education, family life, fashion, etc. I used to work for their Singapore equivalent. Good luck Kate!