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living in England :: my blog :: photo galleries :: Yahoo! Photos page :: current stuff and updates :: random bits :: links
* * Actually, I've already moved to England. Since I've just now gotten around to finding webspace for my site and uploading it, only 6 months after my move, I'm going through some of the pages to update them. I figured I would leave this page mostly intact to sort of just illustrate my frame of mind and keep the questions and answers and reasons intact. Anything that I've added since the move I've typed in green so you can tell what has been updated.
frequently asked questions about my move
That's right folks, I'm moving to England to pursue more of the work that I want to do for my present company, HPI Racing. I've been with HPI USA for 6 years, moving to Southern California from south central Texas (San Antonio), and over the past couple of years I've determined that what I really like to do the most is share my R/C knowledge with people and help spread the love through programs like the HPI Challenge, which I managed for the past 5 years.
After talking with the head of HPI EU (EUrope), we came to the agreement that he needs someone who will take over the HPI Challenge series for Europe, go to trade shows and help represent HPI in the best manner possible. My manager at HPI USA needs a webmaster, someone who will take on the responsibility of learning new web techniques, and reaching as many people as possible. While I enjoy working on websites, content creation (article and report writing) is what I like to do best and is my specialty - this is not what HPI USA needs at the moment. What I'm doing currently at Mirage (the UK distributor of HPI, Team Orion and other brands) is a bunch of graphics work, suitable for a relative novice to that field, plus HPI Challenge stuff, writing reports, taking and editing pictures, kind of a jack of all trades thing. Later in the year I'm supposed to help redesign the website with the webmaster for HPI/Mirage, which is ironic because that is the proect I didn't accomplish at HPI USA that sped up me leaving.
After talking it over and considering it very hard, I decided to accept a position that will use the skills that I feel I do best and that will work in concert with the marketing department at HPI Europe. The way I explain it at HPI USA is that working in Englad will allow me to do what I really like to do the most, and it's what HPI Europe needs. Although I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my boss for helping me out and putting up with my shortcomings this long, this year it all came to head when I did a bit of soul-searching and really tried to figure out what I want to do with my life (at least, for the next several years). Hey, at least I'm moving to a competitor! :) Although the thought did cross my mind to move to a local competitor of HPI USA - there are many in Southern California. But even then the pickings were slim, as none of the companies I could think of would have a need for what I wanted to do, much less pay me what I was making at HPI USA.
What will happen at HPI USA with the website and HPI Challenge? I'm sure a new webmaster will be hired quickly enough, but I honestly don't know what will happen with the HPI Challenge. I hope it will continue the way it has been, as there are dozens of loyal followers of the series and people around the US that truly look forward to it coming to their area. Well any HPI Challenge USA fans who come across this page now know what happened - the traditional HPI Challenge has been set aside for more off-road races like the Savage Slam because that is where the sales are basically, even though there is just one off-road event planned at the moment of writing this. Only one HPI Challenge race was planned, and I received a bunch of emails and posts on internet forums about this outrage. I tried to explain it as PC as possible and encouraged people who cared to call and write in (not email). Eventually Austin, TX was chosen for a second HPI Challenge, but that wouldn't have been my first choice.
Frequently asked questions about my move
Why move?
Why not? :) Well basically it came down to me wanting to expand the promotional side of my job and leave behind the web part of my job. This doesn't jive well with what HPI USA needs, and HPI Europe needs exactly what I can offer and love to do. I'm not married, there's no girlfriend, I've lived away from my mom for years now and I don't mind moving, so it's a really good fit.
Plus, there's this quote from Mark Twain I found a year or two ago: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by things you didn't do than by things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." This really helped to ease my mind about going. Many people at work have said that they wish they could go and they're happy for me and my opportunity. I figure this will be the only really legitimate reason I might have for going and staying in Europe, and with the wealth of travel opportunities there, using England as a "base camp", how could I not go?
What will you be doing?
Mosty, writing press releases and content for HPI Europe. The content will be used on the site and will include ad copy text, web articles on car tuning and other things, and stuff like that. I'll also do some photos of new products, race reports on HPI Europe's sponsored drivers, doing reviews of trade shows, and other things. I"ll also manage the HPI Challenge series, which means traveling the UK and at times to mainland Europe (the Continent) to run races. There are also trade shows and promotional events, which should be fun to do as well. I won't be doing the website for HPI Europe, as they already have a technically-minded web guy who can do much more with a website than I can! I am basically doing all these things, as well as a bit more graphics work than I'd planned on. This is a good thing, though, it expands my skills and is fun and productive.
So who will do the web site here?
I don't know! But I'm sure HPI USA will find someone far better than me to run a kick-butt website. Although designing a site, learning Flash, etc. is all fun, I didn't have the time or organizational capabilities to really pursue all the technical stuff that I wanted or needed to learn. So it came down to me figuring out that I really like to write more than I like to make web sites. Well I don't want to talk bad about anything that's going on at HPI USA so I'll leave this one alone.
What about the Challenge races in the US?
That's a big question - but the basic answer is "I don't know". Because of my love for this part of my job, I related more to the Challenge races than I did the website in recent years, and it really became part of my identity at work. Therefore, I'd hate to see it languish because the manpower doesn't exist to run it - after all, I did it and the web site and a few other things, so I'm sure it can still go on. See my comment above, towards the top of the page.
When do you leave?
My last day at HPI USA is (was) the 19th of December. On the 23rd I'll fly to my mom's in Texas with my cat. I'll stay there until the work permit comes through and I can fly to the UK.
Where will you live?
At first, a town called Derby in Derbyshire, located near the center of mainland Britain. It is located just southwest of Nottingham, which is north and east of Birmingham (the second largest city in England). I'll be about 3 hours by car from London and maybe an hour and a half from Manchester. The general area is called the Midlands, and that is split up into the East Midlands and West Midlands. I'll be in the West Midlands but very close to the border of the East Midlands. A large national park called the Peak District is to the north of Derby and occupies much of Derbyshire, which is like a county in the US.
How long will you be there?
As long as they want me - it's indefinite! (insert blank look here) That's right, it's permanent. It's entirely possible I'll be there for the rest of my life, I don't know at the moment. Right now, I look at the position as something I won't outgrow for several years. The company is growing in the UK and Europe, so I could migrate to a higher position or make a different lateral move, whatever.
Wow, it's going to be cool!
Yeah it is! :) I'm already planning to visit London for the touristy stuff, Stonehenge, Castle Doune in Scotland (where many scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail were filmed), Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Germany and France, among other places. These are just the specific places I definitely want to hit. As a motorsports fan I want to attend the MotoGP race at Donington Park (near where I'll be living), the British Grand Prix Formula One race at Silverstone, and the Rally of Great Britain in Wales.
Isn't it a big deal to move?
Well...yeah. :) Of course it is. But I'm not married, I don't have a girlfriend, and I don't mind moving. After all, I moved to California from Texas for a job (1500 miles or so), what's different about moving to another country? Okay, a lot is different :) but I look at it as a new adventure. I'll be able to do a lot of things I can't do here, experience a new culture, travel Europe on my vacations, see and experience SO MUCH that I don't get in the States, etc. So, to me, the benefits outweigh the "what if" questions and other insecurities. On a deeper level, this move will show that I have the balls to see what I can REALLY do when I focus all my energies at work on something I really enjoy doing. Web stuff is fun and challenging, etc., but not my type of challenge.
Isn't it a bit sudden?
Sort of - but when I was hired by HPI USA, they flew me to SoCal, offered me the job, I accepted, they flew me back and two days later I was packing my stuff into a panel truck and driving out of there. One week after I accepted the position I was working in California. So this is not as sudden as that, but to most people it's a sudden, big change.
Isn't it crazy how playing with toy cars gets you to England?
Hell yeah! :) But that's the way it all works out sometimes. I guess my life and many things within it go in peaks and valleys, highs and lows. Sometimes I'm complacent with my work and other times I'm very forthcoming and a go-getter. On a whim I contacted folks in England and suddenly I had a lunch meeting, then a week later a job offer and that night I'm packing. I'd already thought of doing other things to where I may not have to move but who could resist this!
Aren't you going to miss anything?
Actually, not a lot of folks have asked me this yet, but it's a question I've been asking myself so it definitely counts. At the moment I don't know how long I'll be there but like I say above it could be "forever". I know I'll be able to fly back and visit places but there are things I'll miss, including:
What will you NOT miss?
Another question similar to the last - I've been pondering what I won't be missing:
What are you going to do to help prevent homesickness?
Well I'm not terribly worried about it since I'm used to moving around a little, but I do have a few things in mind to keep in touch with America:
What are you doing to prepare for the move/what's your schedule before and after you leave?
What am you bringing with you to help me get over missing everything here?
The stuff I'm definitely bringing to help me out include:
living in England :: my blog :: photo galleries :: Yahoo! Photos page :: current stuff and updates :: random bits :: links
I suppose you can email me at toecutter169 AT yahoo DOT comDELETE THIS PART
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons License.
Some rights are reserved. Click the link immediately above to
learn how you may use my text, images and other things on my site.