Translating Down Under

I’ve two bits of exciting news to share this morning.

First, some shameless self-promotion 🙂 I was pretty chuffed to garner a mention on Marci Alboher’s New York Times’ blog Shifting Careers last Friday. In addition to being a regular columnist on all things career-blending for the business section of the NYT, Marci is also the author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success. I read her book when it came out last year and I liked it a lot. She talks about slash careers, a particular form of portfolio working when people find themselves with two or more very distinct job titles, often in completely unrelated fields. I really like the real-life examples she describes in her column and her book, and feel suitably honoured about the mention. In another happy by-product, traffic to my blog has seen an unseasonal peak so hi to anyone who’s followed the link from that route. And stick around, it gets better 🙂

Second, and in explanation for my silence last week, I’m leaving the London for sunnier pastures this Sunday. My other half is from Australia and he’s convinced me to try translating from Brisbane. It’s a big move and I’m very excited, but things have been a little hectic as I prepare to ensure my move is as seamless as possible for my clients. So expect plenty of reports on the ups and, no doubt, the downs of translating very, very remotely as I do my best to find the answers to such questions as: Will my deadlines be any less stressful with a GMT +10 hour time difference? How quickly can I get up and running in Brisbane when I’ve not even started looking for accommodation yet? Is there a heat threshold beyond which this Irish translator’s brain will stop working? And for how much longer after getting sand in my laptop will my keyboard work??

(Thanks to immigration2australia.com for the picture.)