Trailblazers

Writing His Way Around The World
Huw Francis

Age: 35

Nationality: Welsh/British/European (UK citizen)

Countries lived in: Wales, England, Hong Kong, Turkey, France

Qualifications: Degree in Aeronautical/Mechanical Engineering (UK) Postgraduate Diploma in International Business Management (US) Diploma in Fiction & Non-Fiction Writing (UK)

Career Path: 1988 - 92 - UK: Design Engineer, supported sales/marketing dept. 1992 - 96 - Hong Kong: Assistant Manager of import/export firm. Sales/Technical Support of PCs for businesses. Business manager, account executive, and production manager for a corp. communications & mgmt. consultancy. 1996 - 2001 - Turkey: Part-time lecturer of Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) preparation courses. Freelance writer, co-author of "Live and Work Abroad: A Guide for Modern Nomads" and author of a GMAT textbook for intl. students. Communications and marketing consultant on international and cross-cultural projects. 2001 - France: Writing and consulting, updating 'Live and Work in Italy' by Vacation Work Publications in 2002.

"I had always dreamed of travelling the world," Huw Francis says, explaining why he left the UK in 1992 after a four-year stint in the workforce. He spent six months traveling through Pakistan - with a side trip to Afghanistan in the company of the mujahideen - eventually making his way to Hong Kong. Although he wasn't formally employed during that time, his experiences figure into his as-yet unpublished novel,"Borderlands," an adventure, set in Pakistan, about two young backpackers who get caught up in a drug smuggling racket.

In Hong Kong, he met his Scottish wife, Seonaid, who had just finished two years of teaching with the non-governmental charity, Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), in remote parts of China. The one year he had planned to stay turned into four. His first son, Ieuan, now six, was born in Hong Kong. Huw says he and his family left the year before the handover to China partly because his employer was losing business and partly because they wanted to move closer to Europe.

"My wife and I decided we would both apply for jobs and whoever secured the first decent offer would accept it and the other would stay at home to look after our son. I won and my wife got a job at an international school in Turkey." As a stay-at-home dad, Huw says he learned to fit his work around "naps, children's TV and lunchtimes, complimented by late shifts after dinner."

"I have wanted to be a writer since I was at college, but never really had the opportunity or the skills to do so until I reached Turkey. Without the support of my wife, it would still never have happened even then," Huw says of the two and a half years he spent earning his diploma from the Writers Bureau in the UK by correspondence.

The family lived in Turkey for five years and found it hard to say goodbye to the birthplace of their second son, Sean, now three. "We loved Turkey and were very sorry to leave; we have many great Turkish friends still living there." Huw says he and Seonaid had wanted to live in France for long time and once Seonaid secured a job with an international school, the family moved to the country outside Lille.

Huw is preparing to share the knowledge he has gained in his years abroad and as a trailing spouse through seminars on expat living and freelance writing, and is scheduled to participate in the Global Living Conference in Brussels in March 2002.

Huw feels he's found his calling in writing. "It's satisfying seeing my work in print and my book on the shelf." With an updated version of a previous book due out in 2002 and plans for more in the pipeline, Huw does not envision any more career changes. He enjoys the flexibility of working from home, and he's able to spend more time with his wife and children than he did when he had an office job. He feels he has a much better quality of life in general than would be possible if he were an employee. "Writing is definitely the best job I've had," he concludes, sounding like a man who has found his niche.

Website: http://www.huwfrancis.com