In just over three days time, Tina and I will bid goodbye to Blighty and board a Boeing.
And we're stressed. Which is understandable, really.
The major source of stress is simply logistics. It's not easy to pack up your life into matching luggage. To do that, all while plugging away at your job and scrubbing your house, takes time. Lots of time. Tina and I had four hours of sleep last night.
Then there's simply the awe-inspiring thought of starting a whole new life. A Whole New Life. It looks like it should be capitalised.
A Whole New Life involves new jobs and possessions and a home. Very fortunately we've managed to get the home thanks to Tina's brother. When it comes to getting a job, I'm on my own.
That doesn't unduly worry me. I mean, I'm an enthusiastic, experienced chap with a sharp line in suits and a firm handshake. In America - the land of opportunity - I'm sure somebody will want to hire me.
The stress comes from deciding what it is I want to do.
Because I have a wonderful opportunity to choose my own path in the States. But the problem with opportunities like those is that the decisions you make need to be the right ones.
I've basically pinned down my motivation into two directions. Job Satisfaction and Salary. I'm willing to do a job I really enjoy for a modest salary - or a job I don't really enjoy for a generous salary. This polarisation pretty neatly fits into my two career paths.
Writing is my life. My current job, writing adverts and coming up with conceptual marketing ideas, is one of the most satisfying ones I've ever had. To see my ideas and words come to life on the radio or a computer screen is incredibly satisfying. The only thing better than pitching a creative idea to a client and having them love it is when that creative idea is similarly picked up by a receptive audience. I've been lucky enough to feel that buzz.
The downside is the salary and career prospects - which would both be better in the States.
On the other scale is getting back into the boiler-room. Sales.
It was working for Summer Study that really introduced me to sales and a nice smile and a smart suit saw me continue in that business when I left France and came to England. I even managed to reach the dizzy heights of Sales Manager before I realised that Sales was only worth being in if you really loved what it was you were selling... Or you got paid an enormous sum of money.
In America, I could get back into the sales business. It's tough work. It's a grind and worst of all, it's not the creative industry that writing is. But it offers the path to security and if I manage to twin my brand with a suitable corporate one - selling something I truly believe in - I think I could be very successful at it.
I can always write in my spare time. Not that the American workforce gets much of that.
It's a toss up; and with "the best laid plans of mice and men" and all that, I'm probably only going to discover where my American path will take me when I finally make footfall in New Jersey.
Dickman. Dr Dickman.
