Nov. 1, 2011

Moving on: The lure of freelancing abroad

A month ago I left my first job as a journalist at a British regional newspaper to go freelance. Crazy, you might think given the current economic situation. But after three years of covering Woking, just outside of London, I felt it was time to move on and try a new challenge.

The new challenge is Berlin and my goal is to write for international publications, working though Associated Reporters Abroad, better known as ARA. While still in the UK, I had the opportunity to write about the London riots in August, and British Syrian protesters who claimed they had been threatened by Syrian Embassy staff in the British capital. I wanted more.

I won a place on a fellowship with the Internationale Journalisten Programme and through this, I am working for the German newspaper, Tagesspiegel for two months. It’s a nice way to ease into a big step, giving me time to get settled in Berlin (and the money to not be under pressure to earn while getting acclimatized).

Handing in my notice to the group editorial director at the Surrey Advertiser a few months ago was terrifying, but I knew I had done the right thing: I was hugely excited about the prospect of moving to a new city. I found working at a regional newspaper can be hugely rewarding, connecting with a community and making a difference in it through the stories you tell. But it can get stale, too.

Leaving the city that has been my home for eight years is also unsettling as well as the friends and family that are there. Friends had conflicted views about me taking the leap into freelance work. Some were concerned that I wouldn’t be able to earn enough in what seems to be an ever narrowing market. Others were excited for me. I have to admit I have had some concerns but at 26, I thought that now was the time to take that chance, with nobody depending on me and just myself to look after.

As I touched down at Tegel Airport a few weeks ago, with huge apprehension, I thought about all the friends I already have in Berlin and the exciting work I would get the opportunity to do. The German capital is a city I have loved since I first came to visit five years ago. It is amazing how relatively recent history, from the Second World War and through the separation of East and West, has all combined to give the neighborhoods and buildings the character they hold on to today.

It is also an amazing city for anyone trying to break away from the 9-5 slog, the rat race that is easy to get sucked into in London, New York or Paris – because you are constantly trying to make enough money to pay the rent. I struggled with that in London, earning a journalist’s meager wage. And of course, there is the relaxed atmosphere that comes with having less than half of the population rushing to get to work in the morning, due to the city’s population of artists, service personnel and the large amount of unemployed.

There are always things I will miss from London but after just a fortnight in this city with its retro, shabby chic exterior and the welcome I have got from people I’ve met in such a short amount of time I feel lucky to be here and determined to make it work. So watch this space…

-- Louise Osborne, Berlin

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