eMarkLee

More details to come soon…….

It’s official. I will be staying in Notting Hill for two months starting in June. Why not pick a Hugh Grant movie to start off my London experience?

MAP

As it is a whole new world in London, I will need to figure out ways to be smart with money in London, especially in light of the extremely weak dollar. Stop importing and outsourcing everything, Republicans…you’re killing me.

Here is how I will approach getting cash and spending cash to buy fish and chips in the UK:

ATM:
I will use my BofA account at partner banks, which will assess no fee to my account:

I can also use my Presidential Bank account, which also does not assess any fees. Unfortunately, I will probably need to open up a local bank account in order to deposit money and to interact with the local blokes and tarts.

Credit Card:
There’s only one credit card company you should consider when you travel abroad: Capital One Cash. They don’t assess the ridiculous 3% fee usually assessed by your credit cards like Chase and Bank of America. That’s $3 for every $100! In London that could buy you some tartar sauce to go with the fish. With Capital One, you will basically be getting market exchange rates without thinking about it. Boo ya. Not sure if I can get away with using my American credit card overseas for a long time, but I guess we’ll find out.

Perfect timing:

Dollar’s Weakness Hits New Benchmarks: British Pound Breaks Through $2 for First Time in Nearly 15 Years

Been working on it for a while, and thinking about it for quite a few weeks…but yes it’s official. I’m going to move to London, you bloody blokes!

Now I get to answer all your questions:

Why are you moving to London?
This is one of the most exciting life experience opportunities I have ever had. To live and work outside of the US has always been an aspiration of mine, and now that dream is going to become a reality. Taj, Agenda, and Workmonkey have all done it to some extent. I did my 5 months out of the country after college, 3 of it backpacking through Europe, but I think it is a different experience to actually live somewhere for an extended amount of time.

Why London?
While some other countries are more appealing to me culturally (Italy, Spain, Greece, France, etc), it is not really feasible to work somewhere that does not use English as the primary language. Just think about not being able to understand all the watercooler chatter and conversations before meetings begin. Rest assured, they will not be in English (especially in Paris). Yes, you can work there but it would be a challenge. Also, I would not be able to fully use the product since I don’t know any of the languages well enough.

Are you quitting your job?
No, I am going to take on a role in the London branch of the company I currently work for. (For those who don’t know who I work for, it is a top global Internet site) It will be a great opportunity to take on more responsibility and manage a larger set of products. It will also offer me the opportunity to gain international business experience, which is great.

When are you moving?
The dates are not solid yet, but I expect to be working in London in June.

Is emarklee.com going to become emarklee.uk?
No, the Brits are not going to take over the world.

What about New York?
Many of you know that I had been planning on moving to New York to join Workmonkey, Agenda, et al in the East Coast. It was a difficult decision, but the London opportunity presents a larger life experience opportunity….and more vacation days I hope to visit NYC more with the extra time and still aspire to live there at a certain point, but I had to choose London for all the travel opportunity that I hope my friends in NYC will join me for.

What now?
As this is quite a big change in my life, I will be sharing this experience on my blog with all of you. I’ve started a new category that will chronicle my Life as a Brit. I hope to show my move, my acclimation into London, and everything that comes my way. Stay tuned.