Who does it and how do you get on?

Been potentially offered the opportunity to project manage a mine being constructed and would be month on, month off. Im currently on another down the road and do maybe two trips of 3 – 4 weeks per year but this would be ongoing.

Now obviously the money and tax issue would be worth it but i have a 9 month old and a 2 year old so it really is a life changing decision in some ways.

Positives would be the opportunity to move into a house we want, offset the mortgage, go on nice holidays and not have to worry too much money wise in both the short term and long term due to the experience gained – which could more than triple my salary in a couple of years.

However the negatives would be being away for half of the year and missing the kids grow up, the wife not being able to work and her missing out on that aspect for her own sanity and social aspect, missing out on the general home stuff, but would the month off make up for it, suppose so.

Seems like quite an opportunity at 32, but the kids thing worries me. Opportunities will arise again, kids growing up wont. Or do i just accept that the month off i have more than makes up for being away???

I do 3 months on and 3 months off abroad working a job in the Uk between time in the states.

I love doing it this way but it is very taxing on relationships and I wouldn’t want to do it if I had kids at home. Definitely a single mans game!

The only thing you can do is sit down with your Mrs and talk it through!

Work out ho much time you “actually” get with your family now, and think you could have a whole month with them uninterrupted, i used to do 1-1 shifts and i loved it, the mrs loved it as she left her job and worked from home or just did 1 day in the office at a new job. You can do so much as a family in a month, and the month on flys by, face time helped a lot to be fair, but for the quality of life you can offer your family for the job id jump at it, as in time youl realise why you did, kids wanna go uni, no problem funds Re there, you need a family holiday, done, new car done, id relish the fact and im sure your oh would understand. You may not get the opportunity again.

I’ve been doing 28/28 since July, similar age to you with a 2 year old little boy.

I came from a job with around 3 months of the year offshore, then the rest of the time in the office doing normal office hours. Didn’t really get extra time off for the offshore work.

On the whole I think it is a good thing to do, the time at home for 4 weeks is amazing, being able to completely switch off from work and be a full time dad is something that most people can’t do. I don’t plan for doing this long term, picturing another 2-3 years at the moment. I think as my boy gets older he will miss be being around more and more.

The time away is hard but manageable for us, I think my better half has it much harder than I do, she had the final word on doing it in the first place and she knows I can and will stop if she says the word. We live close to her parents which helps, and anything to make her life easier such as house cleaners etc. is a must.

Positives for me are pretty much the list in the OP, I am trying to be very careful to save money, its very temping to go on lots of special holidays etc. on my time off which kills the saving plans. Though obviously its important for everyone to take the time to do special things at home.

Having a fixed schedule is good in many ways, but fitting in peoples weddings etc. can be hard or just impossible. Likewise I’ll be working Christmas and NY this year, haven’t even looked into whose birthdays I will be missing.

My biggest worry is that something happens at home like my son falls and hurts himself, or the house gets burgled etc etc. I’m sure my employer would let me leave immediately but all being well it would still take me a couple of days to get back there which would be horrible for all involved. I work in Angola and live in Australia, your situation may make this not so much of an issue.

Last thing, while you are discussing this with your partner make sure you explain that you will not be getting a full month at home, my 28/28 is actually more like a 31/25 which my misses thinks is a bit unfair.

Some useful posts when I asked HERE

Now obviously the money and tax issue would be worth it

I’m not an accountant so don’t rely on anything I say but you might want to check that there would be a tax advantage. Isn’t it possible you’d be UK tax resident still? You might also be tax resident in wherever the mine is too, which would be a drag esp if there isn’t a double taxation treaty.

I don’t suppose it’s somewhere you and the old dear would actually want to live, is it?

Failing that: don’t get sucked into the “just one more year” trap…

Definitely a single mans game!

everyone I know who still works offshore is single or divorced.

Single persons life there, when you come ‘home’ you will be disrupting the routines they have, the space that was yours in the relationship closes up.

i worked at sea– every body was single or divorced…

I’m in the RN and routinely deploy for around six months per year and when I’m not doing that, work away from home Mon to Fri.
It’s pretty rubbish but I and the family are still happy.
If someone offered me your deal I’d bite their hand off so I suppose it could come down more to what your family is already used to.

jam bo – Member

Definitely a single mans game!

everyone I know who still works offshore is single or divorced. [quote]

Really? i work offshore, usual divorce rate etc etc.

Average age is well into the late forties.

Cheers guys, some good food for thought there.

Its still in its early stages so may not come off but there is a possibility of it coming good. It would be working in Azerbaijan in the lesser Caucuses Mountains so not somewhere the family would want to be.

Lots to think about if it comes through including bringing a bike for night rides in areas with wolves and supposedly bears where never a bike tyre has tread before!

A month on and a month off would mean that you exceed the 91 days in the UK limit for tax free status (averaged over four years) so you would pay UK tax on your income as per normal. I do 12 weeks on and 3 weeks off which means I’m well under the limit plus I’m working in a tax free country.

I have lived in Azerbaijan briefly (and in the area a lot). For me, personally, in your situation, i would have considered living there. My friend’s dad found some amazing mountain biking and skiing there and in Georgia/ S Russia (heli skiing). However, I can see how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and ESP if your wife can’t work, and I don’t know what the foreign schools are like – when I was there there was just the school by the lake but no doubt there are others.

id bite hands off for month and month.

im currently 2 weeks into what was supposed to be a 4 week operation.

visa extension is in and its now a 6 weeker

however my girlfriend knows no different , its the same job ive always done since we moved in together.

going from a 9-5 office job to this coulld be hard on your family.

Im doing it now before kids to get experiance(and a dent in the mortgage) for an office job once the kids come along

Do it, you won’t regret it.

I’ve worked, more or less, month on month off for the last 10 years, Offshore Oil. I was in the RN before, so spent much longer trips away then.

The kids have known nothing else, so this is the norm for them. Yours are still young, so maybe it won’t bother them too much either. The time off will fly, but it does when you are having fun!

Your tax situation will need careful handling, use an accountant who is a specialist in foreign earnings deductions. Look here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxtreaties/

I have lived in Azerbaijan briefly (and in the area a lot). For me, personally, in your situation, i would have considered living there. My friend’s dad found some amazing mountain biking and skiing there and in Georgia/ S Russia (heli skiing).

Im going to have to see how things pan out. At the moment it seems that it might not happen now, but as work builds it may become a likely outcome. As for the riding potential i couldnt agree more. We actually did the geotechnical design on the presidents new ski resort and personal villas, and while not actually getting to go there myself i have heard about the potential for riding/skiing. Where i am in the lesser caucuses there is potential with quite a lot of well trodden donkey tracks littering the hills where im working, the only downside is teh hours that we work not giving much free time and no days off but exploring on summer evenings would be fun.

Lets see, seems like there is plenty in the pipeline in Az and Turkey (all seemingly in mountainous areas too)