Many of you know that my biggest challenge here in running the site is simply time. Or rather, lack thereof. There are just not enough hours in the day for me to enjoy writing here and enjoy answering your questions, all the while working full time travelling the world for my day job.
Well, I’m here to announce one of those two is going out the window.
Yup, this week was my last week….at work.
A bit of background:
I’ve been in the IT industry since I left high school a bit over 15 years ago – straight into a full time job the Monday after high school ended. No summer break, or college, rather – a career that started about 36 hours after the graduation ceremony.
It wasn’t entirely on accident, or due to lack of interest in going to college (I had applied and been accepted to those I was interested in). While in high school I had a small software ‘company’ (just me) and developed some programs (this was before they were just called ‘apps’). That caused a bit of interest in me during my senior year of high school from a variety of companies. All of which resulted in accepting an offer at the end of my senior year…for a salary slightly more than my paper delivery route job was offering.
Timing was everything, and ultimately I don’t think one would be able to make the same leap in today’s age. After a year of interesting work at a non-profit organization (in IT), I jumped over to the Fortune 500 world working in what at the time was one of the largest banks in the US (they’ve since been swallowed by Chase). Within that realm I worked on fast paced mergers and acquisitions, from the IT side. The speed of work there was mind-boggling, but incredibly fun. 80+ hour work weeks were common, but the tight-knit team I was on as we travelled constantly made it worthwhile.
One day some folks from Redmond gave me a ring with an offer I couldn’t refuse, and a few months later I found myself being relocated to Washington DC (from Seattle, oddly enough). I’ve been with the company since – nearly 12 years. While I rarely talked about what precisely I did in my day job – it’s actually been an ‘open secret’ to anyone willing to Google Bing my name (or, to all of the companies that have asked) – usually the very first search result in fact. I often spoke at conferences and conventions for my day job, and over the years some of those presentations have made their way to the interwebs. In fact, it’s not uncommon for me to go into work meetings (with people outside the company) and have folks recognize me from the DCR world. Kinda funny. As for inside the company, anyone within my extended team knew about the blog, as did many triathletes and runners in the company. My bosses (and peers) over the years have been awesome and supportive.
Within my day job I’ve been in customer facing roles, essentially helping to architect and design our products for large organizations. While living in DC I was focused on customers in that region, and while in Paris I focused on large scale datacenter customers globally (think the Verizon’s of the world, and various others in the government space).
Since graduation each of those 15 years I’ve traveled no less than 100,000 miles a year on a plane. Though more recently, I’m averaging 200,000-350,000 miles a year on a plane. It’s simply been a lot of flying. No doubt the work I was doing and have done in the past has been incredibly interesting. I’ve been places and seen things that most will never get the chance to do, because of my day job. How many people get to travel the world to new countries every week on someone else’s dime? A mix of places from major metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities like Cape Town, Beijing, Sydney, Rome, and countless more – to places you and I have never heard of before. Sometimes it’s a hidden gem out there.
I’ve been to 79 countries, mostly as a result of my job. Even my vacations I couldn’t have ever afforded without the countless miles and hotel points behind them – mostly from my work travels.
But what I didn’t love was being away from home, and being away from The Girl that much. And more than that – the exhaustion. Put simply: The blog is a full time ‘night’ job (and then some). And my ‘day’ job was also a full-time job. As I’ve alluded to on various podcasts, doing both forever was simply an impossibility.
Making Change:
Of course, this wasn’t some random decision we made over a plate of snails. Rather, it’s a process that The Girl and I started over a year ago (actually, about 20 months now). Yes, people could have had two children in less time than this process has taken. That shift required an immense amount of paperwork be filed in order to be able to continue living in France doing the blog full time and also continue running her business (the CupCakery & Cake Studio locations).
As you might expect, not much happens fast in government, and that’s especially true here. So the process plodded along, with many 2 steps forwards and 18 steps backwards moments. The whole concept of running a website (let alone something called a ‘blog’) full time in France got looks of bewilderment and ‘Non, Très bizarre!’
So we kept trying, and finally late this past summer we got all the green lights required to make the shift. Back about a month ago I put in my letter of resignation (a surprisingly complex affair here) and Monday was the final day. I closed up my work laptop for the final time that afternoon. Of course, as you saw last week – that wasn’t quite without just one last trip. That one to Newark, Delaware over those final few days. Like I said, not everywhere I was sent was Sydney or Singapore.
Still, I did love my day job. Make no mistake – if there was a way I could continue doing both and find another 10-15 hours in the day – I’d be there in a heartbeat.
Going Forward:
So what changes around here at the blog? Well honestly, hopefully not too much. At worst I might get more consistent (gasp!). Perhaps my e-mail queue will shrink a bit. Or maybe even the product review queue will shrink. There are of course a ton of ideas for new things to write about, implement and do, that I’ve just not had the time to do.
Or perhaps, and much more likely – I’ll get to enjoy a bit more of what we came to Europe to do. And get to enjoy more time with The Girl (and little Lucy of course), and seeing the parts of the world that I haven’t seen (and sharing it with you). While I’ve no doubt been to more countries than most, I haven’t necessarily seen those places. I’d be in for a meeting for a few hours and then gone. The only thing I’d see would be what was between the airport and the office, save for a quick run that I might post here.
Maybe The Girl and I will take a slew of trips just to see the world. And maybe we’ll make some more big changes…you’ll just have to wait and see.
Thanks for reading – and most importantly – thanks for supporting the blog, be it just reading as a lurker, or supporting it in other ways. Obviously, without that support, I couldn’t have made the leap I made today.
Have a great weekend all!
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Congratulations Ray on the big move. I am sure it was not an easy decision but it is one that was very well thought out. All the best your future endeavours.
Ray- I read your blog on a daily basis…. for both tech and just to see another “life.”
Big step…. hard decision….
Well done.
Eyes forward
Mazel tov Ray!
Congrats Ray! Hope a handful of happiness follows your decision.
Bonne chance, Ray!
Time to learn French :)
Woot, you just made thousands of people very happy (and probably a few tech developers very nervous). Now back to work – Edge 520 review please :)
My heart sank, I thought you were shutting down the blog. Wishing you the best in your new chapter. I truly enjoy your posts.
Hahah, mine as well.
Oops, sorry for the big picture, DCR, could you delete it? I know it sounds weird, but I’ve added it accidentally.
Calm down fuckwit, the nerd writes a fuckung blog about sports watches
haha true. He’s lucky he was able to save money and move to Paris. I moved to Paris but I went to college and learned French at the university. I don’t believe recording data and having gadgets makes riding bikes or exercising any more fun – the opposite in fact, but hey, he’s benefiting from others enjoying having useless stuff and got the apartment I dream of and is happy – good for him.
Congrats!
Bravo Ray! Following your weekly travels has been a hell of a ride, but all that travelling kept you away from home most of the time. In the longer term it was never going to be sustainable. Obviously, the alternative to quitting your job was to axe the website. This way you, The Girl as well as all your online followers will be the winners.
Congrats on the big move Ray. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for all of us readers. If you were able to get all of the blog done on such limited time, I can only imagine where it will go full time. Best wishes!
Congrats on the big change! Looking forward to following your continuing journey on the blog.
Well done!
Not many people would be able to give up what you just gave up for DCR. You have my (and I believe many others) support!
Keep up the good work on DCR!
Ray
Congrate
Congratulations Ray! Very happy you chose the blog or your other job. Do you still have the desire to keep travelling? Or do you want to settle down a bit more? Keep up the great work!
*over your other job
Good luck to you and the family!
Congrats for the decision and for the changes.
Congrats, Ray. As someone who made the jump from the same company a few years back, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Hopefully I’ll meet you someday either back here at home, or dropping by Bertie’s in Paris. I’d pretty the latter to be honest :)
There more to Live and you clearly know that. Congrats on your success and future I am sure you got that sorted pretty well. Bravo.
Well, congrats on following through. Despite your well written post, I can’t imagine to depth of emotion(both ends) that this step took. May you, The Girl and Lucy continue reaping the benefit of an enjoyed life – and now more so!!
Congrats Ray! I never knew how you had time for a full time job, DCR reviews, helping The Girl w her company, workouts and plain living, but you seemed to make it all work.
I’m (very selfishly) happy we’ll be seeing more from you on DCR. Congrats again!
Ps: small typo, I think you mean 1,000,000 miles (said with pinky in mouth a la Austin Powers)
Congratulations on the life-changing decision! I have no doubt you’ll be very happy with this change. As an IT professional of over 25 years myself, I can relate to the stresses you’ve faced (though I don’t have the benefit/curse of travel).
Keep doing what you’re doing; you are truly appreciated and an inspiration to others!
Good luck! I’m sure you will have a heap of support from everyone
First of all congratulations! As a former IT/Management consultant, I can definitely identify (where do I live? United Airlines…), as an expat American (NZ -> Australia) big ups for getting approval for permanent residence in France. I can’t wait to see what you will do with all of that freed up time ;-)
Congratulations Ray!!
Thank you for not leaving us! And congratulations on the big move forward! I’m excited to see where it goes.
this post requires a “Like” button ;)
congrats!
Congratulations! Good luck working part time (++) on the blog and part time (+++) at the CupCakery. I hear that The Girl’s a pretty tough boss.
Congrats… I hope you take at least one day off to enjoy Paris in the fall!
Looking your website long time ago. Very inspiring, you are very good in doing that. Good luck Ray.
I wish you the best in your future endeavours and thank you for all your work. Bonne chance pour ta vraie vie parisienne.
wahooo!!! goodluck!
Thanks for the many hours reading your blog and reviews, and best wishes for a happy and successful future with the girl.
Congratulations Ray. I hope it all pans out the way you’re hoping and planning.
I was pretty worried there for a minute though. I thought you were going to say that you were going to stop doing the blog or give it to someone else to do!!!
All the best.
I’m happy for you and The Girl! Any changes coming up that might make a mother a grandmother?
Well done!
Now get that European partner program you once mentioned in the podcast up and running for more financial support!
for one moment…..
brave choice and all the best – bound to be a success
Wow, good effort. It takes cash to live and I for one would be happy to contribute to read what you write. I guess you make a little from clever training / Amazon, but I don’t buy new kit that often… Any other ways available? New line DCR apparel?
I wish you, the Girl and Lucy all the luck!
It is indeed a big step and a huge decision, I like that. We have done a similar thing with my family (wife and two sons) and we haven’t regretted it for a second.
Thanks for all the reviews, blogposts, photos etc, I can’t buy or look for sport tech stuff without reading your webpage first.
Your webpage is a corner stone in a lot of people training life and planning.
One again I wish all three of you the best of luck!
Congratulations on being able to make a good living in a place you want, doing what you love. More power to you.
Also, Microsoft eh? That explains a lot. (sorry, couldn’t resist)
Happy for you Ray!
Being able to make this choice is reward for all the incredible work you have done on the blog over the years Ray. Chapeau!
Congratulations.
Hope all goes well for you Ray, we’ve all been amazed how much effort you put in while also working. I can’t believe you were only on a month notice period! I also can’t believe you’re not going to continue being the busiest human alive, you don’t seem to have the concept of resting nailed down :)
Best of luck!!!
Congrats Ray:-)
I am happy that your changes won’t impact DCR in a negative way, but happier that you will have more time for the Girl! Travel is wonderful, but its very taxing for the body, spririt and relationships …
Looking forward to the next chapter in the Rainmaker saga … :-)
wow, big change!
all the best for the future for the three of you and thankyou for countless hours of reading this blog
(now, if I trained instead reading… wow *g*)
Congratulations!
Succes!
Awesome news Ray. Wishing you & the Girl all the best on this next chapter.
Does this mean you might get to enter some more races? Always good to read about them but sadly been missing from the blog of late
Congrats on making such a big decision (without disappointing your many many readers) and best of luck for the ‘simpler’ life that to the rest of us would still seem too crazy busy to be able to be lead by a normal person.
thanks Ray for sharing! It has been a great journey with you when I discovered your blog, hope this journey does not end yet :-) Keep up the great work you are doing!
I hope the change goes well for you. Sounds marvellous.
Big move, it sounds great! I often wondered how you managed to keep both going. Best of luck Ray, look forward to reading more of your thoughts.
Brave decision – well done!
congratulations! enjoy.
Wish you a lot of succes on the new (full-time) direction!
Ha ha, how long before the Girl says she preferred it when you were away all week?
Congratulations on the change, MS’s loss is our gain.
Oh and as a newly frequent traveller I must confess your ideas for getting workouts in while away from home and how to wash running kit in hotels have been as useful as your reviews.
Best of luck!
Great news Ray, really happy for you both!
Congrats. Good luck to you and the family!
Congrats to your step, bit where’s the Minimaker? :)
*BUT
Congratulations ! Best wishes and good luck for the future, it’ll be great.
About time! Well done.
All the best !
Congratulations Ray, best wishes on you continued endeavours!
Best wishes for your decision (and for your personal bests, that I assume will be dramatically improven from now on)!
It always sounds so funny to me when you say that everything in Europe (Italy here) turns out to be a complex affair: we’re so used to it that we barely notice the problem any more, but you’re sooo right.
Anyway… we’re expecting some RayMakerMade Limited Edition Bertie’s Cupcakes pics within the next few posts. You should find a way to keep yourself busy from now on, after all :)
Working for MS and not making a Band review? Just kidding, good luck!
Congrats!!!
Good Luck in this new challenge…
Well, congrats man. Enjoy life.
Great !!! Congratulations !!!
Always loved your blog and I’m sure it will be even better now.
Best of luck to you and The Girl !
Congrats. You are fantastic at your night job and i hope you continue to succeed at it.
All the best to you and your family in the future!
Wow!…. big move.. congrats… very pleased for you!…
This seems like a logical step forward. Can’t wait to see you focus on all these new developments. Especially the smart shoes and soles that have been promoted lately. Good luck to you and the girl!
Congratulations! So glad you’ve chosen to continue this blog, one of the best sites on the net
Very brave decision.
Good luck to you, the Girl and of course to Lucy.
Enjoy
Good job, man.
I think there comes the age of a man, when one needs to settle a bit, enjoy family, maybe some kids, etc.,
This happened to me and many others around me, so I thhink this shift is a human nature.
Carpe diem, it’s short.
Congratulations on making your passion your new job, and more reaching the holy grail of blogging… making a living out of it!!
just out of curiosity, what was your role in MS? I’m a .NET web developer and MS MVP in software development… and a triathlete as well :)
Congratulations Ray! It’s no doubt a big move but what you’ve created here is really something special and unique. Good luck to the whole Maker family and I look forward to following all your news.
This is one small step for mankind, but one giant leap for you and your family.
Good luck and all the best!
Congrats Ray, brave decision! It’s a good decision for us as readers of your blog, I do think some people in the sports tech. industry will get a bit a nervous now!
Good luck with the family, I really whish for you all goes well there and some possible family “extension” there will be the biggest change in your life ;-). Kudos to you and the Girl.
Great move Ray.
Enjoy it!
Cobgratulations, Ray, and best of luck to you and your little trio!
Good luck!
Congrats! Now you can enjoy France… come visit Lyon and i’ll be glad to take you around for a run!
Thank you!, Count on my support.
Congrats on the new adventure
Ray,
Some people would say if you want to be successful in life do something which you enjoy. You obviously enjoy this blog and the background detail which helps it to run and be very very popular. A few people within my office have found this blog independently of my recommendations. I genuinely wish you the best of luck with the continued running of the blog and what ever directions you and the girl take. You deserve this success and I hope that it continues.
When you get big enough if you need someone to work for you in London let me know. :o)
Jamie
All the best with Your new ideas.
And sthg more… the last sentence (“And maybe well make some more big changes… you’ll just have to wait and see.”) kind of makes me wonder how long it will take until we will hear about little Ray :-P?
Enjoy family time!
Obviously the right decision.
I’ve spent many hours reading your work so am delighted it will continue.
Hurry up with the European partnership – I’ve got money I want to throw at you!
Congratulations! Right move!
“this was before they were just called ‘apps’”
Hahaha, that had me actually LOLing. Nice one Ray!
Best wishes and good luck to you both.
Ray,
Just like to thank you for the time you have put in to date, and the best of luck in the future.
Your site has proven invaluable for all of us with an interest in this sphere, and helped me get through many boring hours at work. Here’s wishing you make a success of what must have been a very difficult choice.
Congratulations and good luck!
Your web site has been my go to for all news and reviews for a long time now.
Keep up the fantastic work!
Great news Ray. I have been following you from the start, and cannot wait to see where you will end up.
Change is good.
PS: More free time had best mean more Lucy posts :)
All best Ray, Girl and Lucy!
Always inspiring to read about such drastic life-changing career moves! Congrats :-)
Congratulations … Enjoy your newly freedom … As my grandmother always said: “One door closes another opens”
Good luck Ray!
I’m confident you’ll keep doing the great job here, as surely you did in your day job!
Best of luck!
All the best for you. Love this great site!
Congrats Ray for the big change! It takes a lot to made decisions like this, I wish all the best for your future!
Good choice. Life is for living
Congrats Ray! New beginnings are exciting especially when you can enjoy them with The Girl! Love the blog and looking forward to your next post–I must admit I was not sure how you balanced the blog, the day job and had time forTthe Girl. Something had to give….
Congratulations to you both!
Probably feels good to finally get there after 20 months :-)
Been following your site for few years and so pleased for you, looking forward to seeing what you do :-)
Great decision! I can’t say how much i admire you for managing full time travelling job, blog, such a detailed reviews etc.
You have to have some time for The Girl and yourself of course. Life is just too short and time pass by very quickly!
Good luck!
Wish you all the best. Great blog. Great choice.
Congratulations to you, the Girl, Lucy and all the dedicated readers to this blog!
Good for u!
Courageous move, but it sounds like the right decision. Wish you all the luck. Greetings from Germany.
Congratulations, Ray! With your dedication and attention to detail I’m sure that you will be missed by Microsoft, but good for you in taking that final leap back to controlling your own destiny. May life’s cupcakes remain sweet!
Good luck in this new phase of your life!
Many congrats Ray and well done for making a brave but timely move. You run a great site, cant wait for more!
Congrats on your move. I will continue to be a dedicated lurker/stalker and supporter buying all my stuff from either Clever Training or Amazon links. Since discovering your sight I have bought the 305, 405, 610, 620, 910XT, 920XT, vivoactive, VIRB, VIRB XE, & a Nike watch that I did not like, and I have preordered the Garmin weight scale from CT. Still waiting for your in depth review of the XE, hoping you will know why my video is jumpy (I am using a Class 10 SD card, I recorded the entire Marine Corps Marathon at mile 21 and I was trying to find some friends on the video so I could post them on youtube).
Congratulations! These are usually remarkable moments in life! Good luck and all the best!
Good luck Ray. I’m sure you will love your new lifestyle. Travelling with work always sounds great until you have done lots of it – Taxi – Airport – Plane – Airport – Taxi – hotel – office – taxi – airport – plane etc etc.
Best of luck, man !
Enjoy !
Congratulations for this important decision; it probably was not easy to take. May the force be with you!
I went through the same experience of the 80+ hours weeks and taking 260 flights per year, during close to 30 years.
So ten years ago, I made the same decision than you, but much later (“older”) than you, so it was a bit more extreme (I decided to stop working completely after having raised my children and seeing they started their professional lives).
As a French national still spending some time in Paris, I’ll be happy to help you sort out the red tape, if you need assistance/counsel.
Just now, I am off to Mallorca for a week and then back for 3-4 weeks in the “City of Lights”, as it is sometimes called. Then back in the mountains at 5,000 feet, for the winter season.
Very best wishes for the next installment in you professional life and warmest wishes for success, peace and serendipity.
Best of all and do keep in touch!
I used to travel a lot lecturing and it just was not sustainable with a family life. Best wishes for the move and the change in life. If you ever move to a subscription basis count me in.
good luck , thx for all the info on sport products. I’ll think extra will be welcome to expand dcrainmaker and enjoy your growing family live
Hearty Congratulations Ray. Wish you nothing but the best & happy that we will be seeing more of your writing here. And yes, time to order more stuff from Clever Training.
Cheerio
Congrats Ray – I know it wasn’t an easy decision but one that will be healthy.
I type this from my hotel room which I’ve been at for the past 3 weeks. I’ve been working away from home and after years of this I’ve grown very tired of it.
It’s often hard to eat well and at times can be lonely.
That said I’m so excited to fly home tomorrow back with the gf and pup!
Congratulations and best wishes!
Hi Ray, congrats on your descision! see you in the Tour of Flanders then! :)
Congrats… Family always first!
Dear Ryan,
I’ve been a reader of this blog since 2009. It was from here that I got the inspiration to buy my first Garmin, since then I’ve been checking your blog everyday. I’ve followed not only the reviews of the different products but also your “adventures” through the world. I want to thank you for being an inspiration, and I congratulate you on your choice of life. I hope that you and the Girl continue happily your journey and thanks for sharing your life with us, and of course the great reviews of the all the products. Thanks Ryan
I’ve been reading since the 310xt in depth review. Congrats and best wishes to you.
Best of luck on you new way!
Congrats and all the best with your blog also in the future!
Ray – You and your lovely wife are truly blessed in being able to do what you love to do most rather than work at a job solely as a means to an end. I wish you continued success, health, and happiness. I admire your courage in taking this step in your life. Takes guts. Will continue to truly enjoy your website. Hope to see at least one little Rainmaker in the future :)
Hi Ray,
Thank you for being so open and honest about this.
Your website, deep and honest tech info, but also the sharing of your personal experiences have made a huge impact on the sports tech customer base, and hopefully the industry.
I, and many others, have relied on your full-time night job for free, so it is the very least to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! (Yes , for free, because … no Europe Clever Training…)
As for your decision to leave your Micros.. Redmond day job, I can only say: If you follow your heart, and sprinkle it with some common-sense, good things come to you.
So, good for you, and good luck with the new chalanges ahead.
I’ll hop over the CupCakery the next time I go to Paris and try to catch you or The Girl to say thank you in person.
Cheers!
Rodrigo
Additional comments:
By the way, now that you will have a lot more time to dedicate to DCR, here are a few ideas for you
1) Update the profile pic on the top rioght of the blog page. I think people at this point are wondering if that’s your younger brother or your son :D
2) DCR apparel and stuff!! Running tech shirts, bike jerseys, bike decals, coffe mugs, you name it!
I’m sure a lot of people would buy those to support your site. I know I would.
Just make sure they are reasonable quality, and not Castelli-priced.
3) SPEND… MORE… TIME… WITH…THE….GIRL.
She seems (and sounds!… wink wink TRS Radio) like a wonderful person, and has put up with your constant travelling and long hours aways for years. You owe her. A lot.
Cheers!
Rodrigo
+1 on second bullet! I would buy a ton of DCR stuff (tech shirts and bike shirts mostly)
Castelli is not bad at all, Assos is crazy!
+ 1 on 2), good idea! Just remember every girl doesn’t love pink and violet color! Would love to have nice technical shirt and a lot of
other things :-)
Oh and +1 on 3) too. The Girl does deserve mooooore time with you, some pampering is in order!
Best of luck Ray – a bold and brave step…. you can stop saying positive things about Windows now too and finally get a Mac :)
Well done, some decisions need to be made…made a somewhat similar one about 12 years ago when I was your age ;-) Hopefully it will give you some time to organize another get together at the studio/cave, it was good fun last year!
Yup, we’ll be doing another one this year. We just locked down the date – Saturday, December 12th. :)
Will do a post on it next week.
December 12!
Jour de la fête de l’Escalade (commemoration od December 12, 1602; failed attempt of the House of Savoya to invade the free citiy of Geneva)
link to fr.wikipedia.org
Get a “marmite en chocolat” with the marzipan vegetable!
Great news, just added the date to my calendar! I suspect you’ll have more time to take part in local races too? Although you did manage to find time for quite a few already ;-)
Congrats Ray! Excited to see you move on to the next big adventure!!
As if I wasn’t insanely jealous enough of you ;-)
No more working for the man.
Seriously well done Ray, and well done Bobby who must be over the moon at the thought of seeing you more.
Excellent! Well done and good luck! Now, about that garmin virb x/xe review……
Great good fortune to you, The Girl, Lucy and your new life. Thank you for all of the posts so far. Looking forward to following your journey.
Congrats Ray. I love to hear success stories like yours. Glad the blog won out! Need more tech reviews and less travel channel though:)
Congrats – love the blog
Congratulations Ray! Amazing that you’ve kept both going for as long as you have! All the best in the future!
Good decision and good luck! Keep up the good work you are doing!
Congratulations to both of you! Enjoy the journey!
Genuinely happy and excited for you, Ray.
Well, I have 2 things to say:
1. Congratulations !
2. I can’t believe it took you so long :)
Best luck I am so excited for u ! Hopefully you can generate enough money without having to resort to sponsored review and obstructive ads, love
Congratulations. If you would like a host / room for a couple of nights in London (UK) during your travels now you’re no longer on the corporate credit card feel free to ask – least I can offer for all the help (and interesting bits and pieces) your site has provided!
Best of luck with the new lifestyle.
Congratulations Ray – you’re living the dream! Exciting times for you and the site :)
Hi Ray,
congratulation doing such a big step. It is never easy but hopefully you are not alone. I wish you all the best and a good start.
Congrats on “going PRO” with the blog! Wish you guys all the best!
Hi Ray – many congratulations on your news.
I made a similar decision a few months ago and left MS to join a small offshore firm based out of the Channel Islands.
Loved my time at MS although the travel and the time away from folks and family all became a little too much.
Hope you enjoy the family time as much as I do.
All the best
SJ
while i am totally seething with envy i must say good luck to you and congratulations ray….
you have clearly worked very hard to get to where you are in life and seem very deserving of getting to do what you love all the time while still living a more than sustainable lifestyle….it gives a poor beggar slaving away in a 9-5 so so job hope…
Wonderful news- congrats!
Congrats! Not an easy decision I bet. But I gotta say that I felt tired just reading about your work trips, I can imagine how you felt.
Best wishes for you and your family, enjoy life!
Ray,
Congratulation on the change.
Looking forward to following your continuing journey.
For one reason or another i always expected you to immediately return to the US once there was no need to stay for the job anymore.
Must have been tough decision, stay and for how long and when to return (unless you plan to really get old in France)
Congratulations Ray!
Congrats on making the better choice ;) Great to hear you gave priority to life & love over a job (no matter how great). Next time I’m in Paris I’ll hop in for some cupcakes and I’ll be sure to buy my next gps watch through Clever Training. Thanks again for a great site!
Ray – all the best to you and The Girl. As atheletes, we are much better off for what you have done over the years.
Certain things like now make sense – the Podcast (outreach as well as another product in your portfolio). Next (echoed above) should be DCR approved apparel.
Now if you are ever looking for employee #2 or is #3, let me know :-)
Now I guess i’m going to have to spend more time on your blog to keep up. Do you realize what you’ve done?! ;)
Congrats and all the best!
Congrats, Ray!
Congrats on the decision! I’ve only been reading your blog for about a year but I love the detail you go into. I’ve always been amazed how you have the energy for you job, the blog, and still find time to get workouts in. Best of luck!
Congrats Ray! Now we’re talking! Time to get us the sponsored links in Europe to buy the stuff you write about! Good luck with the new endeavour and looking forward to reading more posts from you!
PS: well done on settling in our beautiful capital, now you have more time to learn French! Bonne chance dans la nouvelle aventure !
And I mean other links than the Amazon ones. Wiggle maybe ?
Congrats Ray, I left the corp in Redmond to pursue my dreams, and while it may not have been monetarily a wash or loss compared to staying, dreams are hard to put a price on. Chapeau!
I will take credit for this change. I signed up as a dc rainmaker VIP this week over at clever training.
I said it before, this is one of my top 10 internet sites I visit. With so many products the average worker bee just doesn’t have time to review them all. An honest unbiased opinion of a review expert is invaluable to me.
Time is money. You save me time which means you save me money. Plus I do enjoy the crazy places you get to bike.
Congrats
As a long-time P1, all the best to you, The Girl and Lucy with your big decision. Microsoft’s loss is our gain.
Congratulations and good luck! As you can see, you’ve got no end of support from your loyal readers.
I almost had an aneurysm thinking that the site was going away. Jerkface! ;)
I’m super happy that you have the ability to continue doing what you love and more importantly, keeping me entertained!
Congrats Ray! Best of luck with everything in the future!
Good luck for the future, I think it will be bright!
Congrats on making the big leap, it makes me happy to hear that there are people out there who can make a living doing what they really love. I recently stumbled on your blog when doing a search for product review on Garmin. I received a Garmin 520 for my birthday in August and had no clue what it could do. Your product review was so comprehensive I decided right then and there I had to subscribe and I’ve been reading ever since. I hope to support the blog with a purchase through Clever Training when I have a need for some new gadget!
Continue to Live the Dream and share your knowledge!
Best of luck!
(I have several friends here in DC who work for Microsoft. I had no idea they likely were rubbing elbows with the king of sports tech. I will have to find out whether any of them know you.)
Best of luck to you, Ray!
I’m sure, like the rest of your readers, that we couldn’t figure out how you managed to juggle 3 careers (IT/travel, DCRainMaker, Triathlete) into a 24 hours a day life.
Congratulations and all the best with your new beginning!
Congratulations Ray! You know you made the right decision when hundreds of strangers comment on how happy they are that you will continue writing for them :)
Good luck!
Congrats. Look forward to continued great reading/reviews!
Congrats Ray!
Congratulations Ray. Good Luck to you and the Girl.
I know I speak for a lot of people when I say, selfishly, that I am glad it was’t the other way around.
I enjoy your reviews and other stories. I regularly read about products I have no intention of buying just because your reviews are so good.
I have been constantly amazed at all the things you have been able to accomplish in your life.
I look forward to future reviews and expoits and continue to send people to your site (and remind them to use the Amazon links or better yet Clever Training like me).
Congratulation and all the best with your new beginning!
Change always brings improvement if you are are bold and willing to make it, you only fail when you stop trying!
A big Thank You, I thoroughly enjoy your blog and follow it almost daily.
For an awful moment I thought you were going to say that dcrainmaker.com would be no more!
Congrats on your decision and good luck for the future
Love the announcement Ray. I also find it a little funny that people are trying to find common ground with this decision. When I left the IT industry….
I would also like to see DCR Products: Bike Jerseys, Tri Kits, etc.
I also would like to see a partnership like CT and Amazon in Europe.
I will also be excited to hear news of a Minimaker.
Best of luck, you have my support!
Congrats Ray!
I notice the world “child” a few times in recent posts…all the best for a new chapter of your life :+)
Thanks for all your work and keep goin’
Congratulations and good luck. Brave decision to follow your passions and put family first. Well done
Whew!!!…Long time reader(since the Computrainer Review Days)….Have really enjoyed coming to this site over the years. Somehow you always hit the perfect mix of “product review” vs. “real world shenanigans”. All I can say is…Respect
Well done Ray, congratulations and I’m glad you didn’t give up the great work you do here.
Changes are opportunities. I look forward to the future of your website and blog.
cheers
Larry
All the best Ray! Very brave decission that we all really appreciate.
All the best Ray with your future endeavours. Hopefully soon you can have a system similar to Clever Training for your European fan base so us Europeans can also help support you to run and create such brilliant and informative blogs.
My out-most respect to you for taking that leap, Ray!
I wish you all the best for the upcoming DC Rainmaker-future!
Thank you Ray, for deciding to stay with us rather than going the other way. Now that you’ve decided to do this fitness gadget stuff full time, do you think you will take any offers (that I am sure you must get all the time) to do consulting in this arena or would that compromise your independence as a reviewer?
Nothing paid direct to any of the companies in this segment. But I’m always happy to give them private feedback for free, well before product launches. Most companies take me up on that.
I occasionally do some consulting to investment firms, VC companies, and the like that are trying to understand the segment and trends better than a simple annual sales report can show. So basically the ability to do 1:1 Q&A than might be possible on the site. Realistically though I’d answer the same questions in comments with the same answers, just a way for folks to get 1:1 time with me.
Congrats Ray!
Great news! I stumbled on your blog a month back while trying to decide if I wanted a Garmin vivoactive and was blown away by the level of detail of the review. So now 1 month later I’m looking at the blog almost daily(I’m eagerly awaiting the review of the Forerunner 235 ;) ).
The only thing bad about this blog is that now I’ll probably spend even more money on gadgets after stumbling on this site…
One more congrats Ray! That’s a scary leap, but one I have no doubt you’ll handle with aplomb. Looking forward to seeing what’s next.
Congratulations.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for sharing your story with the community. Congratulations on the move. I’m sure everyone here is very happy to hear you’ll working on the site full time. Hopefully the site can continue to be your passion for you as you switch into working on it full time!
Looking forward to the future!
Congratulations Ray, and especially the Girl!
I hope you get to enjoy yourself for a few weeks before your non-stop drive kicks back in and this blog goes from the best blog I’ve ever read to…well, an even better one. Well, that or we are about to see a cupcake blog launch (no objections here!)
On a different note, I’ve always thought you were extremely fact based / non-biased in your reviews and it bothers me when people accuse you of being a Garmin homer or something similar. If there wasn’t already enough evidence to disprove this the fact that you haven’t hyped any MS products like the band (you would think they could get one to their own employee faster) and use of apple products adds even more evidence.
Congrats! As they say in the corporate world, I wish you the best in all your future endeavors. #ballsymove
Wow! Congratulations, really happy for you and your family.
On a small world note, I’m a V- at your old company and can’t believe I didn’t clue in… Holy crap.
You’ve created quite a thing here, a great community, and a friendly/family feel. Everyone is happy for you for you I’m sure.
Congratulations Ray, sound’s like you’ve done more than your fair share of living to work as it were. I flew to Brasilia via Rio once from London, never again do I intend to fly that long ever again. Your schedule used to knacker me just reading it.
One other comment – whenever I want to buy something that doesn’t have a GPS chip or strain gauge in it I wonder who is the DC Rainmaker of….camping gear, kitchen appliances, non-tech bike gear, laptops, etc
Does anyone have a list of Ray’s peers for the go to no biased source of info for X..?
I too am constantly looking for a blog or site with a similar level of detail and user community in other tech or product spaces and I’ve got to say, I have yet to find one that really compares. I’m just glad Ray decided to do one in the fitness gadget space rather than, say, animal husbandry or weapons technology (not that there’s anything wrong with that – well maybe the weapons technology).
Congrats
Fantastic. My hope for you is that every day becomes more than it has ever been before.
Congratulations, Ray! Superimpressed by your busy schedule so far and even more impressed by this wise choice to focus on the important things in life. :-) Will visit Paris in november and will surely stop by the Cupcakery then.