Any regrets?

Old Jan 21st 2017, 3:15 pm
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Default Any regrets?

Hi everyone,

My family and I (husband and 3 kids 7,11 and 13) are hoping to make the move out this year. We are planning to keep our house here and rent it out "just in case" and as house prices are rising steadily where we are it makes sense long-term, so we have a bit of a get-out clause. However my husband has now, since we made the decision to apply to go, had a huge wobble about the what-ifs.

What if it's not what we think it will be like? (Not sure I have a clue what I think it will be like!)

What if we can't afford it once we're there? What if the kids don't like? What if family don't come out to visit like they say they will? What if we don't like it and come home and it's not the same back here anymore?

So my question to you is, overall do any of you regret taking the time, hassle and money to get yourselves out to NZ? Especially those that have come back to the UK, do you ever wish you hadn't gone? Or are you glad you went out to satisfy your curiosity?
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 5:23 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Originally Posted by Sam13
Hi everyone,

My family and I (husband and 3 kids 7,11 and 13) are hoping to make the move out this year. We are planning to keep our house here and rent it out "just in case" and as house prices are rising steadily where we are it makes sense long-term, so we have a bit of a get-out clause. However my husband has now, since we made the decision to apply to go, had a huge wobble about the what-ifs.

What if it's not what we think it will be like? (Not sure I have a clue what I think it will be like!)

What if we can't afford it once we're there? What if the kids don't like? What if family don't come out to visit like they say they will? What if we don't like it and come home and it's not the same back here anymore?

So my question to you is, overall do any of you regret taking the time, hassle and money to get yourselves out to NZ? Especially those that have come back to the UK, do you ever wish you hadn't gone? Or are you glad you went out to satisfy your curiosity?
I will answer your last question;I wish we never left NZ to come back to the UK.We are hoping to move back to Auckland in the next few years.We have a good quality of life but it was way better in NZ.
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 5:36 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Thanks for your reply leandra, interesting to hear! All of the "what if" questions were my husbands stressing so more than questions I need the answers to from here...I don't think they can be answered!

What was it that made you have a better quality of life in NZ?
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 5:42 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Everyone is different Sam. And everyone I am sure has second thoughts.

It sounds as though you are going to have a plan B back in the UK which is pretty clever. NZ is not for everyone but a lot of people thrive here - we're all different.

I love the lifestyle here but financially it is a lot tighter for us. Have a really good look at your finances and work out if you think you live the kind of lifestyle you want. Certainly having the 3 kids makes the move even more complex so I'm not surprised you're finding it a tough decision.

End of the day, if you have enough money, you can always try it for 2-3 years and review then although I guess that would be disruptive for the kids at school.
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 6:22 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Originally Posted by Sam13
Hi everyone,

My family and I (husband and 3 kids 7,11 and 13) are hoping to make the move out this year. We are planning to keep our house here and rent it out "just in case" and as house prices are rising steadily where we are it makes sense long-term, so we have a bit of a get-out clause. However my husband has now, since we made the decision to apply to go, had a huge wobble about the what-ifs.

What if it's not what we think it will be like? (Not sure I have a clue what I think it will be like!)

What if we can't afford it once we're there? What if the kids don't like? What if family don't come out to visit like they say they will? What if we don't like it and come home and it's not the same back here anymore

So my question to you is, overall do any of you regret taking the time, hassle and money to get yourselves out to NZ? Especially those that have come back to the UK, do you ever wish you hadn't gone? Or are you glad you went out to satisfy your curiosity?

Just remember your not taking 3 little children, they are old enough to notice the differences etc, this is your dream not theres.
Be sure your leaving for the right reasons, would you do as well moving to another area of the UK?
Having school age children in NZ is very expensive, add to that you have to pay for the doctors, opticians, glasses etc.
We took our 3 children, 14, 13 and 7......We left with 2....one stayed....be prepared, you never know.
Good luck
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 7:07 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Originally Posted by Sam13
Thanks for your reply leandra, interesting to hear! All of the "what if" questions were my husbands stressing so more than questions I need the answers to from here...I don't think they can be answered!

What was it that made you have a better quality of life in NZ?
For us was a slower pace of life,less time commuting and a better working environment (more family oriented).Also generally better weather.Everyone is different and what could great for me could be rubbish for you and vice-versa.Be open minded ,give it a shot!
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 7:25 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Originally Posted by leandra21
For us was a slower pace of life,less time commuting and a better working environment (more family oriented).Also generally better weather.Everyone is different and what could great for me could be rubbish for you and vice-versa.Be open minded ,give it a shot!
I have no regrets whatsoever, maybe apart from the fact that I really believe it would have been even better than it has been had I lived in the South Island. The latter is way superior in every way IMO.

They say we should only regret the things we do not do. Nike says 'just do it', that is my philosophy on life. My kids were very, very young when we came over in 2005. The point has been made they may find it harder and possibly may be resentful about their lives being turned upside down.

I love the unpopulous nature of NZ. I love its raw beauty. I love the fact that we are so far from what I see as a dystopian world out there. I love the wonderful life my kids have had.

Don't get me wrong, this is not nirvana....there are many serious issues abroad in this little country. The shite driving is one of them. But I see life as two buckets. One is a 'shite bucket' and the other is a 'sweet bucket'. The trick is to make sure your sweet bucket is fuller than the shite one.

My sweet bucket currently overfloweth, but there have been dark days, very dark days when I was swimming in shit. But that is life eh? Up and down. Fortuitously for me the last 12 years have been more ups than downs.

I would say go for it. You only have one life. Just be prepared to potentially give your kids, especially the older ones lots of support should they need it.
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 7:44 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

I notice Sam13 that you are in Somerset and potentially looking to move to Auckland and wonder exactly what benefits or 'upsides' you are expecting to find here? You can forget all the dreamy stuff written above because you probably have more to lose than many others that are moving from crappy places, inner city UK or such like.

You're certainly not going to be finding the same upsides as Genesis or Leandra. Auckland, slower pace of life, um I don't think so? Less commuting? Um, that'll be a no them! Better weather? Um, maybe check the rainfall data!

You almost certainly find a lot more people, a lot more traffic and higher cost of living, potentially a worse house than you already have, unless of course you have more than $1m available.
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 8:43 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

No regrets here. Been in NZ for 4 years now, almost to the day in fact! Left a freezing cold UK and landed on the hottest day of the season in NZ.

Our journey is probably easier than the average as we have no kids, it's just the two of us to worry about and we do have a small amount of family out here. Now that we're here and settled I couldn't imagine being any where else. We have a lovely home/garden that would be financially out of reach in the UK. Can't fault our lifestyle - we can be at the beach within 5 mins or the mountains within 1 hour. The road trips, the weekends away, the tramping, the local wineries, the star gazing. Nah, I'm not leaving
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 10:31 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Thanks for all your replies! Bojangles, sadly I don't have the money to live in the stereotypical "somerset" I am on a very crowded new build estate, on the edge of a big town very close to a hugely touristy part of the M5, that spends large parts of the week nose to tail with traffic jams making our commutes into the centre of the only city round here horrific! We both take about 60-70 minutes to get to work that's only about 20 miles away. No rural idyll right here, but yes there are beautiful parts very easily accessible. Auckland wouldn't necessarily be our first choice of moving location honestly, but my speciality of nursing can only be found in Auckland, So unless I change specialities then that's where we'd aim to head.

We have been to NZ before with the kids and we all loved it, that's the motivation to go. I don't know that we're hoping to gain anything by going, we just really felt comfortable there. Kids talk about it non stop, all 3 of them. We are going backs again in a couple of months for 3 weeks a holiday to look round to see thing through less touristy eyes though.... Fingers crossed we still like it!
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 10:40 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Originally Posted by Genesis
Don't get me wrong, this is not nirvana....there are many serious issues abroad in this little country. The shite driving is one of them. But I see life as two buckets. One is a 'shite bucket' and the other is a 'sweet bucket'. The trick is to make sure your sweet bucket is fuller than the shite one.

My sweet bucket currently overfloweth, but there have been dark days, very dark days when I was swimming in shit. But that is life eh? Up and down. Fortuitously for me the last 12 years have been more ups than downs.

I would say go for it. You only have one life. Just be prepared to potentially give your kids, especially the older ones lots of support should they need it.
Genesis I love your bucket analogy and, yes I remember the driving....everything taking twice as long as google maps told you it would!

Spacecakes that must have been so hard to come back with 2 not 3. We have talked about the possibility of this kind of thing, I think if we don't crack on with this now then it's even more likely the longer we wait, for sure 😞
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Old Jan 21st 2017, 10:45 pm
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Default Re: Any regrets?

No regrets from us whatsoever.
We've been here nearly 5 years and absolutely love the lifestyle, the climate, the lack of people and traffic, the lack of serious crime, knowing we're only 10 mins from the beach and 30 mins from the mountains.
We have Rotorua 45 mins away. Lake Taupo 2hrs away. The Coromandel an hour and 2.5hrs to Auckland.
We are very soon to be going to be owning a home again and living more rural than ever before in a small community in Tauranga.
School for our 5 year old is awesome and we are truly happy watching the kids grow up in this brilliant family atmosphere that would have been very difficult to achieve in the UK......I mean, who goes to surf club in the morning, bbq lunch then beach lifesavers club in the arvo in the NW of England???
Although property is very expensive here and the quality not as good we would never have been able to afford the property we are building back in the UK so feel (as intended before we came) that we are achieving one of the reasons why we came which was to have a better quality of life here.
Yes the salaries are generally less and the cost of living a lot higher but you learn to get on with it and adapt so years down the track you are living differently and more affordably. Once you get used to the sales and how the retail industry works here you can live on a tighter budget.
One advantage here is not having the need to impress anyone, so no need to have a new car every 2 or 3 years. We have 10 year old cars that are going strong and nobody cares which is great.
Yes NZ isn't paradise and does have its problems but no more so than anywhere else in the world.

We are here to stay.
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Old Jan 22nd 2017, 12:52 am
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Default Re: Any regrets?

Originally Posted by Sam13
Thanks for all your replies! Bojangles, sadly I don't have the money to live in the stereotypical "somerset" I am on a very crowded new build estate, on the edge of a big town very close to a hugely touristy part of the M5, that spends large parts of the week nose to tail with traffic jams making our commutes into the centre of the only city round here horrific! We both take about 60-70 minutes to get to work that's only about 20 miles away. No rural idyll right here, but yes there are beautiful parts very easily accessible.
My point exactly; moving to somewhere like Pukekohe (essentially one big and unfinished housing estate) and travelling to Starship every day would be no different.
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Old Jan 22nd 2017, 1:08 am
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This is 'wife of' as my semi kiwi husband has a slightly skewed view (he is happy to live anywhere).

I am 'English'but have lived all over the world with expat parents and then work. I lived in Golden Bay for three years from 2005 on a small farm and was dragged back to Europe screaming, by my husband, I levered him back to the Bay of Islands 15 months ago and I am not leaving :-).

I love the freedom from hassle day to day, the class free society and less of the constant drive to 'keep up with the Jones'common in Europe. I enjoy the relatively empty beaches and walking tracks and the low population/business pressures (which means everyone has time to talk). The absence of the daily doom and gloom in Europe is great. I enjoy the stunning scenery and good weather and so forth.

I am lucky in that we are not under financial pressure and don't have to chase jobs but, with that caveat, for me NZ is close to Paradise. I wake up every morning in NZ with a sense of well being and it is great! I just wish our children had grown up here.
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Old Jan 22nd 2017, 5:19 am
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Regrets - some over the last 5 years, not been easy and I had a mini break down due to it all after 3 and a bit years, now on anti depressants which I know a few other members are also having to take to just get through the day.
Lower your expectations became a mantra very early on and is still stated today.

lack of choice, cost of what is available, how slow things are done can be very frustrating, lack of Policy and Procedures for me is a main bug bear.

The country is beautiful especially the SI but I personally feel we have taken a step back in what we had achieved in the UK and begrudge having to start again but that could be due to age and already having done it twice in the UK.
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