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What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Old Feb 7th 2012, 9:01 pm
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Default What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Since i started researching emigrating to NZ i have been shocked to find so many negative experiences and also to discover how many people struggle financially. However, no matter what i read, people always seem to say that the reason to emigrate is for the better lifestyle and that can outweigh the other issues

.... So what exactly do people mean by lifestyle? Can people please list 5 or 6 things each that describe what their lifestlye is like in NZ?
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Old Feb 7th 2012, 9:27 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

well for us it means more family time together.
Back home hubby used to come in from work eat his tea then go to the office and work. Kids came in from school, did homework plonked themselves in front of the telly.
Since we have been here, and that's only since 13th January 2012, we have had no telly, kids haven't even moaned about it. We have bought wet suits and have been to the beach every weekend, we go out and about more just catching the train, borrowing a car and just driving around and stopping where it looks nice.
After tea we go for a walk around the area, luckily we are renting by a small bay so a trip down the goat track and we're at the waters edge, or up the hills to look out over the bay the scenery here is breathtaking.
I drop the kids off at school in the morning and take a stroll down to the bay and just watch the sea and the birds for 10mins before heading home to do what has to be done round the house.
Would not of considered us an out doors type of family but we are certainly turning into one.
Husband does still work at home but not til after we have had our evening stroll.
Obviously we are here during the summer months so how we cope in the winter months is yet to be decided. Life seems much slower here more sedate than the outskirts of London/Kent, for us anyway.

You could say we could of done all this back in the UK, instead of the beach the kids went swimming every week, we could of gone for walks around the UK at weekends but we didn't, we could of thrown the TV out. Don't know NZ just seems to lend itself to a more relaxed way of living. for us anyway at this moment in time.
Maybe we're still in the honeymoon period and in a year's time I might feel differently but I've come to the realisation (late in life) that trying things however they turn out or scary they may seem gives you knowledge and understanding you wouldn't of got if you hadn't tried it and that enriches your life.
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Old Feb 7th 2012, 9:30 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

went off on there a bit didn't I

and not a list in sight
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Old Feb 7th 2012, 9:38 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

No worries, it was great to read your experience and so lovely to hear your enjoying out there
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Old Feb 7th 2012, 10:40 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Originally Posted by BrightyRB
Since i started researching emigrating to NZ i have been shocked to find so many negative experiences and also to discover how many people struggle financially. However, no matter what i read, people always seem to say that the reason to emigrate is for the better lifestyle and that can outweigh the other issues

.... So what exactly do people mean by lifestyle? Can people please list 5 or 6 things each that describe what their lifestlye is like in NZ?
Sea being very close. Not that we go much..but it is local.

Big house, big section almost all are detached

Owning a pool and a spa...things way out of our reach in the UK

Only one of us has to work to maintain a good lifestyle..in the Uk we both had to earn. Please note I am quite a bit older than most on this site thus had a bit more money behind me.

Our kids have way less crap peer pressure.

The view from the back of the house is bush and mountains..life in the Uk was shite inner city grime.

We can park out side our house!!

Everything is empty!! Nz has many, many bad points but quite a few good uns' too.
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Old Feb 7th 2012, 11:20 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

.... So what exactly do people mean by lifestyle? Can people please list 5 or 6 things each that describe what their lifestlye is like in NZ? [/QUOTE]

Being by the beach (just been swimming in the sea with the dog)
Better weather (baking here today on the kapati coast)
Cheaper housing (just put decent heating in for winter)
lovely fresh fruit n veg (just buy what's in season)
Kid's not so label conscious (kiwi's don't care so much how they look)
Great scenery, parks, walks (all free entertainment)
Kaz
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Old Feb 7th 2012, 11:56 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

In the early months you are kind of on an extended holiday, especially in summer.

I think the bonuses of the "lifestyle" here boil down to the significantly lower population density.

I also think that the major drawbacks to the NZ "lifestyle" here boil down to the significantly lower population density

So if you're prepared to have less access to and choice of consumer goods and that which we would call culture or cultural arts or something in the UK (ie not the Haka or sporting events), and you like the idea of beaches, pools, parks, schools and so on being less crowded, less pressured and everything being slightly on island time (with all that that entails), then you're likely to enjoy the lifestyle.
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 12:08 am
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Beach is nice
everything is expensive
beer is crap
kiwis are friendly
even in auckland still not much to do
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 1:59 am
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Crap beer is crap- I like monteiths but it costs a fair bit! Luckily I don't drink more than a couple of times a year, if that.
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 5:15 am
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Oh my life, this old chestnut. Let's face it, this 'lifestyle' of which they speak is all a load of old cobblers if you are a wage slave and have a house to keep and a mortgage to service.

My lifestyle five days a week: leave home at 8am get home at 6pm, one night a week yoga class after work, another night is the dreaded Pak n Save. Get home and start the second job of the day, make dinner, grab a slot on the PC to see to e-mails, banking etc / empty dishwasher / sort the rubbish out / water plants / tidy up / stroke the cat / do washing / fix lunches for tomorrow / plan meals for next week / pay bills / TV, bath and bed. Oh and sometimes find the time to speak to people on the phone.

Weekends choose a selection from the list: housework / gardening / weeding / cooking / washing / scrub the loo / ironing / usually something mundane needed from a shop somewhere or a cruise about for something we need / get some petrol / WOF a car / library books to be returned / lawns to be mowed / gutters to be cleared / windows and cars to be cleaned inside and out / bedrooms in desperate need of painting - it goes on this wonderful 'lifestyle'.

Yesterday was the nicest day we've seen for ages, so I forced myself to go for a walk after work at the beach, because I wasn't in a rush to get home, to yoga or to the supermarket and had a lazy dinner planned.

If I had a pool I would have no time to sit in it, we rarely ever go to the beach even though there are several choices within 10 to 20 mins drive.
It's all go around here and no time for any additional 'lifestyle' factors, beside which we don't have the spare financial capacity to do much more than get ourselves to work, eat sleep and stay home and amuse ourselves from one week to the next.
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 6:28 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles
Oh my life, this old chestnut. Let's face it, this 'lifestyle' of which they speak is all a load of old cobblers if you are a wage slave and have a house to keep and a mortgage to service.

My lifestyle five days a week: leave home at 8am get home at 6pm, one night a week yoga class after work, another night is the dreaded Pak n Save. Get home and start the second job of the day, make dinner, grab a slot on the PC to see to e-mails, banking etc / empty dishwasher / sort the rubbish out / water plants / tidy up / stroke the cat / do washing / fix lunches for tomorrow / plan meals for next week / pay bills / TV, bath and bed. Oh and sometimes find the time to speak to people on the phone.

Weekends choose a selection from the list: housework / gardening / weeding / cooking / washing / scrub the loo / ironing / usually something mundane needed from a shop somewhere or a cruise about for something we need / get some petrol / WOF a car / library books to be returned / lawns to be mowed / gutters to be cleared / windows and cars to be cleaned inside and out / bedrooms in desperate need of painting - it goes on this wonderful 'lifestyle'.

Yesterday was the nicest day we've seen for ages, so I forced myself to go for a walk after work at the beach, because I wasn't in a rush to get home, to yoga or to the supermarket and had a lazy dinner planned.

If I had a pool I would have no time to sit in it, we rarely ever go to the beach even though there are several choices within 10 to 20 mins drive.
It's all go around here and no time for any additional 'lifestyle' factors, beside which we don't have the spare financial capacity to do much more than get ourselves to work, eat sleep and stay home and amuse ourselves from one week to the next.
maybe cut down on the housework, lifes to short to worry about the house looking spoltless
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 6:33 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Take away 64 million people and it becomes harder to pick a fight.....
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 6:38 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

we have a nice detatched house in a good area with a lot of land. near nice beaches. go out for meals alot and usually twice a year go for a weekend away with my girlfriends and stay in a lovely hotel never did that in the UK.

nicer weather and less chavs friendly people, and empty beaches and bars come to that

my day usually consists of get up then go to the gym or for a run, and i am more fitter here.

maybe go out for brunch with a friend

go home tidy up the house a bit

make dinner, watch a bit of tv or sit in the garden with a coffee or wine

watch tv in the evening and have a look on the laptop and chill or sometimes go the cinema or out for a couple of drinks by the river if its nice


Weekends usually look round shops. husband works long hours but always makes time for Cycling he took that up here and is very fit and goes in races and has joined a club.

We dont have so much spare money for holidays abroad anymore but we do try to get away going to Auckland for a long weekend in May.

I might moan about NZ sometimes but i know where i would rather be and im sure i would be happier when we move from Wanganui.
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 7:08 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

What I like about our lifestyle here compared to the UK:

1. Less time commuting (from about 2 hours a day in London to 30 minutes a day here)
2. We have a detached house on a very large section out in the country so we have lots of space - whereas in London we were paying through the nose to live in a terraced housed bordered by the road and the railway line and directly under the Heathrow flightpath.
3. We spend more time together and more time outdoors (at the beach, the river, in the hills, etc)
4. If we want to head off for a day trip on the weekend we can jump in the car and be in the mountains in an hour without sitting in traffic.
5. Day to day life is less pressured and you're not competing for space all the time. I can get an appointment to see my doctor usually on the same day, I can always find a parking spot in town, etc, etc.

I absolutely agree with bourbon-biscuit that the plus points of the lifestyle here are due to the lower population. And that does have its downside as well.

There are things I miss about the UK but generally we have a nice life here in New Zealand. And one that we would have struggled to get in the UK.

Nowhere's perfect so I think it's good to come out here with your eyes wide open and listen to some of the negative experiences. But on balance, for us, it's been a good move.
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Old Feb 8th 2012, 7:15 pm
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Default Re: What is meant by 'Lifestyle'

Originally Posted by Justcol
Beach is nice
everything is expensive
beer is crap
kiwis are friendly
even in auckland still not much to do
Deffo hit the nail on the head, you just missed and expensive after beer is crap
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