Where to set up home?
 

So like many posts I've read and one I posted before. Im considering moving the family to NZ, however I've never visited before and wouldn't know where best to set up new home. Is looking at emergrating without previously visiting irresponsible? What have others done before??

re: Where to set up home?
 

We were the same. Decided on NZ but hadn't ever been anywhere more than a 12hr flight away.
We did plan to come out for a long holiday and do a bit of a road trip tour around both islands but never happened. Too caught up in the visa application process and then when we worked out the cost that money could so better be used....and then the Mrs landed preggers with child no 1 so the trip never came off. We just jumped in with both feet and moved 18500 km's :p

re: Where to set up home?
 

The wife came over for a bit of a look around before we moved. We couldn't afford for us all to come. Long story short, 3 years later she went home and I stayed. The fact that I hadn't previously visited made no difference to me. I liked NZ straight away. I had no expectations of what NZ would hold, so I had no previously held illusions to shatter. It was very different to the UK and I just embraced it and got on with it. It wasn't always easy, kiwis can be a funny bunch but it gets easier as you go. Looking at various city's is a bit pointless as you would be best to initially go to wherever you get offered a job. I'm not sure a visit really helps, as you see things as a tourist and not a resident, so you may as well stay at home and view it through Google maps street view

re: Where to set up home?
 

Follow the work.

re: Where to set up home?
 

Works for some and not for others I suppose. Depends what the push or the pull is.

You will actually set up any new home where the job offer and work is.

re: Where to set up home?
 

Lots on this previously as you noted.

Unfortunately migration is very expensive and the amount you will pay for a recce pales to what it will cost to make the actual move.

NZ is a country where employers need to be able to put a face to a CV.

I would at least make one trip out to visit companies in person and see what they say about your prospects.

re: Where to set up home?
 

Re: Where to set up home?
 

Re: Where to set up home?
 

the other thing that you may need to think about is how will you feel if your children decide not to stay in NZ.
I know families and experienced myself the heartache of a child, only 17, returning to the UK.
Mind you they may no longer have the option to return with all this Brexit bollox if they did actually want to.

Re: Where to set up home?
 

The brexit bollox is an eu issue and may even result in closer nz ties, hopefully. PS, someone more sober than me, start up a thread of us spanking ze all blacks!

Re: Where to set up home?
 

:)

Well no not irresponsible....... but rather a risk.

However, success really depends on your personality.

Someone who is generally a negative whiner will probably fail at the task - unless they can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get on with things.

But if you can embrace the unbeknown and give it your all.........you will probably go far and achieve great happiness

I really believe that it is ALL about your attitude to life, and how to cope with or overcome adversity

I found work in The Bay of Islands, Auckland and Queenstown. I was willing to give anything a go and that opened up a whole horizon of opportunities.

What is your job line?

Re: Where to set up home?
 

I had never been to NZ before moving out here, and 11 years on I'm still here and loving it. The same can't be said for the rest of the family i arrived with. As MrsF has said, children leaving is something you have to brace yourself for. My eldest was 17 on arrival. 18 months later he was back on a plane heading home, 2 days before his 20th birthday....that's hard. For some, the stresses of living away from family on the other side of the world are simply too much. My ex and youngest son went back to the UK in 2013, I, like others I know, chose to stay. For various reasons, the divorce rate amongst expats is high, something to consider when planning your move.