NicoNZ

Hi all, thanks for this forum. It looks useful.

Very briefly to introduce ourselves. I am Nico (they/them), mechanical/materials engineer in Bristol UK and my spouse is Paul (he/him), mechanical/design engineer. We are excited about the idea of moving to Aotearoa New Zealand and are only at the beginning of that process. We wanted to do this since we were in uni but it was too hard without any work experience, so 9 years ish later, here we with the hopes of trying properly. We're not sure if we would move out permanently, but we'd like to try living abroad. We visited NZ for our honeymoon (campervan tour of both islands for 1 month) just 4 months before Covid hit, so in hindsight we were grateful we planned our trip for when we did! We loved it as everyone seemed a bit more outdoorsy, laidback, friendly and had a good approach to work-life balance.

Another option as we speak Spanish to intermediate level would be Spain. We love visiting, particularly Northern Spain. It seems so laidback and friendly.

brits1

If it were me and I could go then I would go to Spain I have travelled to many far fling destinations also my husband has lived/worked in the Middle East , Africa, Russia Europe to name a few areas and we lived in Australia. But the convenience of Europe wins the vote for us. We love the different cultures, languages and scenery plus a huge vote for us is the history. We have just come back from Girona in Spain it took us 1hr 50 on a plane. Also a big plus is the much cheaper house prices and the cheaper cost of living. Good luck with your decision exciting times.

Moses2013

I'd agree with brits1 and if you want to try first, Europe/Spain seems like the wiser choice. First of all you already save on travel costs and would get more for you money in terms of renting and can return home at any time. If you are both British then you will still have the problem with Visas, so that's another topic alone. I'd say everything seems laidback when you are on holiday and enjoying it, working in a country is a different story and you need a job first. We usually always drive to the East of Spain (Girona province) from Ireland, but the North of Spain certainly has a lot on offer.

brits1

It was our first time visiting Girona and we visited the coast it’s a lovely part of Spain, Girona is lovely but my favourite city is still San Sebastián,Santander is also nice and we quickly drove around Bilbao now that part of Spain is just gorgeous.

Moses2013

I must admit that although we are only 25 mins drive from Girona, we never really go to the city. I was looking at ferries to Bilbao in October but unfortunately it's still only the economy ferry, so we booked the France route again. From November they are also introducing the Salamanca ferry from Rosslare to Bilbao which makes it a lot easier in the future. Because we are so spoilt with scenery in Ireland and have enough rain:-) we never really consider driving down to San Sebastián at that time of the year. From Bordeaux it's less than 3 hours drive, but we just want to reach the Costa Brava where it's usually sunny and a few degrees warmer in October. Equally we don't need it too hot and past Tarragona is just too dry for my liking (most of the time). The great thing is that you have Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa where you can find lovely wooded trails and if you need sun and beach, it's only 1 hour away. If I was a full time resident in Spain, I would certainly consider Galicia Pontevedra area and you have a lot of similarities to NZ if you forget the architecture and language.

brits1

We take the Plymouth to Santander route (overnight)
we stay overnight in a fab hotel on the bay in Santander (it’s very reasonable) explore Santander some more than next morning we head to San Sebastián and over to the French boarder in the way back we stay in San Sebastián then head back to Santander for the ferry to Plymouth. Next time we will head west of Santander and explore more of these part of Spain that will be next year now. We are hoping to have another week in Catalonia and visit Reus

brits1

I fully understand if we were either choosing to live or have a holiday home I’m Spain we would choose that part of Spain, it’s lovely and green the temps in spring summer and autumn sound really nice and not too hot, after living in Western Australia where the majority of the time it’s brown and hot (we really enjoyed the winter much cooler and the colour came back to the landscape) so visiting the other regions of Spain (we have visited most areas) we only now visit place/areas that suit us ie temps, greenery, culture etc. We did visit Tarragona a few years ago in January (we went for the Roman ruins) we thought it was nice we had clear sunny days and a cool breeze just how a January should be.

NicoNZ

I do really love Spain. I guess there are a few reasons I'd like to go to NZ first. The younger you go to NZ the easier it is. We are engineers now but we are considering jacking that in: however, it's our only way into NZ. Also we can also come to Spain later on - I feel it's always going to be a relatively easy option if outside of Europe is too far. I don't know, both countries are amazing and have that laidback vibe. Not sure why NZ is more appealing right now!

BEVS

Anywhere can have a laid back vibe if it is travelling or a holiday. Living & working in a place is entirely different.

The WHV scheme has extended the upper age to 35. If you fit into that category, I suggest you go for that .

NicoNZ

Of course, which is exactly why I want to live there and experience it! I do have lots of international friends so I know a bit more of the other side from them. I know that Spanish working culture in engineering is not so great in terms of hours and expectations, which I suppose is why I'm focussed on trying engineering in NZ. But Spain is still an option - other aspects of life are more laidback. When on holiday, we make a point of experiencing culture rather than sightseeing, we don't love the idea of living most places we visit. When you try to summarise thoughts and opinions spanning years it can appear spontaneous or ill-planned. But rest assured that NZ has been the plan for many years, even before we visited, and that visiting and speaking to acquaintances out there have only convinced us more. We have spent a lot of time thinking and researching it, but had to wait some years as we had no work experience.

brits1

Good luck I hope it all works out for you both

NicoNZ

Thanks!