Should you move to New Zealand: 10 questions to help you decide

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If you’re wondering if you should move to New Zealand, I pose 10 questions below to assess the pros and cons and help you decide. This is the post I wish I had when I left the USA to find adventure in the Land of the Long White Cloud.

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When I booked a one-way ticket to New Zealand, I didn’t know what I was in for. I wanted pretty landscapes and adventure. To see what I was made of.

Sure, I read a few blog posts about what life was like here. Epic scenery. Hobbiton. Wine trails.

But it’s not all rainbows and unicorns, is it?

If you find yourself itching for the wild of New Zealand, below is a questionnaire to discuss some pros and cons and distill a few reasons why moving to New Zealand could be right for you.

Here are 10 questions to help you decide whether or not you should move to New Zealand.

Should you move to New Zealand: 10 questions to help you decide

1. Are you prepared for a high cost of living?

Often grumbled about, New Zealand has a high cost of living. I didn’t fully comprehend this until I arrived and had to pay $8 for tomatoes.

There isn’t a lot of breathing room to “treat yo’self”. Most luxury things are out of financial reach, and the hospitality industry is no different. Among us young’uns, a third of our paycheck is swallowed by rent. There’s political vitriol around this issue, a topic often broached over coffee or wine.

So yeah, it’s expensive to live here. But you do get bang for your buck. You’d be living in New Zealand. Crime rates are relatively low. Scenery is everywhere (I’m a short stroll from the beach). And you can be whoever the hell you want.

And you get used to it overtime. There’s a humbling culture of op-shopping, van-life, and freedom camping that is oh so bohemian.

If you’re making the big move, here’s a Cost of Living calculator to help you plan.

And my blog is full of advice on how to travel New Zealand without breaking the bank. A few good places to start:

• Two Weeks, No Shower: a Guide to Freedom Camping in New Zealand
• 10 Best Small Towns in New Zealand for Slow Travel
• 8 Ways New Zealand is the best place on earth for slow, mindful travel

2. Do you enjoy a slow way of life?

Life in New Zealand is slow.

If you’re anything like I was when I moved here (a ball of anxiety with aimless ambition) you’ll need to adjust. And that’s not always easy.

I dive more into this here:

In the US, there was a sense of urgency everywhere I went. The rat race swallowed me whole. I didn’t know I could choose something different. Not until I moved to the other side the equator.

In New Zealand, you can’t hurry Kiwis to do anything. They’re a relaxed bunch with a good work-life balance. This is treated as a right, not a privilege.

You learn you don’t need much to enjoy life. A beer with friends over a fire. A hike among mountains or forests.

If you prefer a “work hard, party hard” lifestyle, well… I suppose you can still do that here. But you’d be missing the point.

3. How much do you like sleepy towns and rural settings?

New Zealand is still a developing country. In fact, nothing gave me more culture shock than when I ventured into rural farmlands. Even highly praised regions like Kaikōura and Tekapo bewildered me with their sleepy town centre.

Mind you, that doesn’t mean these places are boring. Quite the opposite.

But don’t expect a wonderland of consumerism around every corner. Not only would Kiwis find it pretentious but the land here is carefully preserved. You won’t find corporations destroying ecosystems to erect a beach club.

New Zealand knows how to weave rich culture, local cuisine, and a hell of a good time into a small town without flashy neon signs. You just have to know where to look.

4. Can you curb your shopping addiction?

To build on the above, New Zealand does have cities… I live in an awesome one. But as mentioned, everything is expensive.

Unless you’re rich, New Zealand won’t allow your excessive shopping to fill the void.

Local wares are considered treasures and priced accordingly (as they should). And forget about cheap goods from Amazon. It doesn’t operate here, and international shipping costs are steep. For someone who once fed the Amazon beast on a weekly basis, it was a hard habit to break.

If sprawling malls and luxury brands are essential to your lifestyle, you’ll have a hard time anywhere outside Auckland.

Once I was past the growing pains, it felt good. It opened my heart to be humbled and have more minimalism in my life. Which ultimately righted my priorities.

5. How intimate can you get with nature?

One of its selling points, New Zealand is geologically diverse. Packed into a tiny country is an array of ecosystems, from forests, valleys, mountains, volcanos, white sand beaches, black sand beaches, rocky beaches, the works. And no matter where you are, you’re never more than a few hours’ drive from the coast.

When I first moved here, I didn’t really “get” nature. I go more into this here. But Kiwis have a habit of getting intimate with the outdoors. Camping is ingrained in the culture. And it’s not uncommon to disappear into the bush for a few days as a holiday choice.

It took time but eventually I learned to slow down. I learned not to need the fancy stuff. To tap into the natural wonders around me.

Nature in New Zealand is revered. It’s one of my favorite parts of living here and inspired this blog.

6. Do you like beer and/or coffee?

Don’t let New Zealand’s small cities deceive you. The beer and coffee cultures here are thriving. In Wellington (my current home), there are more cafes per capita than New York City. I had to learn an entire language to sort through the coffee menus.

New Zealand also prides itself on its local breweries.

Confessing I found beer an inferior form of alcohol was rather insulting to my Kiwi peers. I’ve come to understand (with some coaching from my partner) that brewing is an art form. As explained in the post below, living in Wellington made me like beer. And I know more about hops and IBUs than I ever bargained for.

7. Do you like birds?

Once, a fellow American expat and I joked about our lack of wildlife knowledge. I can’t tell a black bird from a brown bird. Meanwhile New Zealanders can name a species by sight or sound.

Because there are no predators in New Zealand (no snakes, no lions, nothing), native birds have the stage. They are colorful, quirky, and pack a lot of personality.

I can’t stress this enough. New Zealanders love their birds. Never before was I so good at bird spotting or distinguishing between birdsong. The Kea has made my list of all-time favorite animals (cheeky little fucks) and I’ll always stop to listen to a Tui sing.

New Zealand goes to great effort to keep predators out. An invasive species could disrupt the entire bird empire. And that would be devastating.

8. How much melanin does your skin contain?

No matter who you are, the answer is “not enough”. Not in New Zealand. 

First, there’s very little pollution here. Second, there’s a hole in the ozone layer above New Zealand. So we get a little more sun than normal.

Being Lebanese, I scoffed at SPF 50 (I never used anything over 15). Then on a beach sojourn, I got badly burnt. Much to the amusement of my Kiwi partner, who had urged me three times to put on sunscreen.

I soon learned Australia and New Zealand have the highest rate of skin cancer. These days, I wear SPF 50.

9. Do you find earthquakes fun?

If an earthquake is your idea of a good time, you’ll have a blast in New Zealand.

If you have a fear of natural disasters… well, you might get a bit anxious.

When I moved to the Midwest, USA, I developed a fear of tornadoes. We didn’t have those in Lebanon and I was terrified by their destructive nature. Then I moved to New Zealand, and now I have a fear of earthquakes.

But Kiwis are so acclimated, they’ll hardly react when one jolts through the house.

Most are no more than a little shake. But New Zealand has a history of devastating earthquakes. Most notably the 2011 earthquake that destroyed Christchurch and the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake which leveled a highway.

According to GNS, earthquakes are frequent because New Zealand sits on “the boundary of two of the world’s major tectonic plates – the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate.”

And apparently we’re overdue for a major one.

Doesn’t that sound like rollercoaster fun?

10. How do you feel about Christmas in summer?

Almost four years of living here and I’m still not used to this. But there’s no changing it. Christmas here falls in the summer season. And that’s just weird.

Santa hats on the beach. Opening gifts at barbecue picnics. New Year fireworks and summer dresses.

Although the “vibe” isn’t right, you’ll grow to like a summer Christmas. It’s the largest vacation of the year; it’s common to take three weeks off work. And you get the spend it sipping cocktails on the beach, eating fish and chips, and enjoying a tropical paradise.

Sure, I never get a white Christmas. But it’s still my favorite time of the year, when Shaun and I hit the road to some of the most beautiful beaches on earth. As does the rest of the country. Parties and concerts rave in little beach towns and you’ll learn to find the vibe just right.

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That concludes my 10 questions to help you decide whether you should move to New Zealand.

I highly rate living here. I didn’t even mention the free healthcare, progressive politics, and incredible people. It’s now your turn to tap into intuition and courage. Hit me up when you get here.