 Hey, welcome back to the channel. If you don't know us, we are a family of six that have moved from the US to New Zealand and have been in New Zealand for eight years now. But today we're going to talk about seven reasons why you might not want to move to New Zealand. Now, if you're not familiar with my channel, I have over 500 videos on our journey to New Zealand, everything we've learned, my perspective on everything. So there's plenty of good, positive content out there that talks about all the wonderful things about New Zealand. Obviously, I love New Zealand. I live in New Zealand and have been here for a long time. But I think it's very important to also highlight some of the things that, you know, a lot of people don't like or, you know, I've helped a lot of people move over here and I've heard a lot of things like some have gone back and we've talked to lots of people that have come and gone back no matter where they've moved from around the world. And it's just important to highlight some of these things. So today I'm going to talk about seven reasons why moving to New Zealand might not be for you. If you're moving to New Zealand, you need to reach out to me. Click the link in the description below because I have amazing resources, a lot of them for free for you that will help you in your journey. Please don't try to do this alone. Even if you're in the consideration stage, you're going to want to check it out because this resource will help you immensely and kind of answer all of your questions that you just kind of have looming in your brain. But let's dive into the topic today. There are wonderful reasons why you should move to New Zealand, but there's also some things to consider in 2023 as to why this may not be the right place for you. Okay, number one. Now these are in order. This is just the first reason. Okay. The first reason is because New Zealand is quite remote. It is like at the bottom of the world and it is far from everything. And the reason why that's bad is because it causes your travel expenses to get out of the country or go back home to be quite expensive. Plus you just do feel that you're kind of far from everywhere. And for a lot of people, that's a huge benefit. And for a lot of people that move here, they're like, we love this. We love that we're kind of out of it. We're out of the chaos. You know, a lot of Americans that I've helped move over here are like, this is so great. Everything's slower. It's not the same craziness. It's not the same work, work, work your whole life. There's a lot of balance in life. Things are just slowed down. And that's a great thing. But it can also be a bad thing. If you like the hustle and bustle of big cities in the US or you just like, you know, to do a lot have like a lot of different activities all the time, then, you know, New Zealand might not be right for you. Okay, number two, the weather. New Zealand is known for kind of experiencing four seasons in a day. And if you don't like that, then this might not be the place for you. I don't really think about the weather as being a problem because I'm from the Midwest. And so I'm used to definitely four seasons and really cold winters. And so everything seems really mild to me. But when I talk to other people, I can't believe how much the weather bothers people. This is not a tropical place. This is not like hot all year round. And in Wellington in particular, it's quite windy, like really windy, like it feels like your whole house is going to blow over kind of wind for people that are new and they really don't like it. Like I've had people that have moved here from Auckland like, no, we're moving back. It's too windy. And I'm like, really? Like, you know, I guess that's all I've ever done. But if you're kind of inland in New Zealand, you know, you're not experiencing that. That's more on the coastal regions. But yeah, so the weather changing a lot in the rain all winter can really bother people. But I guess I know seasons that are very different than this and much per sure. And so it doesn't really faze me. But it's important to note it is something I hear all the time. And so I thought it was important to share that with you in case you're considering moving here. If you've been watching my videos and have not subscribed to my channel, please do so because I know there's a lot of people that watch my videos all the time have not subscribed. All that does is just let you know when my next available video is out. I don't do them as consistently as I used to. So it is kind of nice to know and definitely like the video if you are enjoying it. Okay, diving into number three, the cost of living. We cannot move on without talking about the cost of living. Now I've done videos in the past where I've talked about exactly how much my cost is for families of six. And it's not cheap. I'm not gonna lie to you. We're like in an island at the bottom of the world. Everything needs to be shipped here. Things are expensive. Okay. Now, is it more expensive than the US? Is it more expensive than Europe? You know, these are things to consider. It all depends. It all depends I think on what you value as important and really where you spend your money. So for example, the most expensive thing in New Zealand would be the housing right now whether you rent or buy. So expensive. I have lived here for eight years and continue to rent because it's so expensive. It's it feels almost unaffordable to buy. Obviously the fuel, the petrol costs are going up. We have a I have like a seats six people six or seven and it cost me $150 to fill it up right now. And this is when I'm recording that which is October 2023. And the food keeps going up. They were just I just looked it up. They had checked food prices like from July 2022 to July 2023 and all the food has gone up almost 16%. And it's definitely even more like for me, for a lot of people that's a big deal for me. It's not as big of a deal because I just adjust. I'm going to make my own bread. I'm gonna have more soup than I usually there's always cheap meals you can make. And so then I'm just going to make those more. Tomatoes are really expensive. Sometimes I notice that cheese has been really expensive. And a lot of things I just see I'm like, Whoa, that's really a lot. I guess we're skipping. So then I just adjust. But that's me. Like some people are just like they hate it. They don't want to adjust. They like the food that they like and they don't you don't want to change or it's something that's a staple for their family. Then that's different. But I tend to adjust. And so it just kind of depends on the type of person you are. Like I have worked out the housing situation. I have borders. I've had people live with me that reduces my rental cost to very reasonable price. And so that's different ways of doing things when the economy is changing and it's changing everywhere. I thought the US food in the grocery store was a very expensive. Adding tips to everything made it definitely more expensive than most services here in New Zealand, like going to restaurants, getting your hair done, getting your nails done. Like if you're adding that 20% tip on everything, definitely is costing more. And so just keep that in mind. But like our healthcare costs in New Zealand are so cheap compared to the US are just outrageous to be honest. And so it kind of just depends. But you can get a lot of goods and services a lot cheaper there in the US that you can't get here. And so I think essentially it all balances out. You pay more for certain things and less for other things. But at the end of the day, you probably take home with the same amount of money. And number four. And this one, I gotta be honest, gets harder for me every year. The lack of variety. Okay. I appreciated the lack of variety when I first moved to New Zealand because having too much to choose from is exhausting. It was more work. Like when you walk into a Woodman's food store, or you walk into a Costco, it's just like overwhelming with all the choices that you get into it, you get like decision fatigue. And so I so appreciated when I came to New Zealand and there was like six cereals to pick from or, you know, just not a lot of choice. But now that I've been here for more of an extended period of time, it's starting to get annoying that I can't get everything. And so that can be a big deal. If you, you know, if things and buying things are really important to you, be aware of that. Like clothes are, clothes are expensive, shoes are expensive. And you have just no variety. Like I'll go to a store and literally we'll have the same shirts, but like six different colors. So I don't even like the shirt. I don't like any of the colors. Like I just don't have any variety. And so going to Australia is really good for shopping. Obviously Auckland has better choices than to do in Wellington, where I'm at. But then I generally save all of my shopping until I go to the US, which is good. Like I just don't spend as much. It's not a bad thing. If this is important to you and you like this, then that's also good to know. But if it bothers you, that's good to know as well. Number five. Can we talk about the internet? Can we talk about data services? Because when I moved here in 2013, I have unlimited data. I have yet to have unlimited data here in New Zealand. It is available in New Zealand. I'm not telling you that it isn't, but it's not cheap. And it's a little bit harder when you have family and you're trying to provide data on multiple phones to have the unlimited data. So I currently do not have unlimited data. And it's like, what? Like what world are we living in that we don't have unlimited data? I mean, when we first moved here, we had to like, even our broadband, you had to purchase gigs. And so it was you had, you didn't have unlimited. Now you have unlimited. So like the Fiverr, the home internet, your Wi-Fi, fine. I've not had any problems. It's just the mobile data that is shocking to me that how expensive it is for the unlimited. And maybe it's better now. You know, I probably haven't checked recently, but I do still hear it from people like, yeah, the internet, not the same. And number six. I'm going to call this one. New Zealand has a limited market potential. This is not a consumer society, which is good. I love that about New Zealand. But keep in mind, if you are a small business, there's not a lot of people here. There's it's good in that like there's limited competition, but there's just not a lot of buyers and people don't just buy like people will people are hard to sell to in New Zealand. I'm not gonna lie. Like I have multiple small businesses that I would say kind of do okay. You know, I but I help a lot of small businesses. I do marketing for people and I've got involved in man. It's not an easy market to sell. If you haven't been around for a long time, the way that they do things are quite different. And it's just it's just and people just don't just buy new things buying a new idea. Like I would not come into New Zealand with a whole new like food item that nobody's ever had. If you can create a food item that's similar to something that they already like, but just a little bit different, I think you're going to do a lot better. Okay. But quickly, I'd love to know your opinion about that. But I have just found that this market isn't really easy to sell it because there's number one, not a lot of people and people don't just buy a lot of things. They're just it's not a consumer side. They're not thinking about buying constantly. You know, there's no Amazon. There's no like I can buy something get to the next day. Like your mental state about buying things are just it's not the same. And there's no like there's some good online retailers, but nothing that's like Amazon quality. And then you just don't go shopping that much. And when you do, it's so expensive. And you're just like, I don't like it that much. You know, so this and lies the problem. And so it's not that easy. I would like to know other people's opinion. If you own a business, if you've had a business in the past, I'd love to you to share your thoughts in the comments. I'd like to talk about this more, but like, I have found it hard. I found it hard as a business owner to do amazingly well in New Zealand. And I see that also with a lot of businesses that have shut down and new ones being born and that and just it's there's a lot of support here. They're in New Zealand is great for that. And I've been a part of a lot of programs. But just getting people to buy what they value is quite different. So coming in from like what you think people are going to like in New Zealand could be quite different in reality. And so if you're thinking about moving here to open a small business, I highly recommend that you reach out to me or join my online community. You can see that in the link because that's where we should be talking about that because the worst thing for you to do is move all the way here to start a business that nobody wants to buy from. So let's make sure we chat. And number seven, New Zealand is definitely a small town feel. Even if you're in the bigger cities, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland being significantly bigger and that feels like a city. But in general, there's just a small town feel like it's just not that much to do. There's not that much variety and things to do. And for a lot of people that could be amazing. Like you love that like you prefer to, you know, live in rural areas and and not have a lot going on and not having a lot of people talking to you. But if that is important to you and you get your energy, if you're extroverted, you get your energy from other people by being around different situations and things and just like that, all these different, you know, variety of activities and entertainment, then just be aware of that. Like depending on where you go, just be very strategic about where you move in New Zealand. I'd probably go to Auckland. I've been in Wellington the whole time all the years that I've been here. And yeah, I feel like I've done everything. I've done everything and now I'm doing it again. And that's okay. And it's beautiful. I mean, the harbor here, I wouldn't, I wouldn't prefer to live anywhere else, although maybe Queenstown. Queenstown is pretty great because of the mountains and, you know, it's a little bit different. But I mean, I love Wellington. So, so yeah, so just consider that when you're considering moving that it feels small. I'm not going to lie. It didn't feel small like the first couple of years, but like being here great years, you definitely, people always describe that to me, that people have to be like, why would you move here from the state to so small and so far away from everything? And I don't understand what they meant. Now I understand. Well, I hope that was helpful in your journey to New Zealand and kind of outlying some things to consider that might not make your move the best choice for you. Definitely comment below with any other questions that you have. And again, check out the link in the description as I have the some free amazing resources that will help you as you're considering a move to New Zealand. And I'll see you next time.