 Welcome back to my YouTube channel. I'm glad you're here. I don't know if you've heard the news last week, but the borders of New Zealand are opening up for travelers, as well as people that are trying to move here in immigration and students and all of that. I will put a link in my description on details of that and the different stages of which things are opening up. So based on this, I decided to do a video today on the five things that you should definitely not bring when you come to New Zealand. Here we go. If you don't know me, I have moved my family of six from the US to New Zealand and have been here for six years. So welcome to my channel. If you're interested in moving here or traveling here or just want to chat with me about what it's like, I do offer consulting services for that. I do help people with their CVs and interviewing skills, public speaking skills, all of this. So check out my website kiwiamericans.com or just shoot me an email. I am here to help you. Welcome to my channel. Okay. The number one thing that I don't think that you should bring to New Zealand with you is the set in my ways bad attitude. When you come here, whether you're traveling or you're moving here, be open minded. Be open minded to try new things. Be open minded to do things a new way to disrupt your routine. Okay. If you come here, be like, I don't like it. They don't have this or they do this this way or this seems weird. I don't understand why they do this. Let's not have that attitude. Okay. When we come to New Zealand, it's not going to go over well. Okay. So when you come to New Zealand, make sure that you have like, okay, I want to try this. Let's see how it is. Now you don't have to like the way that they're doing something, but you have to not sit there and complain about it. Okay. Because you are in a different place and a different culture and a different value system in a different way of doing things. And so it's just not going to fit into the way that you're doing something. So if you're open minded and you're up for trying new things, you will do great. Number two, I do not recommend bringing appliances that require a step down converter. What that means is, is that in the US, the voltage is 110 in New Zealand. It's 240. Okay. So when you have an appliance that needs to be converted in terms of voltage, I don't recommend it. Now to get, you can use it and you can get it. I actually have two step down converters because I did bring some appliances and, but they're really heavy and bulky and annoying. And what happens is my appliances don't get used because I can't be bothered with that thing. Okay. So now it really only applies to things that have motors, big heating elements, where you need to change the voltage in order for the unit to work. So most of the time, if you look at your unit, it'll say can be used in 10 or 110 or 240 like a computer, for example, it'll say that on the battery pack. And then that means you can use it here and you just need to do the plug converter, but you don't need to do the full step down converter. So it's really more of like, when I brought my KitchenAid mixer, when I use my waffle maker, when I use my Ninja, I needed that because it used a lot of power and it had a bigger engine. And so at the end of the day, the reality is, is that I don't use them or I ended up just selling them or getting rid of them because it's really annoying having to use the converter. So there are some ways of which you can get the plugs adjusted and stuff, but in general, like a hair, you know, curler or whatever or hair straightener or whatever, that'll be fine. You just need to see the plug difference, but big like like a small to medium appliance that you would bring from the US or wherever from Europe that would need a step down converter. I don't recommend it. Now, number three, I also don't recommend bringing baked goods or any unopened food, like you can't really, you get trouble when you go through when you go through immigration, when you get here, and then they go through like what's in your bag and you have to declare everything. And I've noticed that when you've brought things that are opened or homemade, don't pass. Okay. And then some even food that is sealed, they have never been open also doesn't pass depending on what it is. And you can look, I'm sure you can go on the, on like an airline site and they'll tell you what you can bring in and not, but just be aware of this because I've had so many people either visit me or they have stayed with me and they've been really frustrated that they tried to bring in the amazing french cheese and had all this trouble with it, even though it was packaged. So just be aware of that. Like, let's just not bring in food, you know, like if you need little snacks for your kids, just make sure that they're not opened when they come when you're actually going through that part of the process when you're trying to enter into the country. So if they're going to get on the plane, they're going to eat it's going to be fine. But yeah, let's not just bring a lot of extra food or spices or things like, Oh, like definitely don't bring, like the oils, you know, the essential oils, anything like that. Like it all gets complicated. So think about that. Make sure that you check out travel sites and know kind of the rules around what you can and can't bring. And number four, let's not bring all of your credentials. What do I mean by that? I mean, don't come up to someone in New Zealand and just talk about all that you've accomplished, where you are in your career, even probably just offering information about your whole family and what they've done and all of your kids and your grandkids, they'll ask you about those things. They are sincerely interested in knowing you. And that's one of the most amazing things about living here. But they don't like you to just kind of offer it like, I'm so amazing because of this, like, you don't even have to say, obviously, you're not saying I'm so amazing, but you're coming across as I'm so amazing because of all of these things. And don't do that. Don't offer any of that information unless they ask. That's probably a good rule of thumb. Okay. Don't walk around and talk about your credentials where it's perfectly normal in casual conversation in the US, but not in New Zealand. Keep it to yourself till they ask. And number five, I don't recommend, I get this question a lot, I don't recommend bringing travelers checks, bank, you can't use bank checks in New Zealand. Like you can't go to a bank and cash it anymore. There might be like one or two that you're able to, but they're trying to eliminate that. Okay. So if you're moving here, you're going to get an F-post card, which is electronic funds transfer point of sale, which means it's immediately taken out of your checking account. So it's like a debit card, but it's immediate. Okay. And so when you move here, you'll get one of those. But if you are traveling here, just having maybe a little bit of cash, I don't, people do not really carry cash here. They do a little bit. So maybe have some initially, but then everything can be on your credit card or your debit card, depending on your bank. So I would use that. I would probably plan on using a credit card, get one where you can earn a lot of points, right? For an airline or for whatever it is that you're interested in and something that can be used internationally. So do that, but like cash isn't really used. And just a good thing to know that checks aren't really used. So I can't imagine that traveler's checks would be very helpful. Sometimes they can give you like those bank, like you can go to one of those traveler places and they can give you one of those credit cards to use on your trip. Even that, I don't think I would bother. If you haven't checked out transfer wise, I think they're just wise. I have a link in my description for you to click on. If you're interested in using it, it is literally the best site to transfer money. Like I'm able to transfer money from anywhere around the world in like four hours. And it's really quick and very safe and convenient. And so it's a very easy way for you to get money moved, especially if you're moving over here, if you're traveling to multiple countries and just have that confidence of moving money around. But in general, don't bring checks.