 Hey welcome back to my YouTube channel guys. Today we're going to talk about, I've been reflecting. The world is in a crazy state right now and it's always worth reflecting. And so I'm reflecting on moving overseas. My thoughts on if people should consider moving overseas, whether it's New Zealand or not. I have some thoughts on that. I have been living overseas for six years and I'm excited to share with you some of my reflections today. So stay tuned. You're not going to want to miss it. Subscribe below. Here we go. Welcome to my channel. If you don't know who we are, we are a family of six. I have moved to New Zealand from the US about five years ago now. Wow, that has gone so fast. So I'm excited for you to join us today. I am in my, how do I describe this? It was like a greenhouse that was full of junk and whenever my son cleared it out and we've made it for a room for like, you know, in the winter months, it'll be kind of a nice outdoor room. And so yeah, we've made the walls with sheets, you know, because, you know, we rent. So it's really, really nice in here at night. I can't really show you that because the lighting would be horrible, but it's really nice in here and it's very, very cool. And it's fun to sit out here and quiet and peaceful. And so yeah, I just thought I would film the video out here today. So in addition to that, if you are thinking about moving or traveling to New Zealand, reach out to me, QBAmericans.com. I have a consulting business and I'm creating a training hub for helping you with everything you need to know about living and moving and traveling around New Zealand. So if you have some thoughts on what you'd like me to create in that training hub, please put that on. It's just, it's a pop up on my website when you go there. And then just so you guys know what's going on in my life is I just started a digital marketing company and with a partner of mine. And it's more like a coaching business where we are, you know, helping people kind of, you know, like small business entrepreneurs get on board with digital marketing. So if you're interested in that, you can check out my new webpage at growremarkable.com. And if you need any sort of help like that, wherever you are in the world, we can help you. So reach out below. There's so many topics that I want to talk about this year. And I'm very, very excited. And we will, we got plenty of weeks. But I just, I can't seem to get over the fact that I feel like being reflective this week and thinking, I mean, the world, you know, Russia has invaded Ukraine. We have its craziness. We have oil prices. We have inflation. We have, you know, a pandemic that's lasted for so many years since 2020. And so I've just been kind of reflecting and like, I think people are thinking, would I really consider moving overseas? You know, like, it's crazy. The world's crazy. Are we going to be scared of it? Or are we going to embrace the change? Where are we going to sit with all of this? And so today I want to talk about, I think I'm going to talk about four things. You're going to want to stay through all four on things that I think my reflections really are living overseas. So number one, let's talk about number one 2020 COVID happened. You know, and so much came out on social media in the news and just kind of like the vibe of what people were talking about. They were like, there's a lot of talk of being able to pivot what you've invested in up to this point. Have you really thought about, you know, are you doing a job that you love, right? So we have the great resignation happening in the US where people are just leaving jobs and they're just kind of realizing, hey, you know, life is short. I need to be doing something that I love. And so I just have to say that in 2020, when COVID hit, of course, we didn't know anything about it. You're nervous. I have family, you know, across the world and you're worried about that. But I have to say for me, my thought was, I'm so glad that I did the hard things. I'm so glad that I decided to align my life with my values. I'm so glad I tried something that I thought I might like. And yeah, like so many of my friends were feeling like, oh my gosh, like the world is coming to an end and what have I really done and you know, and it's just like that, you know, you only live once, you know, live your best day today, you know, there's all these, you know, I am like, if you don't know me, I'm not really into whatever's the fad at the moment. I generally make fun of people like that, but sorry if that's you. But like, but this is true for me, like we just, we decided to make a decision, are you going to live your life the way that you want to live it today? Or are you going to put it off to the so-called retirement age? I don't understand retirement. Can we talk about that for a moment? I don't understand the concept of saving everything, putting everything off that you want to do until you're 65. What if you're not ever 65, right? Why are we delaying what we want to do? Why is it so important to save all of our money for then? You know, I mean, I understand, like, I'm not, I'm not saying be dumb and like, you know, live in the moment and I have any savings. I mean, okay, like I think we can all think that we're, you know, reasonable people, but why are we just stopping our life and putting us off, putting it off until we're 65? No, I think it's my perspective and this is my opinion for you today, is that you should embrace life today, that you should do what you want to do. If you want to live in Italy, if you want to live in the south of France, if you want to try this, you need to try this. You need to go for it. Maybe you won't get a visa, maybe it won't work out, but you know what? At the end of your life, you're not going to have regrets. You're not going to regret that you didn't try, okay? And you will regret if you don't, okay? And so I just cannot even express to you when the pandemic hit, how thankful I was for the decisions I made and that I didn't waste the last six years, you know, thinking about doing something I might want to do. I didn't think about it. I took action and I did it and it changed me completely for the better and I never would have got there if I didn't do it. And so I know you hear this action, you know, jump in, do the business, do whatever, you know, do this new hobby, whatever, do it. That is the lesson. If there's anything that we've learned over the last three years is that there's no point in delaying. There is no point in putting off your dreams until you're 65. That's my two cents about that. The second benefit that I want to talk about today about moving overseas is habits. Let's talk about habits, because if you're living in a country that you've always lived in and you grew up there and say you moved to a different city and that's good and you can feel like you get a fresh start because like people don't know you, it's a new area, you have to figure things out. Well, let me tell you, you're still in the same culture. And so while that's good and that's, you know, you can update your habits at that point, I'm telling you moving overseas is grandiose in changing your habits. That's what's one of the benefits of moving overseas because okay, so like, you know, like when you drive to work every day, when you get your coffee at your coffee shop, when you go to a certain thing every single week, you have a habit in your brain and you just automatic, it's very automatic, right? When you move to another country, even one that really honestly doesn't feel a whole lot different than, you know, the US like initially like you can function quite easily compared to somewhere where like they're speaking a whole different language and the culture is very, very different. You're forced, right? Nothing comes natural. So you have to rethink every single thing you do. How do I get to this place, right? How do I drive there? How do I drive on the left side of the road? How do I pay for something? How do I get gas in my car? You know, all of these habitual things that you do living in the country that you've lived in your whole life become not easy and you have to rethink and it's good because you could recreate new habits. I mean like really recreate new habits. I wish I was more intentional about that when I first came here and thinking, oh my gosh, I could really change a lot of bad habits because I think our tendency with everything around us is totally new. We think, oh, but you know, I kind of want to feel at home. I want to feel comfortable. I want similarity things. And so we tend to eat foods that we like from home. We tend to organize our life the way that we liked it at home. And I challenge you to not do that. You have the opportunity to form completely new habits. So think about the person that you want to be, the habits you want to have, and just start doing them from the second you're the plane lands here as much as you can, right? You know, like you have to adjust a little bit. The jet lag can be. So yeah, so take some time, but think about the habits that you can create all new ones. And it's amazing. And it's so much growth in your brain for doing that, right? You know, like we always want to be in a growth mindset. And we always want to be using our brain or muscle, right? And so that it gets stronger and that you know, we stay in shape with it. And I'm telling you there's nothing better than moving to a different country for that. So it's your chance to become the person that you want to be with the habits that you want to have. And it's easy to fall back into the old ones because you know, you still have them because that's kind of all you know, but just embrace a new culture, a new way of doing and discover a new you. I'm telling you, it's great. One of the most frustrating things about living overseas is the difficulty around voting. We have to pay taxes. And so we should be able to vote no matter where we live in the world. In 1986, Congress came out with the absentee voting act, which we can all vote. But if you've had that experience, it can be very difficult because you have to have your absentee ballot postmarked on a certain day. And you know, it can cause all sorts of problems. So there's three million voters overseas and only about 7% actually end up being able to vote because it is quite complicated. So when I try to vote in the 2020 election, I put in my absentee valid on the right date and somehow it got returned to me because I did something wrong and it's assault. And so my vote didn't count. And that's very frustrating. And so I just wanted to make you guys aware of mobile voting is on the rise. And they're really testing that the military has been using it. And it's really cool. And so I just want to bring this to your attention and to give you some awareness about it. Because how great would it be for me to just be able to vote on my phone? Now, of course, we have concerns about security and all that sort of thing. But apparently it's been tested and it's like really good. And it's a really nice option. You can vote for your local, state and federal level. And you could still be involved in, you know, the election processes in the US. So I have actually put a link in the description to check out their website. Now, there aren't up and running officially in like every state and that sort of thing. But what's cool about it is you can click on, you know, send me updates when it gets available. And then also you can also easily click on a button and communicate with your Congress person. And so that you can just like say, Hey, you know, I would really like to have some mobile voting because it would be really great. So I just wanted to bring some awareness around the possibility of mobile voting and that you can put your, your two cents in that that would be really great because we pay taxes is 2022. Technology should be advanced enough where we should be able to vote mobily. And number three, in addition to habits, you get to be the person that you want to be. You don't have any history with any of these people. But in addition to that, the people also don't have the same value system, the same growing up as you did, the same culture that they live in. And so their perspective of you is different than people would have at home. And that's good and bad really. But you can decide the person that you want to be. And that's so exciting. And like I said about habits, I do a group, I think that I wish I was a little more intentional about I think it's because when we first came here, we came here temporarily. And so a temporary mindset is different than a permanent one. When we came back the second time, we, it was a permanent move. And it's, yeah, it was different. And so it changes because you're trying to build community, but they don't know anything about you. They don't know your background. They don't know how much you've done and been involved in the community beforehand. And so you kind of can decide, you know, who you're going to be and what you're going to be involved in, but also just being in a community and in a different culture challenges you to really define who it is that you're going to be. You're hit up against people that are the same, the culture that is the same. You're not challenged. You're not coming out and saying, Oh, you know, this is the person that I want to be everything around you starts to challenge you. Everything is different. Okay. Now, I'm just going to say this, I can only speak to New Zealand and it's going to be different depending on what country you go to. But when you come to New Zealand, I felt like I didn't struggle. I didn't struggle because it was so similar, but yet a little different, right? But now that I've been here for six years, I really can appreciate how really different it is. It is very different. And so it challenges you because you don't really realize that, you know, you feel a certain way that you value a certain way until someone else values it differently. And so then at that point, you could decide what's important to you. And it's so great for personal growth. It's amazing. Like I have not found anything better. You know how when you first get married, you know, having to deal with another person and their habits and the way that they do something challenges you and you're forced to compromise or to adjust. And then you have children and then that's the same adjustment that constantly, you know, demand your attention and it forces you to deal with yourself. And like, you know, it challenges your selfishness, right? It challenges all of that. And it's good for you. It just challenge you. Anytime you challenge your selfishness, I think it's good. And it does that again in a different culture. Like everything is broken down, nothing is going to be easy for you. And it's good. Like you guys need to look at it like a good thing. Like so many people like, Oh my gosh, it's just going to be so hard. And yeah, the thing is, here's a reality of life. If it's not hard, it's not really worth doing. It's the hard things that create us. It's the hard things that make us that show us who we really are inside. What is our character? What is a ethics? What is our integrity? And until we have a challenge, we can't really, we can say that we're going to do this in this situation, right? But it's not until we are in the situation, do you actually see, right? Because you could talk the talk, but like walking the walk is not the same. Okay. And so it really challenges you to be, you know, who you want to be and you decide and you come, I think what's great about it is that you come to grips with the fact that you maybe thought you were a certain way until a challenge came along and you're like, wow, that is really hard for me. I really don't like that. I don't know if this is the person that I want to be and it's all good feedback. It's all good feedback for yourself. So moving overseas helps define who it is that you want to be because it, it butts up against what you, what's normal for you. And number four, last but not least, you know, the old saying or what people always say, you're always affected by the people that you are around. Just imagine what that means when you're living in a different culture, right? So you're living in a different culture who people have grown up in a completely different part of the world, who have a completely different perspective, who have a completely different childhood and upbringing and view of things. And you surround yourself with those people, their perspective, their value, their influence will influence you. And it'll be very interesting. And so it's, it's another depth of growth. You know, it's really just about narrowing down and figuring out who you are. And so when you're constantly butted up with people that have a totally different perspective than you and their perspective is coming from perspective that could be good or could be bad. But you have to determine that, right? And so you have to realize that they are impacting you and they are impacting the person that you're, you're trying to be. And is this good? Is this bad? You know, only you can know, right? I don't think that if someone is impacting you poorly, that that's necessarily bad. I think that it's bad if you don't, you know, I guess get them out of your life. But it's part of meeting people. So this is what we do, we go, we meet people, we get into a relationship with someone, you know, and then you determine like, is this person, does this person align with my values? Does this person challenge my thinking? Is this person bringing positivity in my life? And I'm telling you, you get, you can see it at a whole another scale, a whole another level when you're in a different culture of different people. And I'm constantly challenged by people's thoughts or you just, you just don't realize what you value until someone values something differently. And so you, you still need to be very cognizant about who you're spending your time around, right? Because they are going to influence you. But it's so cool because you're getting, you know, a new level of depth really, in terms of fine tuning who you are, because you're surrounding yourself by people that, wow, they just see the world differently. They experience a world differently. They position themselves differently. You know, they're relaxed or they're, you know, you know, they take breaks a lot during the day. I mean, these are real like things that are like, you think, Oh, that would be great. I love and do a country that has morning tea and afternoon tea and, you know, four or five weeks holiday every year. But you have to realize that that challenges you in your work ethic, in your, you know, in your standard of production, if you will. And it's good. And it's good. And you have to, and you have an opportunity then to decide what it is that you really think. And so yeah, I don't know if I'm making any sense with any of this. But these are just some reflections, some reflections to think about. So the last one is really just about you get to surround yourself with people from a different culture that challenged the depth of your values and your beliefs like never before. So that's really kind of what I meant by that one. Well, I hope you enjoyed the video today. And I hope I made some sort of sense about anything. But I would love absolutely love. And this is honest, honest truth is I would love to hear your comments. If you've moved overseas, what has been like for you? What has been the ups would have been the downs would have been the challenges. How have you changed? How have you grown? Anyway, there's lots to say. So please comment below. I would love to read through them. And for everybody to kind of share their thoughts on that. And yep, and I do a video every week. Check out more about me at kiwiamericans.com. And I will see you guys next week. Have a great week.