In
early 2006 some friends of ours took a 3 week vacation to New Zealand. It was a
place that they had always wanted to see. At the end of their stay, they didn't
want to come home. So they applied for work permits, sold their practice (they
were Doctorate-level psychologists), sold their house and opened a new chapter
in their lives. We're not talking about 20-something, pin-in-the-nose, purple
hairs. He was in his 50s and she her late forties.
I
found such radical change to be inspirational, and a good motivator to look
into a place that I had always wanted to see. My wife and I are both professionals
in the aerospace industry. Because of this, employment opportunities in NZ
would be limited to the only game in town; Air New Zealand. On a whim, I sent
an unsolicited email to a few people at ANZ whose email addresses I could dig
up, describing our backgrounds and asking if there might be any opportunities
for us there. I didn't expect to hear back, but within a few days we received
an enthusiastic response.
After
an initial positive meeting with ANZ in Seattle, we decided that we would go
down and have a look at the place. In the middle of (their) winter we made a 3
week whirlwind tour, starting in Christchurch
and ending in Auckland
and culminated in a 5 hour interview with ANZ. Our plan was to take a one-year
contract to see how we liked things, and make a decision at the end of that
time. We enjoyed our trip.
Returning
home I made a few financial calculations. It seemed we would have to take about
a 57% salary reduction and I'd have to work a 40 hour week!! The low
wages in NZ are made up for by a high cost of living and an oppressive tax
structure. Bottom line is you don't go to NZ for the money. So after teetering
on the fence for a few months, a "no conflict of interest" finding
from Cynthia's employer, and a promise of a 12 month leave of absence, we made
the decision to go. Unfortunately, things went south when we began serious
discussions with ANZ. When all the dust settled, the group that Cynthia would
be working for wanted more than 12 months. Not possible. End of adventure.
We'll just stay home and make tons of money instead.
Unfortunately,
a nagging, gnawing New Zealand tumor started growing in the back of my mind,
buzzing "what if?”. Well, we decided that we needed to put the question to
bed once and for all. Our three week trip was not enough time to properly
evaluate life in NZ, especially since it felt like we spent all of our time
either in the car or the motel. We decided that we needed immersion therapy, so
here we are heading down for three months!
Sorry
for the boring diatribe, and I promise not to waste so many electrons in the
future.
Total
trip cost to date: $0.00 USD
