Life choice: NZ or UK, the lowdown

May 9, 2010 Posted in Personal | 1 comment

Life choice: NZ or UK, the lowdown

So the end of my visa is coming up soon, and I need to make a choice between living in the UK, and living in NZ. A choice made difficult for 2 main reason that spring to mind:

a) I’ve come to like living in New Zealand and
b) I have a company based (on paper) in the UK.

New Zealand:

NZ is undoubtably a great country, for many reasons. The reasons that appeal to me the most though are the following:

- Pros

attitude – free thinking, positive, friendly, open minded and spirited. It’s something that I’m very grateful for.
weather – sunny much of the year, good for S.A.D. Makes a difference when you have sun in your life until 9 in the evening most days during summer. You can’t buy that.
scenery - is just amazing, it touches you in a way dank cities just cant. Catching a ferry to work, to travelling to stunning location, it’s hard to do here at all.
microcosm – less people, but much talent. You can meet a lot of talented and/or influential people. I’ve been here a short time, and yet met more ‘top brass’ than I did in the UK. ( though I haven’t tried hard )
New People! – Always good to meet new people, especially with the above attitude.
Sport – This country is great for sports and health. People love their sports clubs.

- Cons

Million Miles away from the action – Europe, USA, UK. That’s the center for the english speaking world. You can’t just hop on a plane, or buy a coach ticket.
Visa – To live here, I need one. I’d rather set up a company than come here as a full time employee, and that means paperwork, waiting, which is all very stressful.
Running a Company – I have a company in the UK, do I close it down? relocate? Open an office here? Start a NZ company and bill in NZDs? What about my accountant, who I’ll probably never see again?

United Kingdom:

The UK is my home country, born and bred. So I know it well. Here’s some of the pro’s about the UK in my mind

- Pros

I’m in control – I know what I’m doing, how to achieve things, how to make money if I need to. I’m very familiar there
Money – The cash is good. I earn 40% of what I can earn in the UK
Friends – I have friends there that I really value.
Family – All my family are there, and they are people that I should really do more to spend time with. Being in NZ, makes that principle hard to follow
Education – If you want to learn something in the UK, you can. Head to London and you can find usergroups, clubs and allsorts for all things
Nightlife – Something I never took advantage of overly, but again, great bands, great nights out esp in London
Technology – I can get a lot of cheap gadgets, good deals etc.

- Cons

I hate the UK – ‘Hate’ is a strong word. But some of the following reasons reveal why
Negativity – Somehow the UK is always first to bring itself down. Politics and papers always report the worst, the scandals, the tragedies. People are indifferent and apathetic in general. When someone is different, they seem to want to point out all the bad things about it. Not a positive place in the majority
Weather – The above is not helped by the lack of sun, and when there is sun, the lack of heat. When there is heat and sun, somehow you’re either inside working, or in a city where you can barely see it.
My worst days – My hardest days of my life where there. While I can’t run away from myself, I can change my environment.
People – Linked to negativity closely; People seem distant, guarded, uninterested. I feel the same about them ( maybe it’s me ). I don’t feel open, I don’t feel relaxed, I don’t feel positive. I don’t meet people and think: ‘yeah I really like you, we could be life long friends.’ I feel I’ve met another associate.

These are just a few of my thoughts. Ok I got a bit harsh on the UK. These reason are personal and probably reflect my own character as equally as much as the country. But none-the-less, in the ultimate summary, this is how these two countries seem to affect me. Maybe I need to rethink my own qualities, but for now, this is a good exercise on identifying how I feel.