It's finally done

Well we have finally completed the EOI and submitted it last night. Checked this morning and yay it has been selected! I wasn't sure what the cut off time was for submissions so had my fingers crossed. As hubby said this morning - it makes it all feel a bit real! Happy to have taken this step after talking about it for so long. I know it isn't a done deal as need EOI to be checked out before we get the Invitation to Apply but it is the first step in what I imagine will be a long journey

Down Under Live

We went to the Down Under live expo in London on saturday and I must say I was very disappointed. As expected it was very Australia focused, there were a few stands which covered New Zealand as well but it was mostly people trying to sell you their services - visa services, shipping, money transfer etc. We did talk to someone about recruitment in New Zealand but as we want to get the visa before looking for a job it is too soon to be doing anything other than general research.

The plus point of the day was that we were out of the house without the kids and so could have a good talk about the whole idea. I think we still have a bit of thinking to do about it but the up shot was that it wasn't going to hurt to put in the Expression of Interest and see what happens. Not sure how keen my OH is - there is a lot going on for him at the moment and he doesn't have the luxury of time to research on the web like I do. So I still feel like I am left in limbo about whether this will happen or not... I suppose only time will tell and I just need to be more patient.

pros and cons

I have been thinking about the pros and cons of making the move to New Zealand and thought it would be helpful to write it down. I imagine as we move through this process I will have more to add.

Pros:

• better quality of life
• get to spend more time together as a family than we do now
• shorter commute to work
• get to spend more time outside
• better childhood for the kids
• less consumerist society
• an adventure

Cons:

• will miss seeing family and friends - in particular the children not seeing their grandparents and cousins as often as they do now
• potentially higher cost of living
• cost of getting out there (= no savings left)
• potentially negative impact of careers

start of the journey....

well this could be the start of something... we have decided to look into emigrating to New Zealand. I plan to use this blog to document the ups and downs of the process so hopefully we can look back on it if/when we get out there.

Why are we thinking of emigrating? I suppose it's because that while we are happy and comfortable in our life in the UK we feel we could be enjoying life more. We are a fairly typical family - 2 children little girl (3 years) and a baby boy (3 months), modern estate house in a small town in the Midlands, husband works in IT and I am currently a 'stay-at-home' Mum. We used to live in London but moved up here to be close to family when we started our own little family but we don't really feel 'at home' here. I feel like we are always waiting for something to happen something that will improve the status quo.

I know my husband isn't happy in his job and he has a fairly hellish commute so we don't get a great deal of time to spend as a family. I can't see a way back to work for me that doesn't involve some serious childcare choices - I know that would be true in NZ too but hopefully wouldn't need to travel as far for a good job. So maybe moving to NZ would give us more time as a family, a better work/home balance and a better quality of life.

Since making the decision to look into it at the weekend I have been hitting the internet sites and can spend hours on the expat forums, looking at NZ property and job searching. The thought of going out there has me more excited and energised than I have been for a long time - similar to the excitement I felt when I found out I was pregnant. We are planning to go to a Australia/New Zealand emigration exhibition in a few weeks and will make a decision then.