[zizzyzee]

Hi everyone

My brother sent me details of a Qantas half price sale, on until tomorrow (Monday). This has got me to thinking whether we should take advantage and book a "recce" trip out to NZ in May so OH can book some interviews and we can see how the country suits us. Makes sense so far but I'm hesitating for 2 reasons, the 1st being that it's still going to cost us £2,200 for flights for the 4 of us plus our costs whilst there and secondly I'll have to take my oldest son out of school for just over a week, even using the half term holiday in May, thus incurring the wrath of the county council for being naughty parents.

What would you do if you were me? The big reason I'm hesitating is the money - we'd have to pay for the trip on the credit card, and we already have credit card debts, and although these are below the national UK average (!), I still don't feel comfortable to be considering borrowing about £4K on a holiday in such a climate.

But then again, it's a huge leap to emigrate without having been to a country first....oh, heck, I'm in a quandary!

[gil]

But then again, it's a huge leap to emigrate without having been to a country first....oh, heck, I'm in a quandary!

There's a lot of us on here who did just that! For us it was on cost grounds (2 of us plus 4 kids, two of whom would have been adult fares). We preferred to put the enormous sum of money a recce would ahve cost towards the actual thing. We'd never visited NZ before arriving on Nov 20 2006 (two years on Thursday!) and for us, it's worked. We would not go back permanently to UK now.

So don't think you'd be the only people ever to have done this. I know not everyone would be comfortable with such a leap of faith, but it definitely worked for us.

Good luck,

Gil

[victoria24]

we went for the recce after much deliberation and the price looks good for you. horses for courses I'm afraid!

[Janey]

I was like you but we did come in May and did not treat like a holiday but as if we were living here it did work as I made some useful contacts which resulted in a fantastic job (over $100k) plus $20k relocation expenses so in the end it paid for itself several times over. I am glad I came but know what you are feeling it does depend also on your timeframe we hoped to be here for xmas 2009 and we are although it has been one hell of a roller coaster

[CJ22]

We didn't bother. We did as much online research as possible. We haven't been surprised by anything (yet).

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi,
This is quite a difficult one to answer really as everyone is different and you will find here that many have come over without a recce and have never regretted that decision. We came over without ever coming here before and have never regretted that decision.Everyones situations are different and you may find you have you're hearts set on one place and then find it totally different.As I say it is a difficult choice with a little help from here.You will probably find it is about 50/50 whether to come or not
We have spoken to people who came here after a recce and found it to be totally different than when they were on a recce.(Mind you they didn't have the resources of this great forum) To us, a recce is not much more than a holiday and in the short time you come you basically see what a beautiful Country it is here and can't really appreciate how things actually work here. I am not in the slightest telling you not to come, just making you aware that you may not see everything you want to see in order to make your minds up. This forum is full of info on every aspect of NZ so put that with a recce and you may feel ok but if you are strapped for cash then you need to think carefully as the cost of emmigrating is not cheap. Check this thread here re someone who had the same thoughts as you. I wish you all the success in whatever you decide


http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17191&highlight=recce

[mikey39]

If you can afford it i would say come over and try to set up interviews, we were going to come over here without me having been to NZ before, OH had a job offer in Auckland and we were going to settle there. We then had a bit of a hiccup on getting out here so decided to come out and validate the visas, am i glad we came out, i hated Auckland it really wasn't for me, but loved Welly. If we had come out without checking out the areas then it would have been costly for us, as we would have had to move again within NZ, i would have been so unhappy in Auckland.

Whatever you decide, i hope all goes well for you, definetly do the research on areas and lifestyles.
Steph.

[Hagabel]

Wow, what a great deal.
I understand the decision especially as I understand flights are very expensive from the UK. Our family are hoping to move there from the US and personally I had to go visit before we even contemplated a move that far so my husband is going next yr. But I understand where you are coming from.
Good luck whatever decision you make.
:exit

[Tia Maria]

We didn't have a reccie due to cost and time off work reasons also, we did however, spend money on flying to Christchurch when we first arrived, then to Wellington, then to Rotorua and finally to Auckland. This allowed us to scout out all the options before we started the job search.

It also allowed us to have enough money to keep us going without a job for 2 months and to have an emergency fund for flying home if necessary. For us this was a better way to spend the money.

The other idea is do the kids need to come for the reccie, or could some kind relative keep them for a bit?

This would mean they wouldn't need time off school, it would be cheaper and you would be able to do a lot more on the reccie without the children there.

May is winter in NZ, so you may not be lucky with the weather and it means you may not be able to do the beach thing with the kids. Although with NZ you never can tell!

I would also check out other airlines, they may be offering winter deals also.

Cheers

Tia

[nate]

I didn't take a recce before I moved over. I've been here for 4 months now, and I don't regret it at all. I didn't have a job before I arrived, either. But it was just me, no kids or significant other, and I KNEW I wanted to be here. A big part of the moving experience for me was the adventure of the (relatively) unknown, and even though it takes a different breed to expatriate, not everyone wants to do it sight unseen.

I can't make the decision for you as far as whether or not you can afford a recce trip. But if you decide to take one, at the very least you get a holiday in paradise; at the worst you realize you shouldn't make the huge move before you get in over your head.

[Belmont Babes]

Well we didn't do a recce and have never regretted it but OH did have a job to come to. I personally wouldn't of had the guts to leave without job lined up.

[skibumwa]

Hi ZizzyZee,

Doing research online is a must, but you need to understand that most employers will want (or even demand) to meet you in person before offering you a job; especially in New Zealand. The cost of coming here for a reccy trip won't be cheap, but it's like wishing you could score big at a Las Vegas black jack table. Well you will never win in Vegas if you don't go there.

I did a solo reccy trip back in April & May 2007. It was a very unique, rewarding, tiring, expensive and needed experience. In the end of my 3 week trip to Auckland and Wellington, I came back to the USA with a bunch of perm job offers. Good luck with your decision and potential reccy trip.

John

[M-Squared]

First, don't give the local education authority a second thought. Your children = your choice, NOT theirs. Here in NZ, if you ask about taking your child(ren) out of school for a week or two for travel, you nearly get laughed at. They think travel is a *fabulous* thing, such a wonderful life experience! So please don't fret about that. Just tell them to get stuffed. :D

Make sure it's NZ calling you there, and that it ticks your boxes, not just that you want to "escape" the UK... ie. if you're not happy in the UK and focus your attention on that, chances are, you're unlikely to be happy many other places. Hope that makes sense.

[rubyray]

We did a recce trip and it was the right thing for us, as we fell in love with Wellington and thought we'd fall in love with Nelson - so it turned out the right thing to do, just remember airlines will always have offers on especially in winter so if you are still in 2 minds maybe wait a bit to see how you feel and then book something if money allows later on?

We are so pleased that we got to see NZ before we took the plunge but I know people who didn't do this and loved it anyway - to be honest there are so many wonderful places in NZ am sure with research and feedback from this forum you could manage not doing one! - good luck with everything

Rubyx

[zizzyzee]

Thank you so much everbody for sharing your experience.

Well, I've booked the flights! I'm really, really excited and so is OH. WHat's more, when I told my mum, she seemed to be v interested in coming with us, and blow me down with a feather, she called me a couple of hours ago to tell me that she's booked exactly the same flights for her and dad!

This is great in so many ways. Obviously it means we'll be able to share a lot of accomm costs etc and M&D will be able to look after kids whilst OH and I go for interviews. But what's really great are the emotional benefits of them coming. My brother and his family live in Australia and he said that they would come over whilst we were in NZ. So now m&D get to be with their whole family in NZ and they also feel part of the whole process of us emigrating. I know this is so important for my mum, and I think that if she and dad see NZ for themselves and how great we hope it's going to be for a life for us and our boys, it will be a little tiny bit easier for them to "let us go".

The possibility of a recce trip with the Qantas sale prompted an open and honest discussion between me and OH, who said that there was no way he'd go to NZ w'out having seen it first. And of course, as skibumwa said, most employers demand that they see you face to face. OH is in IT (and I'm ex IT), and we've been led to understand that ironically, IT employers, despite having access to videoconferencing facilities, are more likely to want to interview you in person.

M-Squared your comment about the school authority made me laugh (and yes you're absolutely right!) OH called the Headmaster who said that they recognise the difference between just whizzing off for a holiday in Benidorm and a mind-expanding trip that is concerned with planning for the family's future. The authority might still call us when we formally notify the school but as you say, we'll tell them to get stuffed! And you're absolutely right about the need to be aware as to why we're making this move. I have to be aware of my own itchy feet (OH and I lived in Africa for 2 years before we had kids, and my feet have never really stopped itching since we returned!).

Gosh, what a funny 24 hours it's been. If someone had told me this time last week that I'd have booked a 3 week trip to NZ for the end of May next year, I'd have told you to keep taking the tablets!

We've got a lot of planning to do for this trip, so I'll be asking for your knowledge and experience on all sorts of things over the next few months.

All in all, I'm confident I've made the right decision for us as a family. Now I'd better get on with getting some new business in to pay for the trip!

Thanks very much again for your help!

[zizzyzee]

Oh.. I forgot to say, Qantas have extended the sale until Weds! Desperate times!

[Tomsk]

You sound so excited zizzyzee, I'm really pleased for you. It sounds as if whatever happens you'll have a wonderful family holiday :raebanana

We did the recce, largely because I couldn't imagine going through that much emotion and upheaval and expense without having a clear image of what we wanted/ where we were going, in my head. That said the recce was a truly fabulous holiday to introduce us to NZ.....it's this forum that really gave the insight into the ups and downs of moving half way around the world and of everyday life in NZ. So for me, personally, both were important in influencing our decision to come.

[Hagabel]

You sound so excited. I am excited for you.
I had a great trip this May just gone and fell in love with the country. The scenery is amazing and the people are very friendly. Even if they drive on the 'wrong' side of the road. But you would be used to that!
Have a great time planning.
:clap

[ant7jen]

Everything considered into moving to NZ is a catch 22! Good luck with your decision.