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Thread: Recce trip???

  1. #1
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    Default Recce trip???

    Hi All,

    Things are moving along quickly now with my wife 99% having the job (as long as her references come back ok - hopefully just a formality), and them wanting her to start at the beginning of September. This all of a sudden seems very real, and i suppose we need to start tying up loose ends here and making some proper plans (rather than just dreaming as we have been doing). There's so much to do!!!

    In the midst of all of this, i'm wondering how many people (if any) made the move without having even visited the country? We are both confident that we will love it out there, and more than that we are 100% convinced that it is the right move for the kids; i just can't help but feel that it's a bit reckless to uproot our family to take them to live on the other side of the world in a country that we've never even visited. We are still considering a recce trip, but money is tight at the minute, and we are hoping to save every penny to get us set up when we move out there. Time is an issue too. We are swinging from "We must be mad - we have to go out there and have a look" and "We've already made our minds up that we're going and there's not really much that is going to stop us so what's the point in spending all that money?".

    Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated.

    Paul

  2. #2
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    We'll be going over without having made a recce, but this won't be the first time we've picked up and moved countries. I think only you will know if that's ok for your family. For us, we're already decided and we're going for it.

    I think a recce makes sense for some, but if you've decided, got a job lined up, and put things in order to leave already, would a two week trip provide enough insight to change your mind?

  3. #3
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    I think recce trips are a great idea generally, although I have to say that I think the experience of visiting somewhere essentially on holiday and living there can be so dramatically different they may not be as much use as I think. However I'm not sure it would really be worth the money in your case, as you're planning to move relatively soon and your wife already has a job lined up. It will be quite expensive to go twice within the next six months. Also, while I understand your apprehension you do seem to have made your mind up and if you want to do it then I doubt anything you see/experience on a recce trip would change your mind.

    I have been before, OH and I went at the end of 2010 to visit his mother and have a holiday. We were considering moving already and knew Wellington was likely to be our destination of choice so we made sure we spent longer there than we may have otherwise - still only 4 days though - and we spent some time exploring suburbs we wouldn't usually have gone to if we weren't considering living there. But I think even if we hadn't I would still be as keen to move based on the research I've done, but also, and probably most importantly, based on my reasons for wanting to move in the first place.

    You know why you want to leave the UK and a recce trip certainly won't change those reasons. If you're concerned about your choice of NZ why don't you post on what you are looking for in your life in NZ and the lovely people on here who are already there will be able to give you an indication as to whether the life you are looking for is one which you are likely to find in NZ.

  4. #4
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    Two years ago we came without a recce, without jobs and with our eight year old twin sons in tow. We have not looked back, and chatting to our sons on the beach last night they stated that NZ school and life was much better than Scotland....so we are all happy.

  5. #5
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    Great posts so far.
    I agree with one of the above posters that reccie trips are a great idea, we came on 2, 3 yrs apart. But to be honest if your wife has a pretty definite job offer and it is just a few months I would not waste the money.
    Save your money for moving out here as it is pretty expensive intially with set up costs and shipping stuff.

    If it is any reassurance we moved from the US with 2 boys, 4 and 6, and they have not looked back. They are doing great in school, making friends and doing so much more activities and outside stuff than back home. We all love it!!!

    Save the money, truest your decision and start planning!!!!! Maybe do some fun stuff in the UK over the summer to make it a great last summer!!

    Good luck.

  6. #6
    Manks's Avatar
    Manks is offline Serial procrastinator and general busybody
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    I second Hagabel in saying that, if you've already got a job lined up to move to, I'd just make the move. Between now and the move there is so much to do as it is (and so much money to spend!) that you might as well save yourself some time and money.

    We didn't intent on coming on a recce. We had a holiday booked already and just before we travelled, someone put the crazy idea in our heads about moving here. So we used the holiday as an opportunity to learn more about the country and what it might offer us. But we didn't use it to research areas to live etc. We treated it as a holiday of a lifetime with a bit of research thrown in. We ended up moving to Welly (as that's where the job came up), where we had spent less than 24 hours on holiday. I admit I was a little nervous about coming here as I hadn't thought much of it on holiday. But living here, we love it! We had thought that we'd start here and end up moving to Auckland. Now we have absolutely NO desire to move to Auckland.

    So I agree that holiday/recce experiences differ greatly from the living here experience too.

  7. #7
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    Save your money. But definitely research costs of living and housing costs. I see on this forum more than anything else, people's shock at the cost of living and the cost of housing. People comment about being upset with selling their home back in "fill in the blank, UK, USA..." and the fact that type won't ever be able to replace that house again. So, just do your research and be as prepared as you can be and let the adventure begin.

  8. #8
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    For me (on recce right now) it's been invaluable. Even wearing work clothes and having meeting helps you put yourself into the mind frame of what it would be actually like to live here. That being said it's hardly like the old days in the 70s when families left Scotland and were never heard from again. If you don't like it, you can always come back.
    Last edited by dede; 7th March 2012 at 02:06 PM.

  9. #9
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    Thanks for the replies everybody. To be honest you've all just confirmed what i was already thinking - save the cash for when we get out there. We're sure we're coming, my wife has a job lined up, not much is going to put us off as our reasons for leaving the UK still remain, and i agree that a week in NZ is unlikely to tell us much about living out there.

    Now to get planning!!!

    No recce trip also means a few more dollars to buy some beers when we get out there and thanks again for the replies

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mamee & Co View Post
    Two years ago we came without a recce, without jobs and with our eight year old twin sons in tow. We have not looked back, and chatting to our sons on the beach last night they stated that NZ school and life was much better than Scotland....so we are all happy.
    Hope you dont mind me asking, did you have visas in place before you left?

    Just sometimes I get to the point where I just want to sell up and get back there, but cant get the points for Residency, so it would need to be a complete gamble, coming on visitor visa and hoping to get work...am I brave enough to risk it?? I think so but OH works in Immigration here and things can def go wrong.

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