It has been over a year and a half since we left our lives in England and moved to NZ, we always said we would try and come back every other year and even though it felt like my parents had just left us and Isaac’s family only visited in September it was all the other elements of going back to the place we still regularly call “home” that we were craving.
We were missing our grandparents, our extended family, our friends and lots of Cornish delights that we love. We couldn’t cope last June with photos from our friends via various means of social media of the great British summer (we definitely weren’t missing the weather though!) in all its glory. Plus we had definitely underestimated the cold kiwi winter, we held onto those feeling this year and decided June was the right month to visit ole blighty. Plus we could do all the things we love, Glastonbury, Glastonbury, and did I mention Glastonbury! So we thought stuff the practicalities of it all you only live once lets start our tradition now.
When we were discussing our must dos, we wanted to go to main land Europe, we wanted to go to Glastonbury but we also wanted a enough time in Cornwall to explore all our old haunts and create good quality memories with our family. A two week trip was not enough so we decided to go away for the whole month of June.
Dilemma One: What to do about our rented apartment.
One thing we were sure on…we couldn’t afford to leave it empty. We had been doing Air BnB for a while now so we decided to rent our place out for the whole month. We got a request from a doctor from England who needed a place to stay whilst she settled in over here…it felt like the perfect solution everything was falling into place. Or so we thought…
Then the day we were going to accept her booking on Air BnB we get a message from our property manager: please call us. We felt concerned – we were unsure why she would need to get hold of us so urgently. We found out that afternoon our property was going to be put on the market. They were selling up.
Since that phone call a week and half ago we have been pondering over our options. We had no choice to decline the Air BnB booking as we just couldn’t have someone staying in the flat whilst opening homes were commencing and people were coming to view the property. It wasn’t the honest thing to do and would of been very inconvenient for our Air BnB renter.
It then forced us to analyse our life style in NZ essentially we are not happy with a few elements of our lives here…namely our apartment. We decided to let it go and move out and put our items in storage. A whole new added stress before we fly but hey we have moved all our items half way around the world once what is a move 30 minutes down the road to a storage unit?!
Storage Units:
They are cheap! The money alone from what we are saving on rent for the month of June make’s storage unit solution super cheap. We spent one Saturday finding out where was best for us, we settled on Crowns $185 NZD per month with a one off $10 signing up fee and one weeks notice to leave and a refund on what you don’t use. Luckily we had family to stay with when we moved here back in 2014 but this would be a good option for expats moving here and having no where to put your belongings whilst you settle.
Dilemma Two: Where to live upon our return.
We then had a second dilemma where to live when we come back. I got chatting to one of the girls at work and she mentioned house sitting, again something I had never thought of but it appears a to be a big thing over here! The kiwis kind, caring and generous nature combined with Auckland’s petty crime problem with household theft has developed a community of house sitters where you live in the home owners house/apartment rent free and even sometimes bill free whilst they are away on holiday looking after the house and also any pets they may have. Home owners can save a fortune by a avoiding putting there pets in a cattery/dog kennel whilst they go on holiday so it really is a win win situation for both. I read a article recently about young couples who doing this as a long term solution as a quick fire way of saving up money for a deposit for a mortgage…
A light bulb went on!
TING!
I came across the kiwi house sitters, $84 NZD is for a years membership. We came across the most perfect add for a house just a few kilometers out of the city wanting house sitter’s for the month of July, it happened to be the exact date we return back from England. They have an old cat and three chickens that need looking after. Anyone who knows us knows that we love chickens (RIP old friends Buttons and Nugget) and Isaac loves cats. I contacted them on a whim and it turns out they were English too and doing the same thing as us (going home to visit family) it was perfect we now have somewhere to go when we get back!
Buttons and Nugget 🙂
Again I can’t stress enough what a good option this is for people moving here and don’t have family and friends to lean on.
I believe in fate our plans for our trip back to England has all fallen into place all at once. We do have a bit of stress in the next week or so but now we are going with the peace of mind we are saving heaps of money over the next few months! I personally am quite excited about being a nomad again even if it for a short while it is a lifestyle I enjoy and for us is the start of some long term life goals for the lifestyle we are after! To find out more about the house sitting process check out our post on it here 🙂
I may be a little quiet on the blog over the next month or so but I plan on keeping myself busy by drafting up blog posts whilst we are away. I am intrigued to find out what feelings develop whilst we are away, about life as a nomad, about what we missed about Cornwall and about the changes we notice in us and our feelings as expats! I am sure these thoughts and feelings are completely natural and I am sure as expat it will be a interesting ride! Bring it on!