As we are drawing closer to our two-year year mark in New Zealand I often find myself reflecting on those mixed bag of emotions I felt before we made the move here.
Two years ago this blog was just a idea on paper, I researched all the practicalitys of how to move to NZ and drafted what I learnt into the blog to help others. I never actually wrote about the feelings and thoughts of such a big move and change in our lives – I certainly wish I did.
I have been following Suzy from In the Lyons Den for some time now, Suzy has decided along with her beauitful family to “up sticks” and move to Queenstown, New Zelaand from Sydney, Australia. I asked her for her input on change, making the decision to come to NZ and all those emotions you feel before you make the big move here. Something I didn’t get the chance to blog about two years ago.
Suzy’s story and outlook on the up and coming change in her life is certainly inspirational and thought-provoking, don’t you think?!
Change.
It is something in our life that is often met with a rollercoaster of emotions. Change is mixed with feelings of excitement and exhilaration for fresh starts blended with fear, trepidation, and worry. Have you ever thought about following your dreams and changing your life?
Up until recently our vision of moving to New Zealand has been a dream. Like a 6 year plus long dream. My husband and I have talked about it, pretended and wondered what it would be like if we did move to a country that we have traveled to many times and love every inch of the place and the people. We have a great life where we live in Sydney, Australia but have always thought about doing something different. It has remained a dream for this time because we run a business and have a family so it means changing everything. And with change comes the fear of the unknown, an element of risk and it is easy to just quash your dreams and keep going with the sure thing of what you know and what you currently have.
The problem with doing this is that nothing is a sure thing. So we kept saying to ourselves did we want to spend our life looking back wondering what if? Or did we want to jump on the rollercoaster and give it a red hot try? So we started doing our research. If we wanted to turn our dreams into a reality we actually had to do something about it. We have traveled all over New Zealand but as most people find, Queenstown has something really special about it and we are always drawn back. Like most places I have travelled to in New Zealand, Queenstown has so much to offer apart from being such a popular tourist destination. It has a vibe, an energy and this has to do with the amazing position and landscape but also the people who make the community within the town.
Making the right decision for the family.
We have a family – 2 kids and a dog. In following our dreams and changing our life we are changing theirs too. Any decision we make affects them too. This has been a huge thing for us in making sure that we are doing the right thing for our family. In saying that we know that New Zealand has so much to offer as far as raising a family that really, I don’t think we can go too wrong. It is even voted as one of the best places to raise a family. But it is easy for fear to creep in. We could play it safe and stay where we are or we could take a chance and open ourselves and our kids up to different experiences and new opportunities.
It is a huge step to pack up the life that you have known, put it all in a container and move it across the sea. Although I don’t believe that your home is made up of material objects, there is a comfort in the suburbs you have dwelled in. There is the familiar drive to the shops, the familiar faces of the shopkeepers who know exactly what you are having this week for dinner. Your friends and family are there and always there when you need them and you know exactly what you will get paid this week. All this you leave behind to take on new adventures with new friends and new faces and hopefully a pay packet!!!
Working through all the what ifs.
We are lucky that our journey has allowed time for us to think it through and work through all the emotions we are feeling. We are building a house so our journey has progressed in the last year from looking out the hotel window in Queenstown and wondering what that lovely little block of land across the way actually was, to it a few months later becoming our little slice of New Zealand and now building commencing in a few short weeks. This has allowed us to work through most of those feelings of fear and look more towards the excitement. It has also allowed us to be excited within the fear. We don’t know if leaving the business and moving our family is the right thing to do or will be a huge mistake but the journey could be really amazing and the best learning experience of our lives. Isn’t that the beauty of life?
The big city versus the small town.
We will be moving to a much smaller community to where we are now which I think will be quite beneficial. Part of our reason to move is although Sydney has so much to offer, it is hard to get ahead and you can feel like you are constantly treading water. There is so much opportunity here but we want our kids to have a bit more balance between slaving their guts out in a career and also hopefully enjoying life and all it has to offer. I feel that New Zealand offers a little more of this balance and within that we can build strong ties to the community to get out what we feel we can put in.
I have spoken to many people who have moved out of a city like Sydney. There are some people who say be careful because once you move out it is very hard to get back in. But on the other hand, the vast majority of people I know who have moved out of the big city have said that it is the best thing they have ever done and would never move back. I believe that because, Queenstown and New Zealand in general, has so much to offer, we won’t feel like we are missing out on anything. Queenstown has an array of amazing activities with many being outdoors and nature based. Our children will grow up appreciating the beauty around them and get involved with the environment. We can become part of an amazing community underneath the tourism that love their town and all it has to offer.
We are steadily moving towards the home straight now with the house being built and over the course of the 10-month build will be a fluster of finalizing our business, sorting out our existing house in Sydney, packing up our lives and taking the plunge. It has already been filled with so many emotions and I know this year and the year that follows will be filled with an even bigger assortment of feelings!
Some days I am completely filled with fear and other days I am motivated by the adventure that awaits. There will certainly be hard times, lonely times and times when we will question our decision. There will also be times of pure happiness and excitement as we all undertake this journey together that will change our lives forever.
We never know where the bend in the road will take us. You must be willing to go where you haven’t been,
You never know, you may just discover something amazing is waiting for you.
The funny thing about change and following your dreams is how things can just fall into place as you go. We can spend so much time worrying about the what ifs and the things that could go wrong that sometimes when you look back you realize that perhaps it is all falling into place the way it was meant to.
May we not look back on our lives and wonder what could have been but leap forward, embrace the fear, take the plunge and live! The fear and the excitement is what will make it an adventure.
About Suzy:
Suzy is currently living in Sydney, Australia with her 2 x beautiful kids and 1 x all round top husband who’s been rocking it with her since the 90’s. In between running a business and studying, Suzy enjoys writing over at In the Lyons Den which she started writing to document the journey of changing their lives and moving to New Zealand, as well as the juggle of being an imperfect Mum and whinging parenting and life in general! You can also catch her and her family on Facebook and Instagram!