Well … our time together has come to an end.  

Together we flew 19,000 miles on 7 planes.   (The Earth is 24,901 miles in circumference.)  We drove 1,410 kilometers, not including the quad biking.  We rode on 9 boats.  We hiked 33 kilometers and ascended roughly 2,000 meters while doing so.  I took over 1,500 pictures, and have culled them down to 940 which currently sit on my hard drive.  Further culling will continue for several weeks after I return. 

I’m in the Air New Zealand lounge.  Free beer and wine refrigerate before me as far as the eye can see.  So beautiful.  We have about four hours to kill before boarding.  Thought I’d say goodbye to you all now before I drank too much.    

In the beginning, I said we had questions to answer on this trip.  Can we retire here?  Should we move here before that?  What would life be like?  

The New Zealand government would let us retire here, particularly if we brought money.  Though we would not be eligible for health care, I imagine policies exist for non-citizen residents.  However, this approach would require a greater nest egg.  Doable, but would require aggressively saving. 

Moving here before retirement is problematic.  The economy is smaller and the choices are fewer.  Our ability to save would be diminished.   While I’m not attached to my job, it’s useful for now.  (Plus, I don’t work particularly hard for the rate.)  When the day comes I’m unemployed (somedays I think sooner, somedays I fear much later), I’d rather be looking for work in New York than anywhere else.  To leave all this too early strikes me as a poor family business decision.    

What would life be like here?  Well, cities are cities and people are people.  Life wouldn’t be all that different in large ways, but quite different in small ways.  I know RBD and I prefer rural environments for vacationing, and we aren’t “stuff” people.  We might adjust to a Kiwi lifestyle pretty easily.  Maybe after I’m done punching a clock (in hopefully 21 years), the New Zealand government will let me drive trains as a second career. 

Thank you all for coming along on this journey.  I really appreciate your time.  It means a lot to me you opted in and cared about what I had to say.  

As I said prior, if there’s a picture you want a digital proof of, let me know.  I’ll send you the full resolution file.  If you’d like something printed, framed, and authenticated, that’s also doable but comes with a cost from the printer.  

From New Zealand, signing off.  

Ma te wa.