2024

Sufficed to say, 2024 has been a massive year for the Grant family.

I returned from my solo trip to New Zealand in 2023 just before Christmas and we made the decision soon after to uproot ourselves from Scotland and emigrate to New Zealand.

The year has gone very quickly and I think that's in large part due to the numerous immigration targets and milestones we've had.

Most of the year has been emigration specific.

Outside of that goal, I visited Colorado Springs early in the year for a few days after Wild at Heart invited me to their tech summit. We've been working together for the last 18 months on a range of digital transformation projects.

I finally went for laser eye surgery and now have better than 20/20 vision. This probably deserves a post of its own but I'll wait until I'm a year post surgery.

We enjoyed a week of holiday as the McDade family visited with us for the first time since 2014. This time we took them on a Highland adventure visiting Pitlochry, Inverness, Urquhart Castle, Fort William, Glenfinnan Viaduct and Oban before heading back to Glasgow.

We love hanging out with the McDade family and we look forward us visiting Florida again or them coming to New Zealand. Both will happen, just not sure when.

Why leave Scotland?

We've been continually asked by people this year about why we were moving or by people we've just met here.

There are a few reasons; politics, education, weather and family.

Politics

Politics hasn't been all that big of a driver. I stopped paying attention to a lot of the general political noise in Scotland after the Independence Referendum in 2014. I was delighted that Scotland decided to remain part of the Union but I don't like how divisive Scotland has become since.

From what I read online, New Zealand has its own government issues to contend with but the country doesn't feel as divided or vitriolic like Scotland.

Would we have stayed if we were happy with the political landscape in Scotland? No, we wouldn't. I asked this of a pro-independence supporting friend of mine, now resident in the US. If Scotland was to be independent, would you move back. His answer was no.

Ultimately my take on politics is this: what happens in your own home, is far more important than what government leadership is in place.

Education

Closely tied to politics because the SNP have set the education agenda for the last 17 years. The Scottish system was once highly regarded but has fallen pretty far in the time the SNP have been in power. With 4 kids still in school we felt this was the right time to make the move.

Weather

This has probably been one of the biggest drivers for us. Summer isn't really a season in Scotland. Sure it can get a little bit warmer, but it's rare that we get a good sustained period of weather.

You can't really plan anything in Scotland due to the inclement weather - OK maybe you can but you need a wardrobe for all eventualities. Scotland has a different kind of cold to everywhere else. It's just a damp feeling that seems to linger year round. It's why many Brits tend to head to Spain/Portugal/Greece to get some vitamin D. What's bizarre is that we tend to do it during summer rather than in winter when the day light hours are short and colder than normal.

Sarah and I were fed up of saving for 3-4 weeks in foreign sun each year. More vitamin D was needed. I craved it. My mood is heavily dependent on it.

Compare and contrast with the weather here in Tauranga. Already since we landed in August we've probably spent more time in the sun than we probably did in the last several years in Scotland.

I do have friends in Scotland that spend lots of time outdoors year round, but it's just not for me I'm afraid. I can't visit the driving range during winter because I can't feel my hands to hold a golf club.

I've known for years how the sun and its warmth impacts on my mental state, but I didn't anticipate just how much it could improve as a result. Hannah is the same and frequently used to enquire as to why we lived in Scotland and not somewhere sunny.

Family

Probably not as big of a driver as some might think. Yes, my parents and sisters live here but we didn't move for them. Sarah and I almost moved to Saratoga Springs, NY in 2010 where we had no family. Having my family close has just been a nice side effect of moving here.

Why New Zealand?

Immigration ease, weather and education.

Immigration

Our immigration status is not employer dependent. If I decided to find other work, I'm free to do that. Not always the case in the US under the H1-B visa.

We are regular residents who can vote and do everything that others can. In 2 years time we can apply for permanent residence that means we can travel freely. 3 years after that we can apply for citizenship.

We didn't need to involve immigration attorneys, everything was pretty straightforward.

Weather

I've already covered but I'll add that I've managed around 20 rounds of golf since arriving here. A tad over 1 round per week.

Education

We've been able to send the kids to a Christian school in New Zealand where there's more discipline than what kids have in Scotland. The kids are thriving in that environment because they're not being punished for the disruptive kids in class. Is it perfect? No, but the kids are seeing the benefits for sure.

The process of emigrating

I've outlined the visa process in an earlier post from March but obviously moving countries has many other moving parts.

Practicality #1: Selling the house

Sarah and I had started to look at houses here before our place was even on the market, trying to get a handle on what the housing market was like here. We knew houses here are expensive. Add 5 bed houses into that equation and you're lucky if you're seeing change out of $1.5m NZD (about $800k USD or £667k).

We had literally just completed a 5 year renovation project on Greenlees Road, what we considered to be our forever home. Never will I ever say this about a house again. Life can move fast.

We thought the house would sell quickly - so did the estate agent. We were very wrong. We weren't getting much in the way of viewers either and the ones we did get seemed to just want a nosey around rather than serious buyers.

This was quite disheartening and stressful. It was the one thing we were most confident in happening given the work we'd put in, the house you were getting for the money and the general housing market.

Having already booked our non-flexible flights - this was a mistake in hindsight - we were committed to leaving Scotland on the 15th August.

We finally got an offer in mid-June but it was contingent on the buyer selling their own property in a desirable area of Glasgow. We were confident things would move fast but they didn't. To compound matters, we had also committed to renting a property in New Zealand - another mistake in hindsight - given how scarce 5 bedroom houses to rent are.

We had a perfect storm brewing. Our fixed rate mortgage ending would see us move onto the standard rate of just under 10%. Without selling the house, it would leave us with 3-6 months of financial runway on the New Zealand end.

As in happened the house sale was finalised as we sat in the departure lounge at Glasgow Airport. I'm not ashamed to say I shed a few tears and enjoyed the Guinness of my life.

Practicality #2: School

We knew about Bethlehem College because it was the school my sisters went to. It was the obvious choice for us. A private Christian school that we could comfortably afford.

Unfortunately, there was only space for Rebecca and Hannah at the high school level when we first applied. Primary for Rachel and Levi was full. A space for Rachel at intermediate would be available in February 2025 and Levi would need to wait until intermediate for him in 2026.

Primary schools are much of a muchness but we were a little concerned that Rachel and Levi would make friends in primary, only to then lose those friendships when they moved to intermediate.

Just as we made arrangements for Rachel and Levi at the local school, we received an email from the registrar at BC to say there were 2 families leaving before the end of term and they'd be happy to make the space for Rachel and Levi. This happened the week before we left Scotland. What an answer to prayer that was!

Practicality #3: Finding somewhere to live

We had plans to buy as soon as possible but obviously this was contingent on us selling Greenlees Road. There's no chance we'd have bought or rented sight-unseen. Thankfully my parents were able to do advance viewings for us.

We settled on renting a house we hoped would still be for sale when arrived. The owners live in Auckland and have plans to retire in Tauranga in 5 years time.

It's a 5 bed right on the water that is 15 minutes drive from most places we travel to. The commute to school when we do that can take a little longer although the kids do get the bus home most days.

Life after 4 months

For the most part, things have gone well.

The kids have settled into life in a new school. We're incredibly proud of our teens because uprooting them at 15 and 16 has been tough. I'm sure it's felt like the end of the world leaving friends behind. They've made friends at school here and those relationships will take some time to fully blossom.

We've found a church where Sarah and I are starting to feel at home. This will likely take the kids a little longer because currently there's not much in the way of youth programmes.

We took a mis-step in buying a small seasonal business. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Thankfully we corrected course before we ended up in too deep.

Sarah's hunt for work continues which is hard in a recession. That's been the biggest thing that we didn't anticipate. Thankfully though, my work is comfortably keeping us.

Sarah and I took a "little" trip over to Brisbane in November for a conference. As much as I was there for work, we tagged a couple of days onto the end. It was a good us to catch a breath and spend some evenings and days together without the pressure of the kids. It used to be that Sarah's parents would have the kids if I took Sarah with me to a conference but it was my parents opportunity for the first time.

Our new car is currently off the road after an accident in November where I was rear-ended on the highway. We currently need 2 cars to transport us around which is a pain when we had plans for road trips over the summer as a family.

We're spending much more time together as a family outdoors on hikes or trips to the beach.

We're seeing more of my parents and sisters but they've been great at allowing us to navigate life on our own for the most part. Sarah and I have never had parents this close to us before so it's been an adjustment to that.

Our house contents arrived at the start of December and so our rented house is feeling more like our home. What "home" will look like next year remains to be seen. We flip between the idea of renting this place for the next few years and buying our own place.

Plans for 2025

I kind of feel like we're still in survival mode right now. Life is comfortable but we're navigating new relationships and letting go of some old ones.

Our relationships in Scotland have changed and I guess that was inevitable when you're not spending time together. The texts, emails and video calls stop. And that's understandable.

If the next year went as smoothly as the last 4 months (minus the car crash) I'll be happy.

We need to make a decision on buying our own home versus continuing to rent the house we have.

I had 1 goal this year which was to break 80 at golf. I came close shooting 81 today. I'll roll that into 2025 or look to regularly shooting in the 80s.

Outside of that, I don't know what "success" looks like for December 2025. Work continues to roll along I'm happy to take things as they come.

Happy New Year everyone.