Family of 4, oldest kid going to intermediate soon. We moved to NZ about 10 years ago from Europe.

We’ve been pondering with the idea to move somewhere within NZ. We love the outdoors and the beach, right now we’re not near a nice beach (Petone) For my work we have to be near a big city. Thought about CHC but there are much fewer IT contracts there. Auckland is an option but we think it’s too big for us.

Schools are also important, we want to live close to good intermediate / secondary schools.

While I like IT as it’s convenient and pays extremely well, it’s not super exciting. Then, I thought, what about a career change? A job as park ranger at DOC looks cool, however it would mean a big drop in salary. Could be manageable if we can get a cheaper house.

Also thought about starting my own business, but don’t have experience. I love making ice cream, not sure though I want to do that professionally.

Our latest idea is to move to Kapiti, as it’s a change of scenery and it’s close to nice beaches.

I still feel a bit stuck. Does anyone have tips?

  • @BalpeenHammer
    3•1 year ago

    Starting your own business is highly risky. If you are going to do that make sure you have a long runway so your family doesn’t suffer while you struggle to get off the ground.

    I don’t know what IT field you are in but a lot of the fields would allow you to work remotely on a freelance basis. You can do that now while you are still working to get the hang of it. Once you are established then you can quit and move someplace else. Yes that will mean having two jobs for a while.

    • @sylverstreamOP
      3•1 year ago

      Thanks. Yeah, starting a business is probably not on the cards.

      I have worked fully remote already via TopTal, and also worked fully remote in NZ. However it seems to become rarer as more companies ask / require people to come into the office more.

      • @MaungaHikoi
        2•1 year ago

        I’m running a small dev contracting company from the far north and we don’t have too much trouble finding remote-only work. My main client is 100% remote for their entire engineering and product teams.

      • @BalpeenHammer
        2•1 year ago

        Rare sure but still thousands and thousands worldwide.