The Big Decision

​Why we decided it was time to pursue our dreams and start living the life we aspire.

Have you ever made a hard decision? A big decision? Scratch that, have you ever made a decision so important that it will alter the course of the rest of your life? We did...

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Picture this, you have a great job, great apartment, you get to travel around Europe often and you are generally happy. There are no major discomforts and if you continued life like this for the next 30 years you’d be a comfortable middle aged person with all of the typical things that come with it.

This pretty much sums up our life in Hamburg, Germany. Nora was the Head of Customer Relations at an eCommerce company and Trevor was the Director of Business Development at a tech company. We had an awesome friend group, our family, cool coworkers, active social life, a monthly booze budget and got to travel to and explore some of the coolest destinations in Europe. Everything that young adults would likely aspire to.

Even with all of this, we always felt an underlying feeling of restlessness that just couldn’t be fixed no matter what we did. We were craving for more. The only thing we could put our finger on was that we were happiest when we were on our little adventures across Europe and outdoors in beautiful Mother Nature. A week in Valencia, a few days in Stockholm, 3 weeks in Sardinia, hiking in Mallorca and so on felt like bliss while they lasted but then it was always back to the drudgery of the Mon - Fri 40+ hour work week, watching basically every good show available on Netflix while emptying a bottle of wine or two.

We all know the feeling. Who hasn’t worked a job that they just couldn’t be bothered with? That’s right, all of us have! Or at least most of us. Our jobs weren’t even the worst part. It was the mind numbing boredom of the daily routine, taking the same train to and from work, walking up the same stairs EVERY DAY (we lived in the 5th floor, no elevator), living in a crowded city, filled with grumpy people and the unshakable feeling that we were spending our youth behind a desk. Some people love the big city life and to be fair there is always some cool stuff going on and Hamburg will always be one of our favorite cities in the world but for us, it just wasn’t it.

Aaaaand suddenly all was clear! (Well not so suddenly, we had the thought of a long-term adventure since a few years). We needed to set off on our own path and forge our own destiny, not do what the subtle social pressures pushed us towards. Experience life through our own eyes and not through picture- perfect social media. To see something new, learn new skills, be outdoors, get to know new cultures and in the process build a life for us that allows us to be our true selves. Young adults nowadays have the opportunity to choose and that’s what we did.

Somebody somewhere once said that all great decisions are made instantaneously. On a cold rainy December day in 2017 we decided it was time to make our dream become reality: we are applying for a Visa, quitting our jobs, selling everything and moving our butts to New Zealand aka the Land of The Long White Cloud. If that doesn’t sound like endless opportunity then nothing does!

Why all the way to the other side of the world you might wonder? Incredible outdoor views and activities around every turn, less people, friendly folks and lots of work where you can get your hands dirty.

The first step may feel like the biggest but for us that was not true, the decision was the easy part, executing on it was the hard part when you live in a country that is ruled by bureaucracy.

So that is how we came to the Big Decision. What are the defining decisions of your life so far?

​Love, Nora & Trevor