Above, our three Airbnb living rooms. Home until we can go home.
Waiting sucks.
Since September, we’ve had our eyes set on New Zealand. I was able to transfer my teaching credentials without any issues and secured a teaching job amazingly fast. We worked with great relocation consultants that had connections with a school on the North Island that ended up being a wonderful fit. Everything went so smoothly in September/October (getting paperwork in, job interview, visa applications) that we expected to have no trouble making it for the start of the New Zealand school year in January (it’s the southern hemisphere’s summer right now).
We’ve been in a holding pattern since November, when our lease in Delaware was up. We didn’t want to sign another lease, knowing we only had a few months before moving, so we packed everything we had left (after aggressively selling and donating most of what we owned) into a 5×8 U-Haul trailer and drove back across the country to the Midwest. We planned to spend time with friends and family over the holidays and fly out to New Zealand in mid-January before my teaching job started on January 19.
And of course, that didn’t happen. Well, we did spend time with friends and family. After almost a year on the East coast, we are so grateful that we got to see our loved ones back home in the Midwest and reconnect with people before we move to the other side of the world. But we’d calculated when we thought our visas would be ready…and that date came and went. The only thing we could do was hurry up and wait, as they say.
We’ve been in 3 Airbnbs in 3 cities (and my parents house) within 3 months. We’ve moved 6 times in the last 13 months and will move one more time before we’re all said and done. Yes, I am tired of moving. Every time we’ve had to switch houses, the physical, mental, and emotional load is overwhelming. We’ve downsized over the last year from a full 2500 sq-ft house to 7 suitcases, 4 carry ons, and 4 backpacks (shoutout to Mom and Dad for letting us store some things until we figure out long term plans🙌). Moving all our stuff all over the place, not to mention three little humans who are nearly completely dependent on us for everything, is no small task. Being in spaces that aren’t our own is draining. We can’t fully unpack or utilize the space in a way that makes sense for our family if we were staying there long term. So many people travel full time and have it down to a science, but man, that is a hard life (maybe it would be easier if we had less things and older kids…but it sure is challenging with littles).
So much of the last few months has been unknown and a test to our flexibility. We’ve had to let go of our plans, belongings, and stability as we prepare to start this adventure in New Zealand. Some days I feel overwhelmed with it all, but generally we’ve been managing things okay and have tried to make the best of all the waiting.
We’ve had to rely on lots of screen time for the kids, since we don’t usually have access to many toys or play spaces in all our in-between homes. Halston (4.5) has been super into Paw Patrol, so now all the pups’ catch phrases live rent-free in my head. One of the pups, Rocky, often declares “green means go!” before gearing up to save the day. Every day I’ve woken up wondering, “is today the day? Will we get the green light?” And week after week, we remained at a standstill waiting for our visas to be approved. We saw our target move date slip past us, and then my teacher work week, and then the beginning of the New Zealand school year. We’d already found a rental home close to my school in New Zealand that we were paying rent on, so every day was continued expense and more waiting. More tv shows and video games. More takeout and trying to buy just enough at the grocery store to get us by. More taihoa. I guess having a little more time to absorb some Māori words wasn’t a bad thing, but living in limbo like this is something I’ve never experienced before. It’s been a good lesson in waiting I suppose, and I don’t think I will ever take having a bed that is ours and the ability to unpack our belongings fully for granted.
Thankfully, I have good news to share. After all that waiting, we finally got the green light on Sunday night, just after the Superbowl halftime show.
APPROVED.
No more taihoa. Now it’s go time. Flights are booked for Thursday, and we start our new adventure in the land of kiwis and hobbits. These next days and weeks will be FULL of adventures and update-worthy things, and I will certainly try to update as much as I can. Please don’t be afraid to reach out to see how we’re doing (WhatsApp or FB Messenger are best, but our US numbers will still work on a limited basis). If you have questions or things you’d like me to write about here, let me know. It’s been probably 15 years since I’ve blogged in any capacity, but it feels good to write again and document our journey. Instagram will be the way I send updates for new blog posts, but if I can figure out an email list to subscribe to, I may try to get that going (if people are interested). Right now I’m just aiming to keep friends and family in the know, but if you randomly happened upon this blog, welcome.
Lots of big things ahead for us, stay tuned 🙂
Love, Erin & Fam
Documentation of the messy middle. Trying to pare down everything you own into 7 suitcases is not for the faint of heart.
