Backstory

I recently quit my relatively well-paid job and am now willingly unemployed and travelling, with no fixed abode.

Let’s backtrack a little to give my current ‘funemployed’ status some context…

I’m a Kiwi who for the past 8 years has been working in London. With a job in education that allowed for plenty of travel and a decent amount of money coming in, there wasn’t a lot of reason for me to contemplate a change in lifestyle.

*Enter Trans-Atlantic relationship*

My partner Robert is American, and holds an American passport. Having been born in the UK and raised in NZ, I hold both a British and NZ passport.

Up until I met Robert, I had only heard of the never-ending visa struggles from friends and work colleagues desperate to stay in the UK, but never actually experienced them first-hand due to my dual nationality (thanks parents!)

After over a year of back and forth over the Atlantic, our Venn diagram of visas came down to this:

* For now, at least… #brexit

So essentially, Robert getting a visa for the UK or me for the US was proving essentially impossible, but my little ol’ country I call home allowed him to come to NZ on a 1-year working holiday visa, with next to no questions asked.

So, with a place that we could both legally live and work (for at least a year) acquired, the questions around timing were what remained. Robert works remotely so he is able to continue working while we travel (damn him…). The end of the school year in the UK fell towards the end of July, so this was an ideal time to tie up work for me. In NZ, however, the beginning of the school year falls around the end of January, so in terms of finding work that was an ideal time to attempt to arrive in NZ. That left us with 6 months of time to play with.

Well, 6 months without work did not seem like an ideal situation to me. How to afford, like, anything?? It’s not like I live an expensive/extravagant lifestyle, but I have been pretty accustomed to eating… and a place to sleep… and most importantly, wine.

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense! Over the years I’ve honed my budget travelling skills and between the 2 of us we have plenty of family and friends around the world that would give us a bed/sofa for the night.

Additionally, Robert has spent a lot of time away from his family (my fault) the past couple of years, so spending a bit of time in the states before heading to NZ fits into our plans nicely.

So, in a nutshell:

• Quit job
• Sent belongings (apart from what I’ll be travelling with) back to NZ
• Left London
• Won’t be at our final destination (NZ) until the end of January!

This blog will document pretty much anything and everything that I feel like writing about during this time, from travel stuff, to leaving London, packing, eating, visas, unemployment and so much more!

If you’re reading this, I’m not sure why, but enjoy!