I'm a Kiwi in her 20s who left New Zealand to live abroad, now I'm back. Here's why.
When I ask my Gen-z peers about their plans for the future, the answers generally take two forms - or rather two landmasses - Australia or Asia.
Indeed, Stats NZ data from September 2025 showed that of the year's 119,800 total migrant departures, the bulk of the 46,400 net loss was young people aged 18-30.
Of late, I've had the pleasure of interviewing two of these Kiwis who have recently packed up and sought their fortunes in Australia.
I was pleased to hear about the numerous successes and differences both enjoyed in their respective shifts - lower cost of living and higher entrepreneurial drive cited as key for both of them.
However, I felt that I was in the unique position, as a Kiwi who in the last year moved BACK to New Zealand from abroad, to offer my perspective on the features which drove me to return.
I departed NZ in 2021 to study in Los Angeles, California.
I found, even before the incentive offered by long-term effects Covid had on the economy and job market, that I was desperate to grow my world-experience.
I deeply enjoyed my time overseas, and personally found leaving NZ allowed me to grow a more worldly perspective and taught me to engage with a wider range of backgrounds and views.
Nonetheless, I found absence made the heart grow fonder.
Shared Background
There's something to be said for the innate comfort of being surrounded by people who share a socio-cultural background with you.
Little things - Can't park there, mate; ghost chips; nek minnit - it may seem silly to single out these niche Kiwi taglines, but you realise the value of shared cultural references when you lose them.
Learning to speak the 'reference language' of another country was something I found surprisingly difficult in living abroad.
These days increased access to technology, namely social media, means globally people share an 'online language'.
All the same, I found myself having to think before I spoke (probably a good thing) when engaging in conversations abroad.
While I was living in a primarily English speaking country, I never really felt fluent, confident that my Kiwi punchlines, irony and especially sarcasm would land.
Returning to New Zealand I felt that a weight had lifted. I wasn't sure if that was the pressure of representing the Kiwi identity to people who had never met one, or the extra effort I was unconsciously having to make bridging the disconnect in our conversational, cultural backgrounds.
I think learning to communicate with people who are different to you is crucial, and it's a skill I'm incredibly grateful to have developed.
But the intrinsic pleasure of spinning a mindless yarn with fellow Kiwis is a strong incentive to not only return to, but uphold our nation's identity as an independent, unique and quirky culture.
Landscapes
When I asked Kiwi expats, "what do you miss the most about New Zealand", the answer was always the same - "the nature".
During my time away, I also found this to be true.
New Zealand has a glorious - though frequently threatened -, outdoors, which I previously took for granted.
Our beaches are diligently guarded and, in comparison to the Santa Monica area i frequented during my US hiatus, virtually empty.
No searching for a spot within shouting distance of the sea, no ducking out of frame from an influencer filming beach content and no awkwardly avoiding eye-contact with the vendors wheeling carts up and down the beach (yes they really have those).
This country's wilderness, its DOC tramping huts, well maintained trails and conserves, and noisily present bird-life were all incentives for me to return.
On the urban side of things, our cities are certainly dwarfed by global metropolises.
That being said, the fact NZ centres are generally walkable, and NZ public transport being more-or-less reliable (more safe... but less efficient in my personal experience) are things I really appreciated.
The contrast was clear after several less-pleasant walks through central and downtown Los Angeles.
Four seasons (...and sometimes in one day)
Everyone knows you "can't beat a good day in Welly" but as someone who grew up in the city, I know those good days can seem pretty few and far between.
Living in New Zealand means dressing for any weather because, whatever the forecast says, you're likely to get a bit of everything. The conditions here change so quickly you'll be left under a boiling blue sky in a jacket still bearing the residue of the torrential downpour you were braving a mere five minutes earlier.
While weather conditions vary to an extreme within short time span, New Zealand does adhere to a regular seasonal rotation and the variation this adds to life is something I appreciated anew after moving away.
In Los Angeles the cold season looks like a slightly greyer hot-season. I spent one California Christmas surfing and was immediately reminded of home - mind you this was their midwinter.
Without the pronounced indicators of seasonal change we experience here, time is harder to account for as the days seem to blend into one another without differentiation.
In New Zealand, the process of change, from summer's drawn out hours of cicada calls, to winter's short, dark, cold and ultimately cosy days is something I ultimately appreciate anew.
Community
Following Covid, the NZ-specific emphasis on small business, supporting your neighbours and checking in on your community is something I've keenly noticed.
They say you're always seven degrees of connection away from someone, but my experience while abroad was — with Kiwis? It can almost always be narrowed down to one or two degrees. Such is the value of living in a smaller nation.
As a Wellingtonian myself, I also have to give a special shout out to the quirky and independent persona of NZ's capital.
I missed my community deeply while abroad, and am lucky enough to now have a job that allows me to be near them.
While pushing away from your family to crack out on your own is natural, I find it deeply sad when economics are the reason people live apart from their loved ones.
There's a world of difference between face-timing your whānau to share exciting updates on a life adventure, and the calsl made when a departure has been forced by unlivable economic and employment circumstances back home.
Needs for change
Do I think we can safely assume the Kiwis leaving in droves will, for the same reasons as me, be encouraged to eventually 'see the light' and come running back? No.
To me, It's clear some incentives need to be offered before we can ask young people with aspirations to consider sticking around. Opportunities and a viable cost-of-living are at the top of the list.
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