8 Years in New Zealand as an American | Are we staying? 

You're doing the right thing Tara, Family is most important. You'll always be a 'KiwiAmerican' wherever you are in the world🙂 You are a lovely lady and NZ will miss you.

Careful. American Kiwi here who also did it. You can only live as a Permenant Resident outside of NZ for two years. Aftet that you need to apply for a variation (extension) but you nerd a bonifide reason. Mine was selling my house was taking longer at the time. Good luck and stay safe over there. The place is crazy. Me im staying in NZ. Best place in the world.

Awwww AOTEAROA will always be here when you decide to come Home 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

I have an American friend who has NZ residency. She couldn’t find permanent work here in NZ so spends approximately 6 months in each country. The internet means she can stilll work while overseas. She has property both in New York and here in NZ. When she is going to be away longer in the US due to family commitments she rents out her home here in NZ. She views it as a win win. Wishing you all the best.

Gutted. All the best and stay safe! Do some videos on how much the US has changed in the last 8 years.

Bugger Tara, you've shown NZ to the world helping people move here and embraced the kiwi life style. You will be missed but know you will always be part kiwi now and you and your lovely family can come back home whenever you miss us.stay safe guys❤❤😢

Your New Zealand whanau will miss you terribly. Just know you will always have a home here ❤

I have been an ardent follower of your postings for most of your 8 years, and was actually a wee bit upset to hear that you're leaving. Whanau is important, and a critical component of lifestyle....go with your heart,and our shores will always be open to you. Kia Ora Koutou Katoa.

Sorry to hear that you're leaving us. Best wishes for the future.

Thank you for being so proud of our little nation at the bottom of the world, and giving it exposure and spotlight. All the best with your move back to the USA.

You are doing the right thing Tara. Family is so important. And both your parents and two of your children are living in the USA in your home state. Your videos about New Zealand have been fantastic. New Zealand will always be one of your homes what ever you do in the future. I really admire your adventurous and entreprenurial spirit.

You have been a very welcome addition to NZ, not just because you have advertised us to the world, but more so because you have accepted and embraced our cultural differences. Blessings for the next part of your life journey.

It has been a pleasure being amused confused and confided in as you navigated your way around. Please do keep in touch.

You will be sadly missed. I hope you do return. We need more people like you in our part of the world. Kia kaha Tara.

You're doing the right thing. You will feel better down the road for spending time with family. NZ is an adventure that will never leave you! ❤

I hope you return here. I have enjoyed hearing your view of this beautiful country through your vlogs. One must follow their heart. It sounds easy but I can see it's been a hard choice for you. Safe travels always.

Sorry to see you go. You will have good things to enjoy and things that will be hard to go without from New Zealand. I understand completely. I went back to USA in 1995 to stay indefinitely, but my son had a near fatal motorcycle accident here in New Zealand. So, after one year, my plans went out the window and I raced home to stay with my son. I have never been back to USA. I hope one day you and all your immediate family decide to return as we need lovely families like yours here. Thank you for helping others learn how to come to New Zealand. I have enjoyed sharing your videos with others. Best wishes to you all. Will still watch you when you are back in the USA. 😊❤

Good on ya Tara you gotta do whats good for you and im gonna miss your videos. You actualy helped me appreciate my country more. thank you Tara and all the best

You are a great inspiration and made me start planning of immigrating from Africa to new Zealand

Family first always. It’s been a pleasure watching you enjoy New Zealand

Family first - but you have been an inspiration and encouraged me to try things as well as provided a unique insight for us Kiwis - Go well, hold us in your heart until you return Best wishes to you and family.

Go with your heart! Sounds like making the right choice. New Zealand will always be there, you can come and go, family always comes first

OMG !!! This iso hard to comprehend. I would have never thought in a million years that you were leaving our shores. So hard to digest but all the best. I’m so heart broken!!

I know the feeling Tara , moved back to NZ from the UK for family reasons, its been hard , only 2 months here so far and still working through the change. Who knows for how long life is a constant adventure. Hope it works out for you .

Aww, I've watched and enjoyed your vidz over the last year. Kia kaha , Kia māia, Kia manawanui. Be strong, Be brave, Be steadfast. All the best to you and your whanau!!❤❤❤

Sad to hear that. You do what's best for your family. We will miss you when you leave but NZ will always be here with open arms when you and the whanau decide to come back. Wishing you all the best. Be happy and stay safe ❤🙏

Loved your content, been watching it for the last few years... Stay safe and enjoy that time with your family💯💚

Wellington on a perfect day is heart breaking beautiful isn't it. Good luck. I understand the pull home. I was born in Wellingto ,my husband immigrated from Scotland in 1964. In 1982 we .ade a sudden decision to move to Brisbane Australia. We had 1 set of friends here. While it was difficult wasn't really that different! Another icing on your cake is, unless you are running business still in nz you will only have 1 set of tax!! Good luck. I am looking forward to following your journey.

All the best to you Tara . I'll bet Christi is excited !

OMG I’m in tears watching this. I can see the struggle you have. I’m sure this will be the best decision for you. With 2 of your kids here, I would have moved back too. The bravest people are the people willing to make the changes they need to at the time they need to. This is what’s best for you now. You’ve got this. Anything I can do to help you, please ask. And hey, if you come over to NY let me know. We can go up to Lake George and have a couple drinks.

It has been nice getting to know you Tara and thanks for everything you have done to assist with 'This is New Zealand', which I hope you will show to your friends in the US, and will be interested in seeing you back when you make the decision. My good friend Alex with his three oscars, who came out to work on 'Lord of the Rings', has now finally gone back to LA for the same reason.

So sorry to hear this! But on the bright side I would like to meet you in person! I'm still in the states relatively close to Wisconsin. Actually in IL. I love all your tips and your story. I know you'll go back to New Zealand. For sure I would if I could. Yes I do understand family first. For me I always tell myself. USA is your independence but New Zealand is home. The rush in US it just feels overwhelming at times in my opinion. Regardless, I hope you can go back to New Zealand and live your dream life again. I appreciate all you do.

Dear Tara, I too have been watching your channel for sometime and like most of your viewers, we completely understand your family comes first. As it should. Thank you for sharing your world and seeing New Zealand in your eyes. Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to see what you have and where you can go that unleashes the power of possibility. Tara for me, you have done that and I couldn't thank you enough.

sorry to hear you are leaving but totally understand how you feel family first always:)

We kiwis will miss you.

Good luck. I hope things work out and we have you back home here in N.Z.

Will add you to long list of youtubers that have vowed to return to NZ. We will all move over and make room for yiu all with welcome arms. You are whanau

Aww that’s sad, stay safe and best wishes to you and your family xx

Awwwwe you will be missed. While your over there just remember you have a place saved here for you all when you come back. Good luck and see ya when we do.

Thanks for sharing. I love your channel. Also yes it’s good to be with family as your parents are not getting younger. Take care and I hope you move back later xx big hugs

I'd love to hear some video's about the pros of been in America again. All the best!!!!

Thanks for living in NZ and promoting it on your channel. All the best with your travels.

Tara Family is so important to most everyone and Family relationships are presous are it's easy to grow apart when far away. Please keep your videos going as I am sure people in NZ would love see what the US is really like there is so must bad press on the Nation I for one would be very interested in seeing what it's like un edited. You are absolutely an asset to New Zealand I for one appreciate what you do and will continue to see you the same way Tara. We all look forward to continuing to veiw you if that's what you decide😊

You will always regret it if you don’t do what is in your heart. All the best with the move. Your kiwi family will miss you, but we will welcome you with open arms when you return.

have followed your channel and really enjoyed! would love to have you back all the best

Aww Tara I just found out about you yesterday I am really enjoying your posts so far. God bless you in your venture back to USA.

Epic timing - into the belly of the beast at one of the most volatile points in it's history. Good luck with that.

All the best to you and your whanau on this new adventure. It means more fun videos with your bestie 🥳🥰

Look on the bright side, you had 8 years more than most Americans in our quirky little country.

Good luck with the big move! We had to do the same (NZ - Finland) in 2020 also due to family reasons, and let me tell you, reverse culture shock is real. 12+ years in the beautiful NZ profoundly changed us and settling back to our old home was not as easy as expected. But you are absolutely right about the different opportunities - our careers have taken such cool, new directions that we never could have imagined or hoped for! But we're still terribly missing NZ and really hoping we can return home one day. My brain is wired to daily sunshine and above freezing temperatures, so the annual 6 months of darkness, slush and snow is pretty hard to deal with :(

❤❤❤All the Best 👍 God Bless 🙌 🙌 🙌 🙌 n God protect You n your family for a safe return back to USA 🇺🇸 ❤❤❤

Thank you for all your work and effort. I have loved watching your videos from time to time. We will miss you. Love and best wishes from ourfamily to you and yours. Paul and Bev xxx

Safe travels Tara. You'll be back soon I'm sure. And hope.

Awesome glad you experienced NZ it's a bit isolated quite and slow hope you and your family do well thanks for sharing

We're going to miss you. I've enjoyed every video you have put on. Good luck and God bless. Xx

Hey Tara, we'll miss you here in NZ. I hope that everything goes great for you and the family.

Tara, You’ve inspired us to move to NZ and we’re so grateful for you. I had the oddest moment of feels when I met a family here in the US who moved from Nelson (where we want to move) to NC (where we live now). The mom is American and missed her mom, but her whole family, 4 kids and husband, are kiwi and didn’t want to leave. It was awkward discussing how the culture in America had shifted over the past 14 years of her absence because she was really excited to be back. The last time she was in the states she was a very young adult. She didn’t notice the two men circling in the parking lot of the playground watching our kids, nor knew to be aware that ticks in the woods in our area can give you Lyme disease now. What a complicated thing to wrap your head around. I was talking to my husband about how odd it must be to leave a country for another one. Because the moment you leave, your home country continues to evolve and change. Coming back feels like jarring notes in a familiar song. But family is so important, especially if you’re close with your parents and especially if your kids are back in the states. I would move back to the US if my kids came back here for college. Your support and closeness is so important. We’ll be here as you process the reverse culture shock and how you stay vulnerable and truthful about your observations of cultures. What a beautiful story you are telling and I can’t wait to follow you on your new adventures. ❤

Just a little msg: My father attended college in Milwaukee when I was 5yo in the 1960s -- so I have fond memories too! Wonderful parks, nice schools, great downtown and always a corner tavern with 25c beer. And we could easily hop a bus anywhere. My sister and I walked to school by ourselves. Happy days. It was always family first. Uncles went deer hunting, weekends at Lake Okochee or the Dells where the sand was impossibly soft. (You could do a segment of the Dells!) I understand the draw of Wisconsin. Whenever we go back I get butterflies. Such kind, fun and friendly people. Good luck! There's no place like home!

Wow! Wishing you the best on your journey. Looking forward to seeing how you do. Maybe when you move back I'll be able to make it work financially. I've still got a couple things I need to sort out including paying off my student loans which is going to take me a bit. I intend to move permanently and want to leave debt free.

Good luck. We've enjoyed the channel and found it helpful immigrating to NZ from Canada (although I'm originally from NZ).

good luck, hope to see you back in NZ soon.

My Mum is from Denmark, she was born and raised in Denmark. My Dad is Kiwi and was born and raised in New Zealand. I was born in New Zealand and raised in New Zealand. Travelling long distances is very difficult when you have a Family. My Parents always planned and wanted to go back to Denmark for holidays especially since my Mum’s Family still live over there. But I am 23 and I have still never visited Denmark because travelling long distances is so difficult and expensive.

I hope you keep up your video sessions when you go back. I have really enjoyed your talks. Best of luck; I will watch out for you.

Oh Wow, I'm from Upstate NY and I will miss all the cheats you give me about New Zealand. I'm like a sponge soaking up all your knowledge about Kiwi life. I plan on visiting and maybe moving to New Zealand someday so I enjoyed all your content. I hope you make a safe and easy move back to the MidWest!

Wishing you all well 😊

I hope you and your family return to New Zealand, Tara, you're nice person who appreciates our country.

The move back permanently will be hard but it is what it is. Safe journey back to the states,you've been blessed to experience and live an amazing life up to now. Aotearoa,your 2nd home will always be here. Hoki mai ano,come back again,maybe when you n hubby retire..Haere ra..

Awww seriously going to miss you, I wish you well, lucky you can come back...take care...

Going to miss you and family, I realise most of your family is in America .see you guys when you get back!!

All the best for your future in North America.When you return to NZ as you will,think of settling further north.Lots of places for your retirement closer to the equator,where you can dispense with the jerseys and heavy coats.The better weather,I believe certainly lifts your spirits.Check out the Winterless Northland,Coromandel ,Waiheke Island,the well named Bay Of Plenty.

i have family in christchurch. I completely agree. Im in pittsburgh and biggest regret is not going to nz more often or live there perm.

Thousands, tens of thousands have been through this, many years ago it took months to get back to where you came from, now it's a 10 hour flight. All the best.

Ive enjoyed your tik tok videos about NZ. Consider it an adventure, and hope to come back :)

Best wishes to you and your family!, I couldn't imagine having to make that choice! I hope you will use the opportunity to educate people here in America on the so many things our country could be doing better!

Hey Tara I have enjoyed watching your videos. Love your energies. Will keep an eye out for your videos you do in the states. Maybe you can do kiwis wanting to go the states.

We have enjoyed what you have had to say about our beautiful country. We will always welcome you back. Enjoy your family while you can ❤

Thanks for making these videos. I moved from the us to NZ then moved back to the US. Good luck!

This is such a surprise but you do need to spend time with your kids and parents.

We will surely miss you with all your Kiwi channel content…❤❤❤❤

All the best Tara. Embrace your decision and make the most of where you are.

Kia ora Tara, Absolutely love your videos since the beginning. I so wish the very best for you and your family and look forward to seeing you when you come HOME again. Arohanui ki a koe me to whanau hoki.

all the best. weve been blessed to have you in New Zealand. Family is No1. Kia kaha.

Good luck back in the US. Enjoyed your insights in living in NZ.

Don't worry, you'll be good t and you'll come back when you are ready. Good luck and enjoy the journey back.

Noooooooooo :( Understandable however, safe travels back and keep safe over there. Although you're leaving I'm exited to see more of the states. You will be missed lol.

Wishing you all the best.

Looking forward to seeing more of where ever you are good luck loads of blue skies ❤❤

Very sad to hear that you’re moving. Totally understandable that you would do this. Family are the root of this life if you have a loving family. I hope you and your family do come back to Aotearoa.

Oh, gosh...I know how hard this is. I'm an American Kiwi. Lived in NZ for 17 years, raised our kids there and then came back to the USA with our teen kids.The difference is my husband had his family here. You're making the right choice, but I'm not going to lie. I miss it terribly. We will definitely retire in New Zealand. Safe travels!

I moved from NZ to the Uk and back to NZ years ago. I could not settle in NZ once I was back though. Took a good 2-3 years before I was mildly happy. Fast forward 20 years and I moved to Queensland. Best thing I ever did, and I shouldn't have waited for so long, been in Qld 16 years now. A bit different than you though, my family are all here now. Will be interesting to see your journey, because I bet it has changed a lot since you left.

Appreciate your insights and look forward to your future videos. Until you come back, kia kaha me te aroha nui.

Hope the return works out for you. I've enjoyed your videos. Look forward to your eventual return.

Glad to hear that you are planning on returning to NZ in a several years. Seems like the right decision for now… We don’t hang with our family much for holidays anymore so that won’t be an issue for us when hopefully we move there in several years.

No hard feeling, your doing what is best for you and your the one person who knows what is good for you

Bloody awesome..stay safe.🇳🇿🇳🇿🇺🇸🇺🇸

Always Family First❤!.. New Zealand has been blessed with your family…Arohanui, and blessings to you on this new journey.. In Your Words… “Never be comfortable in you life’…👍🏼❤️🙏🏽

Well to use a good kiwi saying, im gutted you're leaving. Did your kids move back for university or did they just not like it here? Also....thanku soo much for helping me love my own country, there were so many things I took for granted and you helped me see. I wish you nothing but happiness and hope you get to come back soon :)

It's not a "goodbye" Family is everything & we all understand.. NZ will still be here when you return back ❤

Please come back soon! New Zealand needs you more than you realise 🖤

I am an avid follower of yours, as a Kiwi Maori living in OZ I saw you as a gage, that gave a great perspective of NZ, and I feel your absence a great loss. But sad as it is, you have to do what best for you and your family, God Bless Haere atu ra Farewell